Diet and Exercise: The Best Way to Manage Diabetes!
Diabetes can be managed, controlled, and in fact, reversed as well. It is a lifestyle disorder predominantly caused because of incorrect eating, lifestyle & exercise habits and stress Therefore, making healthy , appropriate changes to your routine diet, and indulging in the right diabetes exercises help you combat the disease in a better, and most importantly, in a safer manner. Read how diet and exercise will help you manage your diabetes.
How does Diabetes Affect the Body?
Type-2 diabetes, which is the most widespread forms out of all the diabetes types, negatively impacts the blood sugar levels. Type-2 diabetes is featured with insulin resistance. It causes blood sugar levels to rise above normal. At the onset, the pancreas develops extra insulin to battle out insulin resistance. But, the progression of the diseases fails this mechanism, thereby affecting insulin generation in the body, and subsequently failing to maintain normal blood glucose levels. These high sugar levels slowly start damaging small and big blood vessels leading to complications related to eyes, heart, kidneys, nerves and feet.
Therefore, when diagnosed with diabetes, you must work towards maintaining ideal blood glucose, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels. Besides, you must also aim at losing weight, maintaining healthy weight levels and generate energy (as diabetes causes lethargy).
What should you eat while Managing Type-2 Diabetes?
Now that you know what to focus on, you can design a type-2 diabetes diet plan with your diabetes expert. Remember, the following is only a general list of the type-2 diabetes foodstuffs. For a case-specific diet plan, it is important to discuss allergies, and then to decide the appropriate food portions with a diabetes expert.
Food items that play an instrumental role in managing type-2 diabetes are the one containing complex carbohydrates such as millets, barley, whole wheat (especially long or emmer wheat), brown rice, beans, lentils, oatmeal,quinoa and vegetables,. Speaking of vegetables; green leafy vegetables, broccoli, onions, asparagus, cauliflower, green beans and salad. Greens prove effective in managing diabetes. Avoid bakery foods, junk foods, sweets and processed foods.
Talking of proteins, they are a source of steady energy and help maintain steady blood sugar levels. Protein-rich foods such as nuts, seeds, legumes and peas must constitute your protein diet. As a type-2 diabetic, stay away from high-fat animal products, refined sugars, high-fat dairy products, artificial sweeteners, sodas, trans fats, and any type of highly processed foods.
How does Exercise Help Manage Type-2 Diabetes?
Type-2 diabetes causes lethargy, loss of muscular strength, increased stress, increased weight, and many other problems. To counter these issues, you must focus on strength training, flexibility exercises and aerobic exercises. Aerobic exercises routines may include walking, jogging, running, swimming, and biking for a minimum of 30 minutes every day. In case, 30 minutes at a stretch isn’t initially possible, break the routines in 3 parts of 10 minutes of each, and then gradually build it upto 30 minutes.
Climbing stairs is an ideal exercise 2 hours after every meal to bring down the blood sugar and stop the excess sugar conversion into fat. Avoid using your vehicle for short distances. Walk them instead. Improve your strength through strength training. Lifting weights for around 20-30 minutes is adequate. Speaking of flexibility, practice stretching as that will help you improve the functioning of your joints and muscles.Consult your diabetes expert and the fitness trainer to examine the suitability of a particular exercise form in your case.
Managing diabetes isn’t a cakewalk for sure. But, it isn’t that difficult either, and not at all impossible.What matters here is your determination, an appropriate choice of diet and exercise based on the advice of your diabetes expert. Besides, factors such as sustaining the plan, executing it, and then measuring results at regular intervals also matter a lot while managing diabetes through exercise and diet.
