Warning Signs of Diabetes Problems

When your blood sugar is out of control, you may start to have other health problems. But if you know their warning signs, you can nip them in the bud or keep them from getting worse.

Nerve Damage

This usually starts in your hands and feet. But it can also affect your stomach, bowels, bladder, genitals, heart, and other parts of your body. See your doctor right away if you get:

• Tingling, pain, or numbness in your hands or feet
• Stomach problems like nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea
• A lot of bladder infections or trouble emptying your bladder
• Problems getting or keeping an erection
• Dizzy or lightheaded

Your Diabetes Exercise Checklist

Exercise has huge benefits for people with diabetes. If you want to get more active, start your fitness program safely with these tips.

Know How Much Exercise You Need

Get about 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per day, 5 days a week. You've got so many options. You could swim laps, dance around your dining room, shoot hoops, or take a hike. Choose something that makes your heart beat faster but doesn’t take you to your limits.

Start slowly -- something as simple as a 15-minute walk twice a day is good at first. You can make your workouts longer and tougher over time.

Diabetes Management in 10 Minutes or Less

Do a Quick Body Scan

After your shower each day, check your body from head to toe. Look for cuts, sores, blisters, and ingrown toenails. Don't forget the places where moisture can hide and germs can grow. Check under your arms and breasts, and between your legs and toes. Look extra closely at your feet. Use a mirror to help you see all over. If you have cuts or scrapes, treat them quickly. Also, take a moment to moisturize dry skin.

Put Your Shoes by the Door

Make it easy to slip them on, so you aren’t tempted to go outside barefoot. Make sure your slippers or house shoes are handy, too. Even indoors, you need to protect your feet. Before you put your shoes on, check to make sure there’s nothing in them that you aren’t expecting, like a pebble that could nick your skin. You can also change shoes during the day to relieve pressure spots on your feet.

When Insulin Isn't Enough for High Blood Sugar

If you use insulin for diabetes, you still might get swings in your blood sugar levels once in a while. But what if they won't go down, even with insulin?

Don't worry. It's not the only way to get your condition under control. Healthy habits and diabetes medicine can also help.

Go Low-Tech

Some of best ways to prevent high blood sugar are old-school:

Exercise. When you do it regularly it's like adding another medicine to your care. It makes the insulin you take work better, and it removes the sugar, or glucose, from your blood.

It also helps you lose weight, which can lower blood sugar. Try to build up to at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise most days, even if you start with just 5 minutes. Talk to your diabetes care team first about how to work out safely.

Type 1 Diabetes in Children by Age

Type 1 diabetes is a condition that needs lifelong treatment. How you manage your child’s diabetes depends on many things, including his age and how long he’s been diagnosed. An approach that works well for a teenager won’t work with a toddler. And a child who’s diagnosed when he’s school-age is going to need to adjust to this new reality. Keep these guidelines in mind.

Infancy: If your child is diagnosed at this young of an age, you’ll need the help of a primary care doctor, a dietitian and a pediatric endocrinologist to help you manage it. They can give you feeding tips and teach you how to inject insulin and monitor blood glucose levels.

How to Support Your Child With Type 1 Diabetes

When a child learns he or she has type 1 diabetes, it's literally life-changing. "This is a condition that has to be managed 24 hours a day, seven days a week," says Steve Winer, co-chair of the JDRF Online Diabetes Support Team. That’s a lot to take in for you and for your kid. While frequent finger pricks and insulin injections might be top of mind, it's smart to also pay attention to your child's emotional needs. Here are some of the feelings your child might have and how you can help.

Fear

Having type 1 diabetes can be scary, especially when you start hearing about all the potential long-term complications, such as blindness and a shorter life span. How can you ease their worries while being realistic? Consider getting a mental health expert on board as early in the process as possible.

Prediabetes: 7 Steps to Take Now

What to do to stop prediabetes from becoming diabetes.

Getting diagnosed with prediabetes is a serious wake-up call, but it doesn't have to mean you will definitely get diabetes. There is still time to turn things around.

“It’s an opportunity to initiate lifestyle changes or treatments, and potentially retard progression to diabetes or even prevent diabetes,” says Gregg Gerety, MD, chief of endocrinology at St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany, N.Y.

Making these seven changes in your daily habits is a good way to start.

12 Tips to Avoid Diabetes Complications

Choose Carbs Carefully

Diabetes doesn't mean you have to cut carbs completely. Choose carbohydrates that break down in the body slowly, providing steady energy. Reach for whole grains, beans, nuts, and fresh vegetables and fruits. Yes, you can eat fruit even though it's sweet. It's about eating the right amounts of carbohydrates at each meal. A registered dietitian can help you learn how much is right for you.

