Managing Diabetes with Action: A Healthy Living Game Plan

For those who have diabetes, additional daily responsibilities, like monitoring blood sugar levels, can make life more challenging. To feel your best, you need to develop a plan of action. If you or someone you love has diabetes or prediabetes, find out how practicing healthy habits makes a big difference in managing diabetes.

Picking Up Healthy Habits Helps with Managing Diabetes

Diabetes management is about more than taking medications. Whether you have pre-diabetes, type 1, type 2, or gestational diabetes or are at risk of developing this medical condition, making healthy choices will put a spring in your step.

Eating Healthy

It’s no secret that what you put into your mouth has a huge effect on how you feel. This is especially true for those managing diabetes.

A healthy diet, which includes properly portioned meals with a healthy balance of vegetables and protein, can help with controlling blood sugar, managing weight and controlling heart disease risk factors, like high blood pressure and high blood fats.

Although healthy eating takes a little more time and effort, the payoff will be well worth it.

If you would like specific dietary advice, request an appointment with one of our health care professionals.

Staying Active

Whether you walk with your family for exercise or shoot hoops with friends, living an active lifestyle is a highly recommended strategy for managing diabetes. During exercise, your muscles use sugar (glucose) for energy, helping to lower the blood sugar levels in your body. Physical activity can also help the human body use insulin more efficiently.

In combination with eating healthy, an active lifestyle is one of the best strategies for managing diabetes. But before you start working out, consult your health care professional about developing a plan of physical activity that is right for you.

Lowering Stress Levels

Just like a poor diet, stress can raise blood sugar levels in the body. If you are managing diabetes symptoms, incorporating destressing strategies in your daily routine can make a difference in how your mind and body feel. Although you may not be able to avoid some stressors like work responsibilities, you can pick up new habits that take your stress levels down a notch.

Easy Ways to Destress

• Deep breathing
• Learning relaxation techniques
• Reading a book
• Picking up a new hobby
• Listening to music
• Meditating

Recognizing National Diabetes Month this November

Diabetes, the seventh leading cause of death in America, is a common medical condition that occurs when a person’s body does not properly process food into glucose for use as energy. The body either doesn’t make enough insulin or cannot use the insulin it produces as well as it should.

As a result, sugars build up in the bloodstream potentially causing serious health complications, including:

• Heart disease
• Blindness
• Kidney failure
• Lower-extremity amputations

In addition to type 1 and type 2, National Diabetes Awareness Month raises awareness about prediabetes, which affects more than one in three Americans, many of whom don’t even know they have it. This type of undiagnosed diabetes is very prevalent among overweight and obese individuals.

To recognize National Diabetes Awareness Month this November, Advantage Care Health Centers encourages everyone to consider picking up new healthy living habits.

Ask Us For Help With Managing Your Diabetes

With two locations in Freeport and Brookville, Advantage Care Health Centers provides comprehensive primary care services to all people regardless of insurance status or the ability to pay.

In response to COVID-19, we are taking all the proper precautions to keep our patients, community and staff safe. Because your health is our number one priority, we are offering tele-health services to all new and current patients.

Contact us today to request an appointment.