Diabetes can be a difficult ailment to deal with. However, with proper control, its symptoms can be prevented from surfacing. Here are some steps, to keep you from contracting diabetes.
Diabetes can be a difficult ailment to deal with. However, with proper control, its symptoms can be prevented from surfacing. Here are some steps, to keep you from contracting diabetes.
1. Weight Management
Taking control of your weight is the first step in warding off chances of developing diabetes. A controlled weight not only helps to keep blood-sugar levels in check, but also maintains overall well-being.
2. Exercise
Proper exercise is the key element in maintaining optimum health. Studies have shown that exercise improves the blood flow and clears sugar levels in the blood. This results in higher metabolism and lower risks of diabetes.
3. Avoid Trans-Fats
Trans-fats lower the body’s capability to absorb protein, withholding insulin secretion in the body. This marks an increase in the blood-sugar levels. Avoiding trans-fat containing processed foods will help keep risks of diabetes, at bay.
4. No Sugar
Moderate consumption of sugar will keep blood-sugar levels in check. However, rampant consumption of unnaturally sweetened processed foods will inhibit insulin production and result in the onset of diabetes. Thus, avoiding sugar wholly will be the best approach in the prevention of diabetes.
5. No Refined Carbohydrates
Avoid white rice, pasta, popcorn, rice-puffs and white flour, if you wish to control your blood-sugar levels. During diabetes, the body loses its ability to assimilate complex carbohydrates, causing a rampant sugar deposition in blood as sugar. Avoiding the above-mentioned complex carbohydrates will ensure that your insulin production stays unaffected.
6. Fibre
A fibre-rich diet is highly conducive to controlling blood-sugar levels. The absorbed fibre tends to absorb the sugar in the blood and facilitate insulin secretion to normalize diabetes. Consuming whole-wheat and multi-grain products will load up the body with fibre.
7. No Smoking
Smoking increases chances of contracting diabetes, since it begins to affect cardiovascular health and hormonal secretions in the long run. Carbon deposition in the blood results in inhibited absorption of assimilated nutrients. Giving up your smoking habit will, thus, boost your health and keep diabetes away.
8. Fresh Fruits
Natural fruit sugars are the best options, as dietary supplements, since they provide all the necessary vitamins and minerals required. Studies have shown that an adequate intake of Vitamin A and C maintains blood and bone health. Include fresh citrus fruits like oranges, apples, pineapples, grapes and lemons in your diet. Consume bananas in moderation, since their sugar structure is more complex than that of citrus fruits.
9. Fresh Vegetables
Fresh vegetables are rich sources of iron, zinc, potassium, calcium and other essential nutrients. These nutrients restore the balance and aid in overall cardiovascular and nervous health. This prompts the body to assimilate proteins and produce insulin in an optimum level.
10. Green Tea
Green tea is nothing less than a miracle cure for ailments. Consuming a cup of unsweetened green tea regularly will rid the body of free radicals and let the antioxidants, contained within, normalize the blood sugar levels. This will aid in reducing diabetes and help keep the chances at bay.
11. Coffee
Although caffeine has been known to increase chances of cardiovascular ailments, a moderate consumption tends to curb the increase of blood sugar levels. Caffeine has been known to suppress hunger pangs, which in the long run can curb an unruly sweet-tooth syndrome, from loading up the body with unnecessary calories.
12. Small, Frequent Meals
High metabolic rates are highly conducive in maintaining blood-sugar levels and nothing keeps metabolism more fired up than consuming small portions, frequently. Studies have shown that frequent meals result in greater absorption of nutrients and lesser deposition of fat. Without fat deposition, the insulin secretion is normalized.
13. Cardiovascular Health
With an onset of diabetes, cardiovascular health is the first aspect to be affected. Without proper care, diabetic patients develop heart ailments within a short span of time. In order to keep their diabetes in check, they need to monitor their cholesterol levels closely. Through proper medication, diet and rigorous exercise, one can keep their heart healthy.
14. Avoid Red Meat
When consumed in excess, the polyphenols in red meat tend to raise blood cholesterol levels. Red meats, due to their complicated protein structures are digested much slowly. Thus, consuming red meat tends to bring down the metabolic rate and hinder insulin secretion.
