MANAGING DIABETES
Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas, that leafshaped organ located behind the liver, produce little or no insulin—reason for those afflicted with Type 1 diabetes—or when the body the body does not respond properly to insulin, a condition known as insulin resistance, which is the case for those with Type 2 diabetes.
Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar and is a key regulator of the body’s metabolism. Hyperglycemia, or raised blood sugar, is a common effect of uncontrolled diabetes and over time leads to serious damage to many of the body’s systems, especially the nerves and blood vessels.
While Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that caus- es the insulin producing beta cells in the pancreas to be destroyed, preventing the body from being able to produce enough insulin, Type 2 diabetes, is thought to result from a combination of genetic factors along with lifestyle factors such as obesity, high alcohol intake, and being sedentary.
Diabetasol, a cost-effective and efficient nutritional milk powder for diabetics, has for years been campaigning to help those afflicted with the disease to manage their condition.
Critical to this public reminder is taking of the prescribed dosage—and at the suggested time—of insulin as well as other diabetes medications, which are all designed to lower blood sugar levels when diet and exercise alone aren’t sufficient for managing diabetes.
It is important for individu- als with diabetes to remember to inform their doctors about other medications that they also take as these may have an impact on their blood sugar levels.
Health problems
This is because, over time, diabetes can damage the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, and nerves.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) adults with diabetes have a two- to three-fold increased risk of heart attacks and strokes. Combined with reduced blood flow, neuropathy (nerve damage) in the feet increases the chance of foot ulcers, infection and eventual need for limb amputation.
Diabetic retinopathy is an important cause of blindness, and occurs as a result of longterm accumulated damage to the small blood vessels in the retina. It was believed that 2.6 percent of global blindness can be attributed to diabetes.
Diabetes is also among the leading causes of kidney failure, adds WHO.
Exercise
While exercise is important, one should remember to ask a doctor about what type of exercise is appropriate.
In general, most adults should exercise at least 30 minutes a day on most days of the week. However, if one has been inactive for a long time, the doctor may want to check overall health before advising what sort of aerobic or musclestrengthening exercise combi- nation is appropriate.
Eating right
Eating well is one of life’s greatest pleasures and having diabetes shouldn’t keep one from enjoying a wide variety of foods.
In fact, people with diabetes have the same nutritional needs as anyone else. However, they need to plan their meals to help them manage diabetes.
One only needs to know how food affect blood sugar levels—it’s not only the type of food one eats but also how much and which combinations of food types to take.
For example, Diabetasol informs that its powdered drink contains all the essential vitamins that may help people with diabetes achieve balanced nutrition. The combination of chromium picolinate and biotin helps regulate carbohydrate metabolism. Diabetasol also uses sucralose, a zero calorie sweetener considered safe by the United States Food and Drug Administration.
Diabetasol is also formulated to be safe for those individuals with diabetes and hypertension because of low sodium level.
Diabetasol also reminds individuals with diabetes about the importance of talking to a doctor, if not a dietitian, regarding the best food choices and what appropriate balance of food types to eat. This is especially important because the type of carbohydrates one chooses, other food types and medications may impact on one’s blood sugar levels.