Nutrition

Below I've included a list of important nutrition tips to follow. These will help manage your diabetes as well as prevent any further health complications associated with the disease:

Weight maintenance - this means maintaining a BMI (body mass index) ranging from 20 - 25. This is especially important if you have type II diabetes, as you are at risk for developing all sorts of other health complications.

1. Eating regular meals - this will help you maintain constant your blood sugar at constant levels, rather thant highs followed by lows.
2. Cutting back on sugary foods - they cause high blood glucose levels.
3. Cutting down on, or eliminating, alcohol - aAlcohol causes a drop in your blood sugar levels, putting you at risk for a hypoglycaemic reaction;, therefore, it is important not to over- drink.
4. Exercising 4-5 times a week (for further elaboration, see below)

Diet

Although doctors once believed in prescribing a specific diet to diabetic patients, today that is no longer the case. The diet tips now being recommended to patients with either type I or type II diabetes, are actually pertinent to just about anyone who is interested in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and they are as follows:

Eat lots of fruits and vegetables from an assortment of colors

• Use olive or canola oil for cooking;, avoid eating saturated or trans- fats
• Cut down on fatty red meats,; opt for chicken, turkey, or duck instead
• Increase your intake of soluable fiber
• Avoid the intake of processed sugars
• Maintain a proper ratio of your protein/ carbohydrate intake
• Choose complex carbohydrates over regular carbohydrates; they take longer to digest, thus maintaining your blood sugar levels. Examples include:

1. Whole grain bread,crackers and pretzels
2. Grains such as quinoa, millet, barley, bran and oatmeal
3. Potatoes - sweet and regular
4. Whole grain breakfast cereals (Wheetabiox, Wheaties, Raisin Bran, Total)
5. Pasta - maccaroni, spaghetti
6. Brown rice, rice cakes
7. Beans - garbanzo, kidney, soy, green, etc.
8. Lentils - green, red, brown, etc.

Exercise

Getting regular exercise is an absolutely criticalessential piece of treatment for people who suffer from type II diabetes. Exercise will not only help improve your blood glucose levels, it will also prevent the development of further complications associated with type II diabetes.

Some of the many benefits of exercise include:

• Improving your body's use of insulin
• Lowering blood glucose levels
• Reducing your BMI
• Lowering your ‘bad' cholesterol
• Improving your cardiovascular health
• Increasing bone density and strength
• Increasing muscle density
• Reducing your risk for heart disease
• Raising your energy levels

Your workout routine should ideally be compromised comprised of both cardiovascular and strength training exercises, and should be performed at least 3x per week.

For a cardio workout, try choosing from any of the following suggestions:

• Power walking
• Jogging
• Biking
• Canoeing
• Lawn mowing
• Leaf raking
• Vigorous house cleaning
• Ice skating
• Swimming
• Row boatingBoat rowing
• Salsa dancing
• Aerobics
• Kickboxing
• Karate
• Treadmill
• Stairmaster

For strength training exercises try:

• Using elastic resistance bands
• Lifting weights (women - this can involve doing multiple repetitions with 2-5 lbs)
• Joining a Pilates class
• Taking a muscle training class at the gym
• Doing sit-ups, push-ups and leg-raises

Now that you've embraced a new, healthy life style, Bby adhering to the instructions provided above, you should be able to get your diabetes under control, and continue to live a totally ‘normal', energy filled, life!