Don't Let Diabetes Control Your Life

For years, people with diabetes have been looking for ways to deal with their illnesses. Today, we know that the patient can control the diabetes, and it's no longer necessary for the diabetes to control the patient.

If you want to control your diabetes and keep it from controlling you, the first step is to learn as much as you can about the disease. Once diagnosed, it's your responsibility to seek out as much information as you can from trusted resources, and educate yourself to the best of your ability.

Having diabetes means staying in close contact with your doctor. You need to see him or her regularly to ensure that your current treatment regime is being properly administered, and is working effectively. Diabetes can cause physical and neurological deterioration in other areas of the body, so it is important to have regular physical checkups to rule out other possible complications.

Performing a regular glucose level check is the best way to control diabetes. Your clinic nurse or doctor will explain how often you should perform these tests. Follow the schedule as closely as possible, and be sure to take all of your medications as prescribed.

Diet and exercise are key factors in helping you to control your diabetes. If you are a diabetic patient, your medical practitioner will give you dietary guidelines. It's important to adhere strictly to these guidelines, especially in the initial treatment stages. However, every patient's physiology can and will react differently. For that reason, it can be helpful to perform your own dietary investigations. DO NOT abandon your medical advice; rather, play close attention to your diet, and monitor your activities to establish which foods cause your greatest glucose level peaks and valleys.

As with many illnesses, you'll find good advice and bad advice. There are conflicting opinions in several areas of diabetes control and treatment. One such area that's under great debate is the effect of fats and carbohydrates on diabetes. Even doctors are divided into several different areas of thought. There are only theories at this point, and no medical or scientific evidence on the effects of carbs and fats in the diabetic diet. Go ahead and read what you can about these theories, but continue to follow the advice of your doctor. Use the guidelines you've been given and explore alternatives with caution. Any dietary experimentation must be done on the advice of a medical professional.

Alcohol can aggravate diabetes, so it's best to restrict your alcohol intake to having a small amount with meals, or avoid alcohol altogether. Additionally, some oral medications prescribed to control type 2 diabetes will react very adversely to alcohol consumption. If you are being treated for type 2 diabetes, you should avoid alcoholic beverages.

Dealing with any illness can be difficult, but it's important to keep your stress to a minimum. High levels of stress can actually aggravate diabetes. When your body is under stress it increases the levels of many hormones, including adrenaline. The adrenaline hormone prepares the body for fight or flight, and causes the release of glucose from the liver and muscles. This glucose is immediately used as energy. Your body is not able to determine that modern stresses are not usually induced by physical threat, so it produces these unnecessarily high levels of glucose. This makes it almost impossible to control diabetes. That's why it's so important for people with diabetes to learn to reduce the stress. Yoga and other relaxation techniques are great activities to include in your daily routine.

You are what you eat. So, as a result, what you eat affects your ability to control diabetes. Be in control of what you put into your body, and the beneficial health rewards will more than make up for any sacrifices. Living with diabetes doesn't necessarily mean giving up the things that you love. There are many recipes for delicious appetizers, main courses, beverages and desserts that fit in quite nicely with the diabetes lifestyle. Check the website cldia.allrecipes.com for a selection of tasty diabetes-friendly options.

Taking control of your diabetes can be as simple as adjusting your lifestyle. Eat right, take your meds, follow your doctor's orders and watch your stress. Manage your diabetes, and don't let it manage you.

Article Source: http://www.phalenes.org/articles

Aldrich Cusens is a regular columnist for several of today's popular web magazines, on health education and health diet fitness themes.
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