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Would you like to take charge of your diabetes?
Your pharmacist can help you explore your treatment options.
For people living with diabetes, managing blood-sugar levels on a daily basis is vital to helping prevent and avoid complications related to the disease. Here are a few steps you can take to keep your blood-sugar levels at their optimal level.
1
Choose foods with a low glycemic index.
Choosing foods with a low glycemic index helps reduce rapid spikes in blood sugar. Examples of low-glycemic foods include vegetables, legumes and whole-grain cereals. Proteins like tofu, meats, cheese and eggs are also good choices for maintaining more stable blood-sugar levels. Good news, these foods also help regulate appetite and promote better weight management.
2
Split your meals up and strive for a balanced menu.
Eating several small meals throughout the day instead of three large meals is also a good way of reducing blood-sugar spikes. Remember though, each meal should contain protein, carbohydrates and healthy fats to help slow your absorption of sugar and stabilize your blood-sugar levels.
3
Get regular exercise.
Physical activity plays a vital role in promoting good health and preventing various diseases. It also has a number of direct benefits for managing diabetes, including:
- Improving your insulin sensitivity by helping your body use insulin more efficiently. Regular exercise helps your body, so you need less insulin to better control blood-sugar levels. What’s more, those positive effects last for several hours after the activity.
- Reducing blood-sugar levels by burning glucose (sugar) for energy. The muscles you use consume glucose, which lowers the overall amount of sugar in your blood.
- Reducing the risk of diabetes-related complications like heart disease, circulation problems and kidney disorders.
- Improving your overall health by reducing stress, boosting energy levels and providing better weight control.
When combined with a healthy diet and medication, physical activity is a key part of your diabetes treatment.
4
Stay well hydrated.
To maintain optimal metabolism, it's vital that you stay properly hydrated, especially if you have diabetes. By drinking enough water, your kidneys are better able to eliminate excess sugar through your urine, which helps stabilize blood-sugar levels. It's also best to avoid sugary drinks like pop and fruit juices. Instead, choose water or low-sugar drinks like herbal teas. In short, proper hydration is essential for maintaining good health and managing your blood-sugar levels.
5
Measure your blood glucose often.
The key to managing your blood-sugar levels is to understand how your blood sugar behaves throughout the day.
- There are a number of glucose monitoring devices for identifying, preventing and promptly treating hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia.
- Analyzing your results helps you spot trends and better understand the impact of certain foods or activities on your blood-sugar levels.
For your reference, these are average blood-sugar levels:
- Between 4.0 and 7.0 mmol/l when fasting or before a meal;
- Between 5.0 and 10.0 mmol/ 2 hours after the start of a meal.
Choosing the right glucose monitor
Depending on your lifestyle and the type of diabetes you have, here are a few things to keep in mind when choosing a glucose monitor, whether it’s a continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system or a capillary blood glucose testing method with strips and lancets (needles):
- Ease of use;
- Device size and portability;
- Accuracy of results and measurement times;
- Ability to save glucose data and share it easily with your healthcare professionals;
- Frequency of testing required depending on your type of diabetes.
