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It may be easier to alter your lifestyle and eating habits to
beat diabetes if you understand better what diabetes is. Many people
think diabetes only happens to people who are overweight or they
think that diabetes is just having too much sugar in their blood.
Some people who are diagnosed with diabetes will describe their
condition as “having a touch of the sugar” or “my sugar’s a little
high.” When diabetes is described in those terms or thought to be a
disease you “sort of” have, that’s when treatment becomes a problem.
Understanding diabetes blood sugar is part of that solution.
First, and perhaps most importantly, although you can have diabetes
that is treatable without taking insulin or oral meds, it is still a
serious disease. Changing your eating habits is not an easy task and
it requires dedication and preparedness. Adding 30 minutes of
exercise to your day also requires you to reschedule and plan
accordingly. The second
thing is to understand is that just cutting sugar out of your diet
is not going treat your diabetes completely.
Diabetes is your body’s inability to process the sugar, or glucose,
in your blood. It can also be that your pancreas is not producing
enough or even any insulin in order to get the glucose absorbed into
your blood. When you eat food your body breaks that food down into
glucose. Glucose provides your cells with energy and helps them
grow. Insulin is a
hormone produced by your pancreas that allows your cells to absorb
the glucose. If the glucose is not absorbed by the cells, it
accumulates in the blood until it is passed as waste in the urine.
Tracking your diabetes blood sugar is one way for you to keep your
disease under control. Your doctor will do a test called the A1C
test; it tests your blood over a long range time period of 3 months.
This test shows how well your glucose levels are being maintained.
Monitoring your blood sugar level on your own gives you the
opportunity to see on a
day-to-day basis how you are doing on your treatment plan. Testing
yourself in the morning, before and after certain foods or meals,
comparing blood sugar levels before and after exercise, these all
work together in letting you see your progress.
Treating your diabetes requires more than cutting out sweets; it is
a plan you work out with health care professionals that results in
lifestyle changes. Tracking your diabetes blood sugar level is only
one part of the plan, but it is a vital part.
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