How to adapt effective diabetes management for women

Diabetes has become a growing trend among women everywhere – the Non Communicable Disease is gathering momentum mostly due to changed lifestyles, heightened stress levels and increasing food consumption of processed foods high in sugar(diabetes management for women).

A contributory factor is obesity and lack of exercise which results in the early onset of diabetes.

Often, lifestyle modifications enable better management of the disease – losing weight, managing food habits, decreasing processed and carb loaded meals, exercising all contribute towards better management of diabetes.

However, these modifications are useless if long term effect of the disease is not taken into account. Managing diabetes is a must if you want to reign in the damage diabetes can do to your body.

Take a look at these strategies to understand why and how small yet effective daily habits can change the course of the disease in your life.

Stress Management –

Managing daily stress can start with only one person and that is you. Make sure that you shut off work at a certain time every day and do not let allow the work stress to invade your private time. Daily stress pain points such as driving, managing children’s homework, attending to morning routines of a busy household etc. must be managed consciously so that you can avoid unnecessary stress build up.

Set aside time for yourself –

Setting time aside for yourself is very important to unwind and relax. This time must be used to engage in an activity you enjoy doing such as listening to music or watching a movie. It must be a set time ideally everyday so that you do not miss it. It is very beneficial for you to carve out this time slot in your day since it will help you relax and allow the diabetes impact to lessen on your over-all mental wellbeing.

East healthily –

Diabetes calls for healthy eating habits. You can choose complex carbs that are low on the GI scale, vegetables, protein both plant based and animal derived and fruits low in sugar. Strawberries and blueberries along with guava are ideal for diabetics as fruits. Raw mango and June plum (ambarella) are also ideal fruits to manage Diabetes.

Cut down processed foods which include high sugar and choose low sugar alternatives such as stevia or palm jaggery(diabetes management for women). Choose brown rice and parboiled rice varieties which are healthy and will make you feel fuller even with a little bit.

Proteins are good for blood sugar management so make sure you have your eggs, your meat or fish – also, pulses such as lentils, cowpea, gram etc. are excellent sources for a diabetic diet.

Make sure you include greens and vegetables in your daily diet as well.

Regular exercise – diabetes management for women

Staying fit is vital to manage your Diabetes. Choose an activity you like such as dancing or walking and make sure you do it at least for 30 minutes each day. Set aside a specific time schedule for exercise everyday so that you will not avoid it or fill that time slot with other things.

Strength training with weights is an excellent way to ensure your bones and muscles stay healthy and active so make sure you include one or two days of lifting weights. Increase intensity and weight strength as you get stronger for better muscle health.

Make sure you adhere to your medicine routines –

Even though your blood sugar levels may go down with medication, do not stop medication and always see your doctor at least every three months. Diabetes is not curable and medication will have to be taken throughout your life(diabetes management for women). Sometimes with age blood sugar levels may increase or decrease so you need to be mindful of your levels.

Stay updated –

There’s so much happening in the worldwide Diabetes space – keep reading and checking out information that is constantly updated on how the disease is being managed globally. These insights will help you manage your own journey.

Be positive –

Being diabetic is not the end of the world – you can manage it well and live with it as long as you know the disease and its implications(diabetes management for women). Keep checking your blood sugar levels especially post prandial levels , two hours after a meal to see how it has fared in raising or reducing blood sugar levels.

Remember that as with every disease, Diabetes needs constant management and effective treatment. What you will benefit from mostly is a change of attitude towards the disease and how you manage it on a daily basis.

Keep in mind that with meal management, exercise, stress reduction and medication, you can stay on top of the disease – however, keep in mind that your blood sugar levels can spike or reduce suddenly so you need to consistently monitor your blood sugar to make sure you are in control.