How to Manage Your Diabetes as You Age

When your body can no longer keep the blood sugar at a safe level, you will begin to experience the effects of diabetes. This may mean undergoing serious complications, including blindness and loss of limbs, up to dying if not properly treated. Diabetes is the condition when too much blood sugar can damage the blood vessels and nerves in the body. Understanding how to manage your diabetes over time can keep it under control.

What follows are some tips in helping you manage and even prevent the onset of Type 2 diabetes. If you can follow these tips, you can significantly reduce your chances of suffering from the complications of this disease.

Get Up and Move

A sedentary lifestyle helps promote the onset of diabetes. Sitting in front of the computer for hours on end is not conducive to a healthy lifestyle, but if you can set aside at least thirty minutes each day to move around, you can greatly reduce your chances of developing diabetes. You should choose the right shoes to wear for your walks and have the appropriate clothing so you can be outdoors. Or, you can find a place indoors to walk if you desire.

You do not need to engage in a vigorous exercise program, although that does not hurt. What you can do is take a brisk walk, engage in activities such as mowing, gardening, or anything that keeps you moving for at least a half-hour.

Build Muscles

You can combine moving around with building up muscle tissue such as with weight training or resistance exercises. Building muscle tissue means that your body will burn more fat. For those who may have trouble losing excess weight, engaging in muscle building exercises may be the answer. You do not have to become a body builder but adding more lean muscle mass means burning more calories which reduces your chances of contracting diabetes.

Eat Right

A healthy diet can help you shed the unwanted weight which is contributing to your diabetes. If you focus on lean proteins, whole grains, and fiber, you can significantly reduce the excess fat that otherwise will build up in your body. You will need to cut back on the fat, red meat, and fast carbs along with sugars that help create trans fats which are really bad for your system.

Taking Medications

If the changes to your lifestyle are not enough, then you will need to see your doctor. In many cases, those who are in a pre-diabetic state will take metformin. This is a drug that reduces the amount of glucose your liver produces when you have eaten a meal. Taking this type of drug may help prevent the onset of diabetes and you may have to continue using it until the lifestyle changes fully kick in.

By knowing how to manage your diabetes, you can avoid many of the complications that this condition brings to the body which include stroke, kidney and heart disease, vision issues and blindness, and damage to the limbs, fingers, and toes.

Contact Blue Parasol Home Care for more information. Please reach out to us directly at 718-349-1905 or info@blueparasol.org.