Augredessaisons

Exercise, Diet Regulate Blood Glucose

2011-12-29T16:42:00.001-08:00

In managing his type 1 diabetes strict diet and carefully planned exercise program are invaluable tools in maintaining healthy blood glucose levels. Read more about his nutrition plan and exercise program.
Winning the daily battle with diabetes necessitates a plan of action. I have found controlling nutrition and exercise have allowed me to harness diabetes and live my life.

Unregulated blood sugar makes me feel awful. Tight control is the way to prevent feeling poorly. Diet is a key factor in the fight, but how many of us know what our diet consists of?

Keep a log of your daily carbohydrate, protein, and fat intake. Do so for a week and then get an average amount of grams for each per day. Once you have all the grams, convert them into calories. Carbohydrates and proteins carry four calories per gram. Fat carries nine. Now determine your daily caloric intake by adding those numbers. Next, figure out the percent each category contributes to your daily calorie intake. Consider your numbers. If your carbohydrate intake contributes to more than 40 percent of your total diet, then you might be looking at an indicator for why tight control is elusive. The more carbohydrates you eat, the more insulin your body requires, and the greater propensity for blood sugar swings.

I eat roughly 2,100 calories a day, with a breakdown of 20 percent carbohydrates, 30 percent protein, and 50 percent fat. I have found this works best for me. It allows me a degree of control so that I am less subject to the peaks and valleys of diabetes..

Exercise is the other component to managing diabetes. We, as humans, are designed to be active, not to sit all day long. Unfortunately, the latter is the more apt depiction of our typical day.We must work at making exercise a priority. The key is finding a sport or program that keeps you coming back for more.

I use a program that emphasizes variation; every day is different. I never know what’s coming at me. This platform has kept me disciplined to five days of workouts per week, for two straight years. The hours I’ve spent sweating and toiling with weights and cardio have been exhausting and rewarding. My body now demands the rigors of physical activity; I am more alert, energized and alive than ever before.

Regular exercise and good nutrition have increased my personal expectations. I am now only beginning to understand the term potential. That is because I have diabetes in check.

Burning fat easier, more pleasant exercise

2011-12-29T16:41:00.002-08:00

I have not always been a good exerciser, but now it is a very important part of my life. It helps me thrive. I do a few different activities with an emphasis on swimming and riding a bike. The other day I tried a new kind of exercise bike at my local community recreation center. As I entered my settings for weight and age into the bike's computer, it hit me that I need to pass on a very valuable piece of information to all of our readers. Simply put, exercising to burn fat and lose weight is a lot easier than most other types of exercise.

There are a few different types of exercise, and virtually all of them get your heart pumping. Almost all exercise promotes weight loss, helps your heart, and strengthens your muscles. Still, the amount of effort it takes to burn fat is much less than the amount it takes to do significant cardiac conditioning. For example, a person who exercises every day with their heart rate at 132 beats per minute (bpm) for 30 to 45 minutes will burn quite a bit of fat. That is a very healthy and noteworthy accomplishment. It helps curb many risks, especially if you are living with diabetes. It is less work than the 145 to 152 bpm that the same person would need to do a lot of heart conditioning.

The difference is that some people can enjoy a workout in the fat burning zone, while a workout in the cardiovascular zone is unpleasant and uncomfortable. The truth is, you should be very content to enjoy a workout in the fat burning zone. In the world of diabetes, such a workout will likely benefit your liver and kidneys. It may also be able to reduce insulin resistance. So, be sure not to beat yourself up when you exercise and have a miserable time - unless you want to.

Be sure and talk to your doctor before starting an exercise program. It sounds like a disclaimer on the end of a commercial, but it's not. It's a good suggestion for people living with diabetes. Your doctor will be able to coach you about how to exercise with your type of diabetes—type 1 versus type 2— insulin resistance, liver imbalances, etc.

Whole Grain Reaffirmed As Effective Diabetes Fighter

2011-12-29T16:41:00.000-08:00

Whole grains can reduce the risk of diabetes, and that medical notion was upheld in a recent scientific study from a major University. We've known the benefits of whole grains for a few decades. The fiber aids digestion, and helps the digestive system assimilate carbohydrates properly. The germ from whole grains is an abundant source of nutrients like phytochemicals, vitamins, and minerals. A professional nutrition publication authored by a group of professors from Harvard University reinforces how effective whole grains are at reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes.

The findings report on a study of more than 100,000 nurses who were surveyed on a number of health measures every two years. When they tallied the statistics, researchers found that the nurses who ate whole grain foods high in bran had about half the risk of developing diabetes. Consuming large amounts of whole grain foods high in germ content appeard to reduce the risk of developing diabetes by about 30 percent in the study participants.

Not only do whole grains help fend off diabetes, but they also reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease. One frequently overlooked benefit of high-fiber diets is the stress reduction they. The digestive system is one of the most active systems in your body. Relieving stress within your stomach and intestines often has a noticable effect on a person's emotional well-being.

Exercise Like Crazy, But Don't Run Away from Insulin

2011-12-29T16:40:00.001-08:00

As you know, there are certain ethnic groups that run a high risk of developing type 2 diabetes. If you belong to one of these noble heritages, you have a lot to celebrate that far surpasses the worries associated with the risk of type 2 diabetes.

This article from an Arizona news outlet discusses Michelle Reina-Long's fitness strategy for helping her control her diabetes. She exercises religiously. She inherited a fifty percent chance of developing diabetes as a Pima Indian.

Keep in mind that you do not have to be a triathlete to earn the benefits of exercise. Triathlon training is the extreme. Your goal should be to spend 4-5 days exercising for about 30 minutes. If you can eventually extend one or more weekly exercise sessions to more than 45 minutes, the benefits will multiply.

One misconception is the myth that insulin causes misery. Michelle Reina-Long expresses a fear of insulin because she thought that it made her grandmother miserable. There is a small chance that she suffered side effects from insulin. My Diabetes Information is not familiar with her grandmother or her health history. Nevertheless, we can tell you that very few people have misery because of insulin. We often see that people are miserable because of diabetes, but they blame it on the insulin, or associate the misery with the insulin.

Insulin is not a perfect solution for diabetes. However, it is immensely helpful. My Diabetes Information suspects (which implies that we could be wrong) that many people delay insulin therapy for too long, and fail to take advantage of its ability to lower blood sugar levels and reduce the risks and complications of diabetes.

Of course your doctor will be able to give you the best answer. We just hope that this is good food for thought. Insulin lowers blood sugar, whether you use your body's own, or insulin that you inject or pump into your body.

We applaud Reina-Long for her commitment to exercise. It is probably the most powerful or helpful of all diabetes strategies. We do wonder if she may win a little more of a health advantage if she were to introduce some insulin therapy. It may not be time for her, yet. Furthermore, we would be thrilled if she never needed insulin. Too bad the story did not report her A1C scores or blood sugar levels.