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NetWellness provides the highest quality health information and education services created and evaluated by faculty of our partner universities.
Friday, November 20, 2009
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NetWellness provides the highest quality health information and education services created and evaluated by faculty of our partner universities.
Friday, November 20, 2009
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Here are a few key points in preventing or controlling diabetes.
Exercise helps the body utilize glucose more efficiently and will help you to achieve or maintain an ideal body weight. Find something that you like to do that gets your heart rate up for at least 20-30 minutes, 3-4 times per week. Here are some examples of easy and fun ways to stay active:
Every little bit counts. Some ways you can work fitness into your everyday life are:
Healthy eating - Easy, yet effective changes that you can make to your diet include choosing more:
Watch your carbs - It is important for diabetics to keep an eye on the amount of carbohydrates that they eat in a day. A great way to balance carbohydrates throughout the day is to count carbohydrates, which will also help you moderate the portion size of your food. This is fine to do whether you have diabetes or not.
Your whole family can participate. In fact, counting carbohydrates is a great tool to use if you are trying to loose weight. Women who are trying to lose weight should strive for 30-45g of carbohydrates per meal and men who are trying to lose weight should strive for 45-60g of carbohydrates per meal.
Sample menu - Listed below is a sample menu for a day using carbohydrate counting. You could have:
When planning and preparing meals while using carbohydrate counting, look at the total carbohydrate line on a food product's nutrition label, which will tell you how many grams of carbohydrate are in one serving of the food (the serving size is listed on the top of the label).
Portion control - Another helpful tip is to measure out your foods to be sure that your portion sizes are accurate. One nice thing about "carb counting" is that any food can be incorporated into a meal plan when done properly. Remember that a certified diabetes educator or registered dietitian can help you develop a tailored diet plan that meets your nutrient needs and your food preferences.
Listen to your body and your feelings – When you're on medicines that lower your blood sugar (insulin or medicine you take by mouth), it’s important to eat regularly to keep your blood sugar normal. However, our urge to eat isn't always from hunger. Sometimes it's from feelings and stress. Learn to listen to yourself. Eat when your body is really saying you're hungry and avoid having your feelings or a stressful situation be the reason to eat.
Becoming educated about living with diabetes and having regular checkups with your doctor can teach you how to keep your blood sugars under control, which will reduce the risk of complications later on. If you don't have diabetes, but feel you are risk, regular screenings are important so that you can seek treatment earlier rather than later.
This article is a NetWellness exclusive. 
Last Reviewed: Jun 05, 2008
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Connie A Gottfried, MPH, RD, LD, CDE Dietitian, Certified Diabetes Educator Center for Vascular Health St. Vincent Charity Hospital School of Medicine Case Western Reserve University |
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Laurie Sadler, MD Medical Director and Assistant Professor Center for Vascular Health St. Vincent Charity Hospital School of Medicine Case Western Reserve University |
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