The Life of a Diabetic
What to expect in Type 2 diabetes(mellitus).
Getting to Know your Disease
Diabetes is the pancreas' incapability to produce any or enough insulin. Insulin is a hormone secreted by the pancreas which helps regulate glucose in the blood stream. With type 2 diabetes, the pancreas is able to create insulin but not enough to do its job which allows glucose to build up in the body causing complications.
Eating Healthy with type 2 diabetes.
One of the most vital parts of taking care of your diabetes is your food choices. It is essential that diabetics monitor their eating habits in order to maintain a healthy blood glucose level. Diabetics should eat foods containing whole grains, some starchy vegetables such as potato, pumpkin, acorn squash, butternut squash, green peas, and corn. They should also eat protein foods like plant-based proteins, fish and seafood, chicken, cheese and eggs.
Why Monitor your Blood Sugar?
Diabetics monitor their blood sugar for several reasons; they need to understand how diet, exercise, stress and illnesses affect the blood sugar, identify blood sugars that are too high or low, and monitor the medications they take to see the affect on their blood sugar.
Exercise and Lifestyle
Exercise plays a key role in maintaining a healthy diabetic life. For example exercising, helps your body use insulin, lowers blood pressure, raises good cholesterol, improves blood circulation, and makes heart disease and stroke less likely. It is suggested that diabetics take part in anything that raises their heart rate such as sports, yoga, swimming, or walking.
Assistance to Diabetics
- Dietitians specialize in nutrition. Since healthy diets are essential for diabetics, and dietitians are experts in how one should eat, they play a large role in the health of a diabetic. Recently diagnosed diabetics must consult their dietitians before returning back to their normal lifestyle.
- Primary Care Physicians provide routine checkups for their patients. Diabetics have to have those checkups done frequently. During those visits, they help manage the treatment.
- Diabetes Educator is also known as diabetes self-management education, helps people who have or are at risk of developing diabetes. Diabetes education helps diabetics learn about the disease and develop the skills they need to manage it successfully by modifying their own behavior.
Works Cited
- American Diabetes Association. Food and Fitness(2014). Retrieved from http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/?loc=ff-slabnav.
- Mayo Clinic Staff. Blood Sugar Testing: Why, When, and How.(1/12). Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/in-depth/blood-sugar/ART-20046628
- WebMD. Type 2 Diabetes and Exercise(2014). Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/diabetes/guide/exercise-guidelines