15. Cinnamon Powder
Powdered cinnamon, apart from spicing up your foods, has the ability to lower blood sugar levels, as well. Take a pinch of cinnamon with warm water every day and kiss diabetes goodbye.
16. Stress Management
Oxytocin and serotonin are responsible for keeping the nerves functioning on optimum levels. The release of adrenaline under great stress, on the other hand, tends to disrupt insulin secretions. Doing away with stress is, therefore, the most potent way of minimizing the harmful effects of high-blood sugar.
17. High Protein Diet
A diet high in protein is extremely conducive in maintaining energy levels in the body, since people with risks of diabetes are recommended to stay off diets with complex carbohydrates and high fat content. Not only does it aid in normalizing the wear-and-tear of the body, but also maintains a high metabolic rate.
18. Avoid Fast Foods
When it comes to epitomizing bad health, fast foods grace the very top of the pyramid. Not only are they replete in excessive salt, processed sugars and complex carbohydrates but are also steeped in unhealthy oils containing trans-fats. In order to maintain healthy blood-sugar levels, cutting down on fast-foods is a must!
19. Regular Blood-Sugar Checks
Keeping tab on your blood sugar levels is an excellent way to monitor your chances of contracting diabetes. Buy a blood-glucose monitor to be more hands-on in the testing process. These devices require a small sample of blood to determine if your sugar levels are within control or not.
20. Regular Consultation
An ailment like diabetes requires constant check-up. Careful diagnosis keeps blood-sugar within the optimum levels. Since monthly check-ups and blood tests will determine the appropriate dosage to cure one of diabetes, setting up regular consultations with your doctor will be the best option to resort to.
21. Sleep Well
A good night’s sleep is as essential for proper health, as food or exercise. Studies have shown that adults sleeping for 7-8 hours every night have experienced lesser chances of contracting diabetes in the long run, than those who sleep for fewer hours. The science behind it claims that sleep calms the brain and facilitates the normal hormone secretion. Lack of sleep upsets the normal hormonal balance.
22. Avoid Salt
Moderate salt intake is the key factor in controlling diabetes. Salt is responsible for tempering the osmotic balance of the body, which when upset, tends to give rise to various hormonal anomalies. Its ability to hinder insulin production tends to aggravate risks of Type-2 diabetes.
23. Take Care of Bruises
In diabetes, the immune system of the body is rendered weak, which means that minor injuries don’t tend to heal easily. Thus, unexplained cuts and bruises are primary physical signs of high blood-sugar levels.
24. Drink Water
Water tends to mobilize the high sugar content in blood and thereby helps in preventing aggravation. Drinking 2.5 litres of water, on a daily basis, will not only regulate physical functions but will also lower chances of cardiovascular and diabetic ailments.
25. Lean Meat
Lean meats are great substitutes for non-vegetarians under diabetes risk. The high protein content is essential to sustain physical well-being, since fats and high-carbohydrate diets are out of the question.
26. More Calcium
Consuming optimum amounts of calcium, whether in supplement form or in diet, can reduce chances of contracting diabetes. Studies have shown that people consuming 500 mg in supplement form have experienced 25% less chances of developing Type-2 diabetes.
27. Vinegar
Vinegar is an excellent dietary compound responsible for diluting concentrated sugar-levels in the blood. Studies have shown that two spoonfuls of vinegar before a meal can reduce the glucose influx.
28. Soy
Soy proteins are one of the miracle cures for reducing diabetes among crucial patients. The isoflavones contained in them reduce the sugar content in blood and keep the body nourished, while accumulating much fewer calories, when compared to other foods.
29. Skip Aerated Drinks
Colas and other aerated beverages are replete with excessively high sugar content, which is detrimental to the existing blood-sugar levels. Its sugar content is also a rampant source of empty calories, which hinders the physical ability to assimilate nutrients.
30. Sunlight
Studies have shown that moderate exposure to sunlight boosts the physical synthesis of vitamin D, which is essential for doing away with insulin resistance in the body. Lack of Vitamin D results in low insulin production. While soaking up the sun might sound like an excellent yet easy remedy, to reduce diabetes levels, one must pay attention not to overexpose themselves to avoid risks of skin cancer.
Diabetes is completely manageable, if handled with dedication and care. By following the above-mentioned steps, one can steer clear of the harmful effects of diabetes.
