Untreated diabetes can cause injury, disease, and death. Therefore, it is imperative that you learn how to control this disease as quickly and efficiently as possible. The tips in this article are time-tested strategies for turning a deadly disease into something that can be managed and reduced to a minor annoyance.
Focus on leg circulation to combat diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy. Keep your feet moving as much as possible to increase the blood circulating down through your toes. One exercise that is great for a desk job is to lift your foot up and then wiggle your toes, turning your feet in circles at the ankle.
Keep track of your Diabetic supplies and make sure you always have a backup. Obviously, keeping a huge stock of insulin isn’t feasible as it has an expiry date, but lancets and test strips don’t! Keep enough insulin on hand so that you know you’ll use it in time, but you also will never be left without it.
To save money, the American Diabetes Association approves the re-use of testing lancets. These are the needles used by your glucometer to test your blood sugar. Re-using them does result in them becoming dull, so be sure to change them out when you notice the pain level of your testing rising. Never share lancets.
Diabetes is a complicated disease, which leads to many new precautions you’ll need to take. One is to make sure that your dry ,cracked hands and feet remain moisturized. Your extremities will be at an increased risk of getting an infection, so ensuring dry skin doesn’t crack open and let the germs in, is vital.
If you have diabetes and love to snack, you may have a hard time resisting the vending machine snacks, or those snacks that you have around your own home. At all costs avoid this temptation, and try a fruit, or perhaps a veggie.
There are many tasty snack ideas for diabetics; you just need to find the items you like. How about an apple with peanut butter? – weird but wondeful! A great alternative to peanut butter is almond butter, which is great on high-fiber crackers like ones made with rye flour. Or make your own snack mix out of a variety of nuts and dried fruit! Try grapes and feta cheese with balsamic vinegar.
Even though salads are a healthy option for people with Diabetes, you should be careful about the salad dressing. Dressing can contain a large amount of sodium and fat, which may cause your blood sugar to fluctuate outside of the normal range. Oil and vinegar based dressings tend to be healthier. As a suggestion, ask for the dressing to be served on the side, so that you can control how much you eat.
To make sure your family understands your needs, take the time to explain diabetes to them. Discussing your condition with them will give them valuable knowledge they can use to help you in a crisis. It will also make them aware of things they can do to help. You may even find that talking about your diabetes is very cathartic.
Learn what foods have a high-glycemic index sweet like cookies, sugar-laden soft drinks, as well as carbohydrate filled breads. Cereals, and pastas are all high-glycemic index foods. These foods can cause your blood sugar to rise very quickly, usually referred to as a spike. Stick to the perimeter of the store, with fresh produce and meats, and avoid heavily processed foods.
Make sure that if you are diabetic and you are going to be traveling by airplane, that you drink a lot of water. The cabin’s air is a lot drier than normal air is and it can cause thirst, especially in those that have diabetes. You should be able to pass through airport security with water bottles if you can prove that you have diabetes.
People with diabetes are likely to have other undiagnosed health problems, such as a serious sleep apnea condition. People with this condition stop breathing for a short time while they are asleep. If you notice that you are extra sleepy during the day, talk to your doctor about running some tests to see if you have sleep apnea.
If your loved one, whether they be a family member or friend, has diabetes, it is up to you to make sure they are getting the care that they need. Often times people that have diabetes will not take care of themselves without proper support from the people most important to them in their lives.
Now that you have read these tips, the rest is up to you. Managing the complex array of dietary choices, medicines, and lifestyle factors that influence the course of diabetes can be extremely daunting, but if you take the tips you just read on board, you can live a long, happy life even with diabetes.
