Managing Diabetes Effectively: How to Balance Diet, Exercise, and Stress - Dr Vaishali S Naik

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease in which there is derangement of glucose metabolism due to insulin resistance with or without insulin deficiency. Along with derangement of glucose metabolism, there are several other metabolic changes harming almost every tissue of the human body.

Effective management of diabetes includes: Lifestyle modification, taking regular medications, monitoring blood sugars, regular assessment for complications and follow-up visits with a health care professional.

Lifestyle management is the mainstay of diabetes treatment. It includes exercise, diet, avoidance of smoking, reduction of alcohol intake, managing weight, and last but not least, managing stress.

Exercise: Regular physical activity goes a long way when it comes to maintaining weight, increasing muscle tone, improving blood pressure, lipids, and blood sugar levels.

Moderate intensity, aerobic exercise is recommended for good overall health. A minimum of 150 minutes per week exercise plan is advised for every patient. An excellent example of a great aerobic exercise is brisk walking.

Individualized assessment of the patient for appropriate exercise pattern should be done for every patient depending on the age, physical tolerance, blood sugar levels and any comorbid conditions like hypertension, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, or foot problems.

Dietary recommendations: A healthy diet is essential for maintaining weight in addition to control of the blood sugars, blood lipids and blood pressure. A healthy food intake is advised. The amount of calorie intake depends on the body mass index.

Balanced meals should be planned depending on the patient’s preferences. Portion sizes of each type of food should be understood with the help of a registered dietician. The meals should be balanced with the sugar levels, medications and levels of exercise.

In patients who are on medications for diabetes hypoglycemia- low sugar levels should also be avoided. Hydration is equally important. It is important to have all types of vegetables and fruits in the daily food plan.

For a good proteinaceous diet, one should include beans, nuts, lean meats, seafood and even poultry. One has to avoid added sugars, sugar sweetened drinks, extra salt and saturated fats. Alcoholic beverages should be avoided.

If consumed, the intake is to be limited to two drinks a day for men and one drink per day for women. Low sodium intake (less than 2300mg) is also recommended.

One should track the food intake and modify depending on the underlying sugars, medications and patient’s compliance. One should avoid extreme changes in sugar levels.

Quitting smoking: It is immensely important. Smoking has many adverse health effects: it decreases good cholesterol, increases risk of blood clots and also reduces the insulin release.

Monitoring of blood sugars: It helps in observing the variability of blood sugars, especially when patient is on oral medications or insulin or other injectable medications.

Weekly or bimonthly monitoring of pre and post prandial blood sugars should be done to know the efficacy of the ongoing treatment.

Those who are on insulin should regularly check the blood sugars daily to adjust the doses of insulin to avoid hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia.

Regular medications should be taken as prescribed by the doctor, and the efficacy of the medications should be assessed by laboratory assessments of blood sugars and glycosylated hemoglobin.

The ABC of diabetes is indeed maintaining Average blood sugars, maintain the Blood pressure, control the Cholesterol but also important is the D of diabetes -i.e. De-stress the distress of diabetes. Stress is an important factor which may raise blood sugar levels.

Stress can be reduced by healthy habits, regular exercise, yoga, and relaxation techniques. Spending time with family and friends, having support groups, developing a hobby like gardening or even listening to music can go a long way in de-stressing the diabetes patients and their families. Sometimes, a clinical psychologist may help in reducing stress levels.

Thus, diabetes can be effectively managed by the patient with help from family, friends, doctor and also by the patients themselves by following above tips for a healthy living with Diabetes.