Food has a significant impact on blood glucose levels; optimizing your mealtime choices, particularly carbs, can help you manage your diabetes and improve overall health.
Carbohydrates, in my experience, elevate blood sugar significantly more than protein and fat, necessitating extra monitoring and treatment with available insulin. Here are a few tips to help you regulate your blood glucose, and you can find additional advice here:
- I try to limit the number of carbohydrates I eat at once or choose carbohydrates with a lower glycemic index – see Adam’s Corner on Why Not All Carbohydrates Are Created Equal.
- Drinks with many added sugars and carbohydrates should be avoided (unless you have low blood sugar, also called hypoglycemia). It’s usually good to avoid ordinary soda and huge amounts of fruit juice.
- Impose a portion control policy. For example, follow the “12 plate rule” and fill half your plate with vegetables or salad. Also, avoid eating directly from food packages, which is a convenience trap that encourages overeating. Finally, tell the waiter you don’t want the free bread in sit-down restaurants — sometimes the temptation is too strong to refuse!
- As a general rule, I try to eat as natural and minimally processed foods as possible – the fewer ingredients on the label, the better. Fresh fruits and vegetables are always a wonderful choice. In contrast, I try to avoid highly processed meals (e.g., chips, sweets), which I find less filling and significantly spike my blood glucose levels.
- Try substituting almond and coconut flour in recipes — they have a substantially lower influence on my blood glucose, contain a lot of beneficial fat and fiber, and help make baked items much more diabetes-friendly.
Exercise is a free drug; take advantage of it as much as possible!
Regular physical exercise of around 30 minutes per day on most days of the week helps lower blood glucose, helps your body better use the insulin that your body continues to produce, and improves your cholesterol levels. Keep doing what you’re doing if you already enjoy it! If you’re not already particularly active, it’s vital not to be scared by the prospect of getting started. Even something as basic as walking (for additional information, click here) can help decrease blood glucose and enhance your heart. Here are some easy methods to add extra activity to your life:
- Find some friends or coworkers who have similar interests as you. Accountability to someone else plays a big role in sticking to a plan. Connect with others in the active diabetic community by visiting Insulindependence.
- Find methods to include exercise into your regular life, such as going for a walk during your lunch break, holding walking meetings, using the stairs instead of the elevator, or parking in the farthest space in the parking lot.
- Try an app: Moves, GymPact, Seven Minute Workout, Strava, Sworkit, and many others are excellent for getting you moving.
- Try an activity tracker – these small devices are extremely motivating, and the data is addictive. Fitbit is the most popular option, but there are many more.
Patterns can be identified using blood glucose measurement.
Consider your glucose meter to be a compass for blood sugar management. These data can pave the way toward elements that affect your blood glucose by testing before and after key activities such as meals and exercise. I make this more enjoyable by viewing it as a scientist would: How much does walking drop my blood glucose? How do a chicken and veggie dinner compare to a pasta meal?
Structured testing, a more systematic approach to measuring your blood sugar, can make your glucose findings more meaningful — Accu-Chek has produced two free tools to assist in uncovering blood sugar patterns, which you can download here and here. Remember that the goal of collecting glucose levels is to provide you with information to help you optimize your therapy. For example, are you consistently on a high after breakfast? Are your blood sugar levels decreasing in the middle of the night? Recognizing such patterns in your glucose readings can help you and your healthcare provider answer these types of questions and make improvements to your diabetes management.
The need for insulin is NOT YOUR FAILURE.
Type 2 diabetes is a progressive disease in which your body’s ability to produce insulin decreases over time. Indeed, 30-40% of type 2 diabetes patients, particularly those who have had diabetes for a long time, require insulin to regulate their blood glucose. However, remember that you are not alone as you begin to use insulin! Injections can be a headache for anyone, but devices are now to alleviate the load, such as patient-friendly insulin pens, Valeritas’ V-Go insulin delivery system, Medtronic’s i-Port Advance, and full-featured insulin pumps.
Look for a Diabetes Educator.
Diabetes educators are qualified health care professionals with special training in diabetes self-management and education. They offer practical advice, coaching, and support. You can get diabetes education by requesting a referral from your primary care physician. Attending a diabetic educator is covered by Medicare Part B and many health insurance policies.