Lose Weight If You Need To

Start small. If you are overweight, shedding just a few pounds can improve the body's ability to use insulin. It'll help lower your blood sugar and improve your blood pressure and blood fats. You'll also have more energy. Ready? Aim to burn more calories than you eat. To start, try cutting fat and calories from your diet, such as chips or fries.

10 Muscle Moves to Help Tame Diabetes

Why Do Strength Training?

Because you have diabetes, you know how important it is to control your blood sugar. Strength training helps. Simple moves done regularly can prompt your muscles to absorb more glucose. You'll also burn more calories, day and night, as you get stronger. Your mood, cholesterol levels, and blood pressure may improve, too.

Let's Get Started!

Most people with diabetes can work out safely. Ask your doctor first to be sure. You should aim for strength training at least twice a week. Also do heart-pumping cardio exercise -- like jogging, swimming, and biking -- either 5 days a week for 30 minutes each time or 3 days for 50 minutes each. Stretch a bit afterward to become more flexible. Want a solid routine or tips on technique? Check with a certified trainer.

9 Ways to Avoid Diabetes Complications

Keeping your diabetes under control will help you prevent heart, nerve, and foot problems. Here's what you can do right now.

1. Lose extra weight. Moving toward a healthy weight helps control blood sugars. Your doctor, a dietitian, and a fitness trainer can get you started on a plan that will work for you.

2. Check your blood sugar level at least twice a day. Is it in the range advised by your doctor? Also, write it down so you can track your progress and note how food and activity affect your levels.

3. Get A1c blood tests to find out your average blood sugar for the past 2 to 3 months. Most people with type 2 diabetes should aim for an A1c of 7% or lower. Ask your doctor how often you need to get an A1c test.

10 Diet and Exercise Tricks to Control Diabetes

If you have type 2 diabetes, here are easy tips and tricks to help get blood sugar under control.

Small goals make a big difference

by Eric MetcalfWhen it comes to type 2 diabetes, you need diet and exercise goals that encourage you to succeed—not ones that set you up to fail, says Ann Goebel-Fabbri, PhD, a psychologist and investigator at the Joslin Diabetes Center, in Boston.

"I think goals have to be small and well spelled out for people. Everyone has the experience of going to a health practitioner and being told something vague: 'You know, you really ought to lose weight.' What does that mean? Goals need to be broken down into small nuts and bolts," she says.

First step: See where you stand now

Margaret Savoca, PhD, an assistant professor in the department of nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, suggests that you stop and look at your eating and exercise habits, and figure out what will be the easiest changes to make, rather than making huge changes that are tough to sustain.

Treatment Diabetes

Management of type 2 diabetes includes:

• Healthy eating
• Regular exercise
• Possibly, diabetes medication or insulin therapy
• Blood sugar monitoring

These steps will help keep your blood sugar level closer to normal, which can delay or prevent complications.

Healthy eating

Contrary to popular perception, there's no specific diabetes diet. However, it's important to center your diet on these high-fiber, low-fat foods:

• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Whole grains

12 Diabetes Food Tips to Avoid

There's a lot of information about what to eat and what not to eat with diabetes. Find out expert advice on common misconceptions to feel more confident about the foods you eat and the choices you make.

Food Tips You Should Ignore

Are all white foods bad? What about sugar-free -- is it always a good choice? Should you avoid all foods that include ingredients that are unfamiliar or you can't pronounce? We take a look at 12 misleading food tips and try to set the record straight, leaving you with more options and less confusion about what to eat with diabetes.

Misleading Advice: Avoid all added fats.

There's good reason to keep small amounts of fat in your healthy eating plan. It tastes good, plus fat helps your body absorb fat-soluble vitamins and other important disease-fighters. For example, eat a mixed-vegetable salad without dressing and you won't absorb much of the vegetables' carotenoids such as lycopene and alpha- and beta-carotene. Scientists are interested in carotenoids for their possible roles in the prevention of heart disease, cancer, and age-related eye disease.

What to Eat with Diabetes: Best Sweet Diabetic Snacks

We've got your best picks for sweet snacks right here! These sweet diabetic snacks received the nutrition check mark from dietitians and taste approval from people like you. We conducted blind taste panels with more than 100 people, including people with diabetes, and awarded the top-rated brownies, cookies, bars, and graham snacks our Diabetic Living What to Eat seal of approval.

Please note that product information, packaging, and availability may have changed since our story first appeared.

Best Sweet Snacks for Diabetes

To snack or not to snack? That is the big question for many people with diabetes.

With current oral diabetes medications, snacking is not necessary to avoid blood sugar lows. But in some cases, snacks can be helpful for weight control. The key is to avoid high-calorie choices like potato chips or candy. Instead reach for a better snack, such as one of these sweet options.

