Living a Healthy Life with Diabetes

Diabetes mellitus is a lifelong condition that can be managed well with lifestyle measures and medications. We have previously talked about how the condition ensues and what happens if it is not treated. That was important to understand the significance of treatment and the consequences of untreated diabetes. However, one can live a perfectly normal lifestyle with diabetes.

Below we discuss several measures, in general, to help you manage diabetes and have a healthy lifestyle.

Contact our pharmacists at Guildview pharmacy for a free consultation and customized advice regarding diabetes management.

1. Diet

Maintaining a healthy diet helps in keeping blood sugar levels under control. A healthy diet includes vegetables, fruits, meat and alternatives, grains, beans, lentils, and milk in appropriate proportions. Priority should be given to foods with lower amounts of

carbohydrates and higher fiber content. Reducing fat intake also helps and contributes

toward lowering body weight. Limiting alcohol to 1-2 drinks per day further helps in

avoiding low blood glucose levels. For more information, or if you are interested in

getting a customized diet plan, visit our pharmacy to speak to our diabetes educators.

2. Exercise

Adequate exercise helps in lowering body weight. It also improves blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol, and circulation. Additionally, it also promotes fitness, relieves stress, and reduces the risk of heart diseases. We recommend at least 2.5 hours of moderate-intensity exercise if no health limitation is present. Stress test is advised in

people with heart diseases or risk factors for heart diseases.

3. Quitting smoking

Smoking cigarettes is a very big risk factor for heart disease especially in people with coexisting diabetes, high blood pressure, and/or high cholesterol levels. It is advised to quit smoking as soon as possible to avoid any health complications. However, we understand that smoking becomes a habit with time and is hard to quit. That is why we are here to help you. Speak to our pharmacists if you need more information on the

medications or strategies that can help you in quitting smoking. Our pharmacists are

trained in quitting smoking therapies and can write prescriptions to help you.

4. Keeping blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol in range

Following lifestyle measures discussed above and taking prescribed medications

regularly help in maintaining blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels in

range. In order to know if these strategies are working, we recommend monitoring blood sugar and blood pressure regularly and preferably noting them down in a diary. We also recommend having cholesterol levels checked periodically. Speak to our pharmacists at Guildview pharmacy to learn more about your targets and how to achieve them.

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