Healthy Tips For Living With Diabetes

Diabetes is characterized by high blood glucose levels (hyperglycemia). Sometimes there is hyperglycemia without other symptoms, but it is a warning to start taking care of yourself or changing habits.

Diabetes is caused by the low production of insulin – a hormone secreted by the beta cells of the pancreas – or by its inappropriate use by the body.

The main symptoms are excessive urination, increased appetite and thirst, and weight loss for no apparent reason.

It is estimated that in Spain there are about five million people with this disease, of which 90% suffer from type 2 diabetes.

In this article we will analyze how we can, in accordance with the treatment prescribed by the doctor, improve the control of type 2 diabetes (not dependent on insulin) through our habits.

How to take care of the glycemic index?

In addition to a diet that is low in fat and rich in complex carbohydrates, a weight management and exercise program is usually required, which often involves restricting calories.

In order to control diabetes, the combination of the proportion of the different types of carbohydrates, proteins and fats is decisive.

Although most diabetic diets recommend reducing the amount of carbohydrates, Dr. James Anderson proposes a diet rich in carbohydrates and vegetable fibers consisting of cereals, legumes and tubers, in order to restrict the intake of simple sugars and fats .

This diet consists of 70-75% complex carbohydrates, 15-20% protein and 10-25% fat. The fiber intake is almost 100 grams per day.

This diet bears similarities to the Dr. Dean Ornish program. Both are vegetarian diets and are very useful for diabetics who are willing to follow them.

There is a belief that a diabetic should not eat sweets. What you need to understand, however, is that your problems stem from eating foods with a high glycemic index, such as simple sugars, white bread and flour, juices, and many processed foods. All of them are assimilated very quickly, and glucose and insulin levels rise sharply.

Low-glycemic foods are those that are high in fiber (whole grains, legumes, vegetables, and fruits).

Low glycemic index foods better modulate blood glucose fluctuations and insulin secretion – as they are absorbed more slowly – and improve glycosylated hemoglobin.

Furthermore, the fructose in fruit does not produce the kind of rapid rise in glucose that sucrose does in refined sugar.

What foods are recommended in case of diabetes?

Onion and garlic lower blood glucose, cholesterol and blood pressure, which indicates their usefulness as components in the preparation of dishes and the diet of diabetic patients.

The green tea, in doses of two or more cups to the day potent contains polyphenols having antioxidant effects and significant immune benefits ; This drink is also a suitable complement in the diet of the diabetic.

A high level of fiber fixes cholesterol in the intestine, reducing its damaging effects of accelerating atherogenesis. Some special kinds of fiber – zaragatone, flax, pectin or oat bran – are very useful to complete the servings of legumes and fruits.

Having breakfast high in fiber rather than fat is a healthy start. This is best accomplished by including high- fiber cereals, such as oatmeal.

Should avoid soft drinks rich in sugar and high glycemic foods like fast food, and cleverly marketed widely available, which is a prelude to diabetes

By food groups, some good options for diabetics are:

• Legumes: beans, black beans, broad beans, chickpeas, lentils, green beans, peas …
• Soy and its derivatives: tofu, soy milk, tempe, miso …
• Cereals and seeds: oats, ground flax seeds, rice, barley, wheat, couscous, bulgur (cracked wheat), buckwheat (buckwheat), wheat germ, rye, corn, wild rice, spelled, millet, amaranth, quinoa, triticale.
• Vegetables: pumpkin, carrot, tomato, sweet potato, yellow pepper.
• Vegetables: spinach, chard, mustard greens, turnip greens, lettuce, endive.
• Cruciferous: cabbage, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, Brussels sprouts, green mustard, wasabi, turnip, watercress.
• Citrus: orange, tangerine, lemon, grapefruit, pink grapefruit, lime, Chinese orange (kumquat).
• Berries: blueberries, purple grape, raspberry, strawberry, currant, cherry, blackberry, blackberry, and all other varieties of berries fresh, frozen, or dried.
• Other fruits: watermelon, persimmon, ripe papaya, guava.
• Nuts: walnut, almond, pistachio, sesame seeds, peanuts, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, cashews.

Do exercise and physical activity help?

More than doing a specific exercise, the important thing is to increase physical activity throughout the day.

One way to understand that any movement works is to measure what is happening throughout the day. Diabetics should wear a pedometer on their wrist for a season, since this would allow them to become aware of the steps they take throughout the day, and how, by increasing the number of steps, their diabetes improves and better control of glucose and insulin.

Exercise provides the following benefits to people with diabetes:

• Greater sensitivity to insulin, reducing the need to inject it.
• Better glucose tolerance.
• Reduction of total serum cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations .
• Weight loss in obese people.

Adding exercises to gain muscle mass increases metabolic rate, helps you lose weight, and stabilizes metabolic parameters, including glycemic control.

An easy-to-implement program recommends 10,000 daily steps using a pedometer; a study showed that the program achieved better glucose tolerance and a reduction in blood pressure in overweight women at risk of diabetes over a period of eight weeks, although there were no changes in body mass, in the percentage of body fat or on the perimeter of the waist.

Exercises can be freely organized and enjoyable. A succession of activities such as walking, gardening, swimming, tennis, weight lifting, martial arts, dance, water aerobic exercise, tai chi, yoga … is more balanced and fun than doing the same thing daily.

For maximum benefit, include all four components of a balanced exercise program: cardiovascular capacity, strength, balance, and flexibility.

The exercise must be regular, from half an hour to an hour a day, and carried out with the same routine that you eat or take medications.

When starting an exercise program, it is a good idea to start out soft. Better to continue at a low intensity than to suspend it due to discouragement or injury.

After two weeks, the person feels that they have more energy, sleep better and are more relaxed.

Is there a relationship between stress and diabetes?

Managing stress can reduce the secretions of hormones related to stress , such as adrenaline and cortisol, which raise blood glucose levels.

This is achieved through activities that reduce stress, as well as social support systems that improve the ability to cope in a stressful environment or in the case of an emotionally problematic disorder such as diabetes.

Yoga has been shown to improve both glycemic control and lung functions in diabetics, due to the effect of controlled breathing and some somatoendocrine mechanism.

Chikung and, above all, psychological treatment are useful to control stress-related aggressive or inhibitory responses, which can aggravate hyperglycemic control.