12 - 22 Foods to Avoid with Diabetes PART II

12. Purchased Smoothies

If you're looking for healthier options at the drive-through window, a fruit smoothie might seem like a good choice. Filled with fruit and sold at colorful, fresh-looking hot spots, smoothies seem like great snacks or lunch choices. Unfortunately, what you don't see is added sugar and extra-large portion sizes.

Why you should incorporate blueberries into your smoothies.

For example, the Strawberry Whirl Jamba Juice Smoothie* has 46 grams of sugar, 220 calories, and 54 grams of carb in a 16-ounce serving. Although it's fat-free and gives you 90 percent of your daily value of vitamin C, the cons outweigh the pros for this fruit smoothie.

McDonald's McCafe Strawberry Banana Real Fruit Smoothie* comes in three sizes. The smallest, 12 ounces, has 210 calories, 44 grams of sugar, and 44 grams of carb. If you order the largest size, 22 ounces, it packs a whopping 70 grams of sugar and 74 grams of carb.

1 - 11 Foods to Avoid with Diabetes part I

These top food offenders contain high amounts of fat, sodium, carbs, and calories that may increase your risk of high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart disease, uncontrolled blood sugar, and weight gain. The good news is you can indulge in your favorite foods and still eat healthfully with our satisfying and delicious alternatives.

Think Twice Before Eating These Foods

At Diabetic Living, we believe that eating with diabetes doesn't have to mean deprivation, starvation, or bland and boring foods. However, some foods really are best left on the table or in the store. Everyone -- with diabetes or without -- would be wise to avoid or limit the foods on this list because they are high in saturated fat, sodium, calories, or carbs, or might contain trans fats. High amounts of sodium and saturated fat can lead to heart disease, while excess sugars, high carb counts, and added calories can cause unwanted weight gain and blood sugar spikes.

If you see some of your favorite foods on this list, don't despair: We've picked healthier options for you to choose from that taste great. So you can have your fries and eat them, too -- provided they're baked rather than deep-fat fried.

Diabetes prevention: 5 tips for taking control

Changing your lifestyle could be a big step toward diabetes prevention — and it's never too late to start. Consider these tips.

When it comes to type 2 diabetes — the most common type of diabetes — prevention is a big deal. It's especially important to make diabetes prevention a priority if you're at increased risk of diabetes, for example, if you're overweight or have a family history of the disease.

Diabetes prevention is as basic as eating more healthfully, becoming more physically active and losing a few extra pounds — and it's never too late to start. Making a few simple changes in your lifestyle now may help you avoid the serious health complications of diabetes down the road, such as nerve, kidney and heart damage. Consider the latest diabetes prevention tips from the American Diabetes Association.

Tip 1: Get more physical activity

There are many benefits to regular physical activity. Exercise can help you:

5 Healthy Eating Tips for Diabetes

While taking control of eating is just one aspect of managing diabetes, it's a big and important piece of the puzzle. Here are five tips for healthy eating.

Eating with Diabetes: How to Better Control Blood Sugar & Weight Loss

Gone are the days of strict diets, forbidden foods, and trips down the sugar-free food aisle. According to American Diabetes Association nutrition recommendations: To eat well with diabetes simply means applying the basic principles of healthful eating.

"Thank goodness I don't need to follow a rigid 'diabetic diet,' limit carbs, and eat every two hours," says Cathy Rogers, who was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes three years ago. "I'm encouraged I can manage my eating without stressing out."

How is Diabetes Treated?

The goals of diabetes treatment are to control your blood glucose levels and prevent diabetes complications. Your diabetes healthcare team will focus on these three areas to help you achieve optimum health:

Nutrition

When you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, you need to be very aware of not only what you eat, but also when and how much you eat. A Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE) at Joslin can work with you to develop a healthy meal plan that fits your lifestyle. Following a meal plan can also help you lose weight and lower your risk of developing complications.

Simple Steps to Preventing Diabetes

Introduction

If type 2 diabetes was an infectious disease, passed from one person to another, public health officials would say we’re in the midst of an epidemic. This difficult disease, once called adult-onset diabetes, is striking an ever-growing number of adults. Even more alarming, it’s now beginning to show up in teenagers and children.

More than 24 million Americans have diabetes; of those, about 6 million don’t know they have the disease. (1) In 2007, diabetes cost the U.S. an estimated $116 billion in excess medical spending, and an additional $58 billion in reduced productivity. If the spread of type 2 diabetes continues at its present rate, the number of people diagnosed with diabetes in the United States will increase from about 16 million in 2005 to 48 million in 2050. Worldwide, the number of adults with diabetes will rise from 285 million in 2010 to 439 million in the year 2030.