Diabetes is a metabolic disease in which a person has high blood sugar, either because the body does not produce enough insulin, or because cells do not respond to the insulin that is produced – when the body can not convert the body’s sugar into energy.
There is no cure for diabetes, a disease that affects approximately a quarter of American adults over age 60 (which is why it’s become a significant health issue).
The main factors to consider for the caregiver helping someone with diabetes are diet and exercise.
Diet
There is much controversy regarding what diet to recommend to sufferers of diabetes. The diet most often recommended is high in dietary fiber, especially soluble fiber, but low in fat (especially saturated fat). Patients may be encouraged to reduce their intake of carbohydrates that have a high glycemic index (GI), although this is also controversial.
For sure alcohol must be drunk in moderation because alcohol is processed in the body very similarly to the way fat is processed, and alcohol provides almost as many calories as fat.
To simplify things, keep your blood sugar levels in check, you need to make healthy food choices,exercise regularly, and take the medicines your health care provider prescribes.
Exercise
Exercise is very important in managing diabetes by combining diet, exercise, and medicine this will help control your weight and blood sugar level.
Continued moderate exercise will help lower you blood sugar by lowering your blood sugar level. A sprint for a bus, climbing the stairs for example. However, too much exercise can have the opposite effect and actually increase your blood glucose levels. In many cases your doctor, or medical professional, can offer advice. This is more important if you have any unpleasant diabetes related illnesses such as severe eye disease or nerve damage.
