Cook To Avoid Diabetes
Is diabetes serious?
Yes. Diabetes is a life-long condition. High blood glucose levels over a long period of time can cause blindness, heart disease, kidney problems, amputations, nerve damage, and erectile dysfunction. Good diabetes care and management can delay or prevent the onset of these complications.
You can live a long and healthy life by keeping your blood glucose levels in your target range. You can do this by:
1. Eating healthy meals
2. Being physically active regularly
3. Taking diabetes medication, including insulin
Things you should know about insulin:
When insulin was first discovered and made available for people with diabetes, there was only one kind of short-acting insulin. This required several injections a day. As time went on, new insulins were developed that lasted longer, requiring fewer injections, but requiring strict attention to timing of meals.
This gives more flexibility in the number and timing of injections, making it easier to maintain target blood glucose levels, based on your lifestyle. One to four injections a day may be suggested to you for optimal control of your blood glucose.
Before considering a move to insulin it is worth examining all the option with regard to combination therapy. Diet should be optimised and the benefit of exercise discussed. It is important to be aware of the possibility of weight gain and of the need to maintain weight ‘neutral’ especially if already obese.