All about ‘DIABETES’

The number of diabetes cases is increasing throughout the world. World Health Organization consider diabetes as an epidemic, predicting it will soon be the seventh biggest cause of death worldwide. The change in lifestyle habits are the only reason behind this tremendous cases of diabetes.

What is diabetes?

Pancreas which is a main gland in human body which produce two hormones: insulin and glucagon. Both hormones control the blood sugar level in the body. When a person have high blood sugar,insulin will decrease the level and when a person is hypoglycemic, glucagon will increase the blood sugar. So diabetes mellitus is a hormonal disorder when your pancreas is not working properly and produce less insulin. In such condition, the glucose (blood sugar) level will rise in the blood.

Early signs

Usually most of the people find hard to find if they are diabetic. There are some signs and symptoms which is usually seen. The food we eat will convert into glucose for energy and when there is less insulin, glucose can’t get into the cells and provide energy. This lack of energy can leads to getting hungry often, tired and lazy. Another common symptoms is increased thirst and increased urination which leads to decrease body water; dehydration. Blurred vision is also a symptom which later diagnosed as a diabetes factor.

How to diagnose?

A periodic health check up is important in today’s life. There are many blood tests to check whether diabetic or not. HbA1c test (Glycosylated haemoglobin) is the major test to find whether a person is pre diabetic, diabetic or post diabetic. This test actually give a result of average percentage of blood sugar level in last three months. The normal level is 4-5. 5.5 ℅. More than 6 % means you are diabetic. Another tests are fasting blood sugar, post prandial, random blood sugar test etc..

Let’s prevent diabetes

Diabetes can be treated. The first thing is to treat by a healthy and strict diet. If it don’t works, then medicine and diet should be followed together with physical activity.

• Be more active : Nowadays all the people are busy with their work and are less physically active. If the body is not working heavily and the person is just eating and doing his work, the body become less productive and leads to many hormonal problems. Physical activity is an important lifestyle modification to treat diabetes.
• Maintain a healthy weight : There is a high chance of getting diabetes if you are overweight. So track your weight accordingly. Maintain your BMI within normal range.
• Don’t smoke
• Don’t drink alcohol
• Make healthier food choices
• Proper diet

Diabetes and Nutrition

Diet plays an important role in controlling the sugar level. What you eat is closely connected to the amount of sugar in your blood. Eating a healthy meals with correct portion sizes, eating at correct time without delay and avoiding all the harmful foods can help in lowering the blood sugar level. A low carbohydrate, low fat with high fiber and moderate protein is a diet recommended for diabetes patient.To manage your blood glucose, you need to balance what you eat and drink with physical activity and diabetes drug or insulin.

Many are worry about the fact that they can’t eat anything if they become diabetic. Following a healthy meal plan helps to lower sugar level. The foods which should be included are whole grains,pulses, fruits and vegetables which is high in fiber. The fiber helps to get rid of blood sugar from the body. Eating the right amount of food will help you manage your blood glucose level and your weight.

What to avoid?

The foods which should be limited if you are diabetic are fried foods,high glycemic foods,sweets, candies, fruit juices, soda, baked foods, high carbohydrate foods like white rice,white bread, refined cereals, potato, tapioca, sugar, and high fat foods like butter, margarine, red meats etc.. Not all fats are restricted. Include healthy fats like nuts.All these foods are causing a hype in sugar especially carbohydrates. So remaining all the foods in the food groups can be eaten which is actually a good news. Why worrying like you can’t eat anything. If you are taking insulin and you wishes to eat any of the above foods then count your carb and can increase the insulin unit.

My plate model

My plate model was set up for making diabetes patients understand how to make a healthy meal plan. The plate shows that half of your plate should contain non starchy vegetables, one fourth should be protein like egg, fish and chicken and remaining one fourth should be whole grains. A bowl of fruits is also good. A glass of low fat milk or water along with this meal plan sounds helpful.Consume salads daily, restrict sugar in your diet lowers sugar level.

Not controlling the diet , not tracking the levels will increase the sugar level and diabetes become more worse and it can leads to may complications like kidney damage, vision loss, heart attack, stroke and poor wound healing. So manage your diabetes with proper diet, exercise and medication.

#worlddiabetesday