The environment nowadays contributes immensely to the people’s state of health. Lifestyle requirements have changed also. We have more junk food in our diets. We intake more trans-fat, more preservatives, and more sugar too.
All of these present several changes in how our body normally works. One change is the incidence of diabetes amongst us. According to the American Diabetes Association, there is a 13.5% prevalence increase in the United States alone from 2005-2007. One factor is that people are more knowledgeable now when it comes to health concerns. However, we cannot discount the fact that the 21st lifestyle presents more risks to the disease also.
Take a survey from your small community and most likely one of them is suffering from this condition. Why? Because not only is diabetes environmentally-caused, it can also be genetically-inherited. Deaths due to diabetes complications are not unknown anymore. Even worst news, diabetes is a chronic syndrome, meaning, it has no cure.
But thankfully, diabetes is very much controllable. Anyone with diabetes can still live up to a ripe long age as long as they properly manage it.
Besides knowing what type of diabetes one has (because one might need to take special medications for it), one only has to discipline oneself with the 3 lifesaving diabetic tips and practices.

Regular Exercise
It is important for diabetics to be physically active. Exercise can help control our weight, glucose levels, blood pressure making sure that people with diabetes would not run into other risks such as heart problems which are typical for people with the condition.
Exercise can also raise the good cholesterol levels and lower the bad cholesterol levels in our body. Basically, in the long run, exercise will really do our body good not just in managing diabetes but also in preventing unwanted ailments.

Proper Diet
A type of diabetes is caused by the foods that we eat. Not all diabetics got them from Mum and Pop. For example, if one consumes sweetened soda and cake every day, the risk for diabetes is heightened. Diabetes after all is “sweet urine” or from the Greek term Diabetes mellitus which is “to pass through urine”.
Proper diet means controlling the amount of sugar that passes through one’s mouth. Sugar is not just in the form of the sugar cubes we put in our coffee. Carbohydrates also contain sugar.
Diabetics can use the glycemic index to check the consequence of eating a specific food on one’s blood sugar as diabetics have abnormally high blood sugar or glucose levels.
Basically, the glycemic index is measured by comparing the effect of a food on one’s blood sugar with the effect of an amount of pure glucose. Pure glucose has a GI of 100. For diabetics, low GI foods are better than high GI foods. Low GI foods are digested more slowly and thus making the rise of one’s blood sugar slower and steadier as compared to foods with higher GI’s.
Low GI foods include wheat breads (not white bread!), oatmeal, fruits, and vegetables. High carb diets are definitely a no-no for diabetics.
Proper diet also means controlling the amount of fats one consumes. Fats, especially trans-fat (those which can be found in junk foods), gives another risk which is high cholesterol levels and heart diseases. These are the associated diseases of diabetes.

Weight Loss
Diabetes has some associated risks like heart attack and other cardiovascular problems. Thus it is very important that the person involved apply himself to a rigid weight loss program.
We are not talking about participating in fad diets for miracle weight changes. This supposed miracle programs present more harm than good. Recall that I mentioned that there several types of diabetes. One type is insulin-dependent where the patient needs to continuously inject himself with insulin. People with this type are “starved” and thus need a continuous source of energy for them to have normal glucose levels.
These Type 1 diabetics lose weight quickly. Going on fad diets will not help for losing more weight.
Even with those non-insulin dependent types, fasting would not do as this can cause one to consume more food in the end which will deter one’s management program. Remember, proper diet is also very important!
With these 3 “LIFESAVING TIPS”, a diabetic can go on living a normal life. Regular exercise, proper diet, and sufficient weight loss will ensure a happy and long life.

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