Diabetes is a lifelong condition, and one that requires you to continually keep your blood sugar levels within a range that your doctor recommends. Understandably, this can prove challenging, as many factors affect your blood sugar levels, and oftentimes unexpectedly. Because blood sugar levels are prone to constant fluctuation, it is crucial that you make diabetes management less of a treatment approach and more of a lifestyle. Doing so may prove difficult, but by following these four steps, you can get control of your diabetes, your health and your life:
Below we expand on each of these steps, explain why they are important and provide actionable tips for following through with them.
First things first — it is important that you understand what diabetes is and, more importantly, why it occurs. Diabetes affects either the body’s ability to make insulin or its ability to use it. Which applies to your situation depends on the type of diabetes you have:
By learning more about diabetes, what causes it and what triggers blood sugar level fluctuations, you can be a partner in your treatment.
There are dozens of resources available to you from which you can learn more about diabetes. The most obvious is your medical team, but you can also learn more from the following sources:
You can ask your doctor for referrals to helpful sources, turn to people you know who also live with diabetes or conduct a quick Google search.
By learning more about a condition with which you will live the rest of your life, you can not only fully comprehend the severity of the illness but also, you can familiarize yourself with tactics for managing it most effectively. You can also serve as a true partner in your lifelong healthcare journey by making healthy choices, managing a healthy weight, monitoring your numbers and taking your medications as needed.
When doing your homework on diabetes, you will undoubtedly come across resources that stress the importance of managing diabetes. Diabetes does not have to be a debilitating condition, but it can become one if mistreated or ignored. Symptoms of poorly managed diabetes include the following:
These symptoms are just the tip of the iceberg. If you continue to ignore your diabetes, you put yourself at risk of developing serious health problems. Uncontrolled diabetes can lead to heart attack or stroke, vision problems or blindness, kidney disease or kidney failure, teeth and gum issues, and nerve damage. You can easily avoid these issues by taking your diabetes seriously and committing to healthy lifestyle changes.
When you live with diabetes, you must learn to control three things: Your A1C, blood pressure and cholesterol. By controlling these three factors, you can reduce your risk of developing complications of diabetes and heart attack.
A1C refers to a type of test that measures your average blood sugar levels over the past three months. You want to take this test daily, as it is crucial to know your both your immediate blood sugar levels and your averages over time. It is important to keep tabs on your blood sugar levels over time, as if they were ever too high, they could have caused damage to your kidneys, blood vessels, eyes and/or feet. If you notice an uptick in your averages, you can consult with your doctor regarding how to get your numbers down and request a whole health check-up to assess for damage.
Target A1C numbers differ for everyone. However, most people want numbers below 7. Your doctor can identify your target number and advise you on how to reach it.
Blood pressure refers to the force of blood against the walls of your blood vessels. If this force becomes too great, it means that your heart is working too hard. Your heart can only work so hard for so long before it causes damage. Consequences of continually high blood pressure include stroke, heart attack, kidney damage and vision problems.
The ideal blood pressure for someone without diabetes is between 90/60 mmHg and 120/80 mmHg. However, for diabetics, doctors generally like to see that blood pressure numbers are below 140/90 mmHg. Talk to your doctor about what your target range is.
Your body produces two types of cholesterol: HDL and LDL. The former is the “good” cholesterol and the latter is the “bad” type.
HDL is a type of cholesterol that removes LDL from your blood vessels. LDL, on the other hand, can clog your blood vessels if there is too much of it. As your blood vessels grow increasingly clogged, your risk for having a heart or stroke substantially increases.
The most effective way to manage diabetes and live a high quality of life is to make healthy lifestyle changes. Your commitment to leading a healthier life can go a long way toward managing your ABCs. Below are areas you should work on changing or improving for the sake of your long-term health.
It may go without saying, but your health is a reflection of your diet. In fact, type 2 diabetes typically arises after decades of making poor dietary decisions. Though this is not the case with type 1 or gestational diabetes, all three types are worsened by certain foods and beverages. While you should work with your doctor and dietician to develop a diet that is right for you, some typical guidelines for diabetics are as follows:
Not only does what you eat matter, but so too does portion size. You will most likely need to reduce how much you eat and change the way you dress your plate. The ideal plate consists of half fruits and vegetables, one quarter lean protein, and one quarter whole grains. Lean proteins include items such as chicken, turkey or beans, while examples of whole grains are whole wheat pasta and rice.
A diabetes diagnosis can be stressful in and of itself, and living with it even more so. However, for the sake of your immediate and long-term health, it is crucial that you learn to manage your stress as best you can. Not only can stress contribute to increased blood sugar levels but also, it may interfere with insulin production. If you are a type 2 diabetic, any interference can make a difficult situation even worse. Research also suggests that cortisol — the stress hormone — may contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes.
Biological reactions aside, stress may cause you to stress eat. Again, managing your diet is one of the most effective ways to manage your diabetes. If you are prone to stress eating, your emotions may cause you to forego your diet in favour of fatty, sugary and otherwise unhealthy foods.
For these reasons, and for the sake of your overall emotional well-being, it is important to get your stress under control. Some tips for managing your stress are as follows:
Physical activity has so many health benefits, one of which is that it helps to control blood sugar levels. If exercise is not already a normal part of your daily routine, take steps to change that. Though, as with your diet, your doctor can help you develop a fitness plan, there are some general guidelines that diabetics — and adults, in general — should follow:
Ultimately, you want to lead a more active lifestyle. The less time you spend sitting and the more time you spend up and moving, the better you will health will become.
Your doctor can advise you on what to do to manage your diabetes and make recommendations for how you can lead a healthier life. At the end of the day, however, it is up to you to follow through with doctor’s orders. Your doctor cannot be there to remind you of when to take your medications or tell you to drink water instead of soda. You must take accountability for your own health, something that will prove far easier once you learn, exactly, what it is you need to do daily. Some tasks that should become routine are as follows:
By changing your diet, taking care of your emotional well-being, being more active and educating yourself, you can keep your diabetes in check and live a high quality life.
Finally, keep up with your routine visits. From your six-week check-ups to your annual appointments, do not forgo scheduled doctors’ visits. Each appointment serves a purpose and can help you detect and treat problems early on, and before they become more serious. Though the types of assessments your doctor will perform at each visit depend on your current health and other underlying conditions, you should plan to show up for the following:
Based off the cumulative results of each test, along with the apparent results of your efforts, your doctor can better advise you on how to manage and treat your diabetes.
Managing diabetes is a lifelong endeavour, and one that can prove difficult and seemingly impossible. Yet, if you follow the four tips provided here — learn about diabetes, brush up on your diabetes ABCs, make healthy lifestyle changes and get routine care — you can get control of your condition and lead a long, healthy and happy life. If taking these four steps on your own proves difficult, turn to your doctor for help or referrals to additional resources.