Each issue, WebMD the Magazine's "Health Highlights" focuses on a national health theme for the month with expert tips, reader comments, and eye-catching factoids. November is Diabetes Awareness month. Follow these tips to stay at your peak!
1. Say "Om"
Learn to meditate to help reduce stress and improve your blood sugar levels.
2. Step Out
Exercise helps keep your weight and blood sugar under control, and just about everyone can do a brisk daily walk.
3. Eat Right
Follow your food plan. If you don't have one, ask your doctor about seeing a dietitian who specializes in diabetes.
4. Jet Set
Before you hit the road, get a checkup, pack extra meds, and plan your doses around time zone changes.
5. Hang 10
Drop 10% of your body weight through diet and exercise.
6. Trade Up
Swap saturated fats and refined sugar for healthy fats in nuts and sweet whole fruit.
7. See Clearly
Diabetes complications can cause vision loss or blindness. Schedule a full eye exam at least once a year.
8. Stand Up
You may not feel foot injuries, so check both feet daily for blisters, cuts, or sores.
9. Show Color
Pack your plate with a palette of greens, yellows, and reds -- like spinach, squash, and tomatoes.
10. Learn More
Visit WebMD's Diabetes Center for news, tips, a blood sugar tracker, and more.
Expert Tips on Living With Diabetes
Tips from Adrian Vella, MD, endocrinologist, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.
- Use the web or your smartphone to help you manage what you eat. Online tools can help you keep track of your calorie consumption, aid in meal planning, and provide important nutrition information to help you make healthy choices.
- Get a pedometer. People with diabetes need to exercise. For many of my patients, that means walking. Set a goal.
Tips from Deborah J. Wexler, MD, assistant professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School, and co-clinical director, Massachusetts General Hospital Diabetes Unit.
- Diabetes can be discouraging. You may feel sad, anxious, or depressed for no apparent reason. Get support, and you will be better able to meet the challenges.
- Portion control is key. Plate the amount of food you intend to eat, and don't go back for seconds.
Continued
Tips from Samuel Andrews II, MD, endocrinologist, Ochsner Medical Center, New Orleans, and co-author of The New Sugar Busters.
- Choose foods that won't boost your blood sugar. That means eating brown or basmati rice and whole wheat bread and pasta. Skip juices and eat whole fruits and fiber.
- Daily exercise helps control your weight and blood sugar levels. Each day, hop on a bike, go for a swim, or take a walk.
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