Getting your diabetes under control

You can get your diabetes under control, and keep it under control, but it could mean adopting a different, healthier lifestyle, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Division of Diabetes.

Here are five tips on how to maintain healthy blood glucose levels, which in turn reduces a diabetic’s risk of developing eye, kidney and nerve disorders, the most common complications with diabetes.

Stay physically active. Moderate physical activity — such as bike riding, walking briskly, swimming or mowing the lawn — for at least 30 minutes a day, five days a week, is recommended by the CDC. This helps to control your blood glucose, weight and blood pressure. It also raises your good cholesterol levels and lowers your bad ones, reducing your risk of heart disease and nerve damage, the CDC says.  If you’ve been pretty sedentary, the CDC recommends starting slow, and building up the activity by a couple minutes a day.

Eat healthy. The CDC recommends people with diabetes should eat a variety of foods, those with less fat, salt and sugar and higher in fiber. Eating well-balanced meals keeps your glucose (sugar) levels as close to normal as possible, says the American Diabetes Association. The ADA recommends a diet full of fruits and vegetables, whole grain foods, brown rice instead of white rice and water. What to skip? Avoid a high fat, high sugar diet that includes junk food such as chips, cookies and ice cream.

Lose weight. Being overweight is the leading risk factor for developing type 2 diabetes, according to the ADA.

Following the first two tips will help you accomplish this one.

Limit alcohol consumption. Drinking alcohol while taking medication for your diabetes could result in a reaction causing blood glucose to go too low, the CDC says.  Ask your doctor if you can drink any alcohol, and if so, how much.

Take your medications correctly. If you take your medications wrong, it could also result in blood glucose levels dropping too low, the CDC says. Ask your doctor how to take your pills or give yourself insulin shots, and follow instructions.

This article originally published on www.lifequotes.com.