What Can You Do
In addition to making good food choices, staying hydrated and getting plenty of sleep, you can also incorporate HIIT workouts into your routine a couple of times a week. Its been shown to be an effective way to improve blood sugar levels. You can learn more about it here.
There are also potent natural ingredients that have been proven to lower blood sugar, and the best part is they dont include the dangerous side effects of pharmaceutical drugs.
They include:
- Berberine. Shown to be as effective as some blood-sugar-lowering drugs with additional cholesterol-lowering effects without the dangerous side effects on the liver associated with pharmaceuticals.
- Gymnema Sylvestre helps fight sugar cravings and lower blood sugar levels.
- Bitter melon. Contains at least 3 active substances shown to have anti-diabetic potential.
- Alpha-lipoic acid . A few studies have suggested that alpha-lipoic acid supplements may enhance the body’s ability to use its own insulin to lower blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes
- Cinnamon bark extract has been shown to reduce blood sugar levels by up to 29%.
Like everything else, it involves education and choices. Food choices, exercise choices, and stress management choices.
Choose wisely.
Plan For Long Sessions
If youâre going to head out for a bike trip, marathon, or day-long hike, take some snacks with you. Food may not be easy to carry around if youâre in a race. Glucose gels and tablets or sports drinks can be good options. Count the carbs like you would with food.
Tip: Your body will absorb carbs more quickly if theyâre in liquids and gels. This can come in handy if youâre going full tilt.
Check your blood sugar every hour. How many carbs your snacks should have depends on how much longer you plan to exercise and what your reading says. The idea is to eat enough carbs to keep you from having a low reading or just plain conking out, but not so many that your levels spike. It may take a few tries to figure out the right balance.
Reduces The Risk Of Peripheral Neuropathy And Vision Loss
When we have chronically high blood sugar, glucose molecules start attaching themselves to everything, including our red blood cells. This can prevent healthy blood flow many places in the body where we have very small blood vessels, Occhipinti says. It just so happens that the eyes and nerves of the hands and feet have these small vessels. When these areas dont get the blood flow they need, peripheral neuropathy and diabetic retinopathy can result. Strength training improves blood flow to reduce the risk of these complications, Occhipinti explains.
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What Are You Waiting For
Type 2 diabetes has increased tenfold in just a few decades, and shows no signs of slowing. Dietary choices can play a huge role in preventing or managing this disease, and some of these foods may be worth adding to your grocery list. It only makes sense that a diet-specific health condition is best treated through diet.
References
Targets Harmful Belly Fat
Abdominal fat, also called visceral fat because it resides in and around the bodys visceral organs, exacerbates insulin resistance and complicates blood sugar management, he says. He explains that, in addition to storing energy, visceral fat cells produce chemicals and hormones that inhibit the bodys effective use of insulin. Fortunately, high-intensity resistance training is effective at reducing visceral fat levels and managing blood sugar in people with insulin resistance, per the Internal Journal of Cardiology research.
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Polyphenol Containing Antioxidant Capsules
Fenercioglu et al. investigated the effects of a supplement containing pomegranate extract, green tea extract and vitamin C combined with an AE program. The control group received a placebo supplement and followed the AE program. In their study, they found that the antioxidant capacity and HDL levels increased significantly, and LDL and plasma malondialdehyde levels decreased significantly only in the AO + AE group. Glutathione levels increased significantly in both groups, but to a higher extent in the AO + AE group. In their study, many health outcomes were positively influenced by the supplementation of pomegranate extract, green tea extract and vitamin C in combination with AE. There were no negative effects of this DS on any health outcome, nor did this DS abolish or diminish any training effects.
Quality Assessment And Risk Of Bias
Two researchers assessed the quality of included studies using the PEDro scale . Any disagreements were discussed with a third researcher until consensus was reached. The PEDro score is a valid measure of the methodological quality of clinical trials. The checklist contains 11 items . The final PEDro score is achieved by adding the ratings of items 2 to 11 for a total score between 0 and 10. The fulfillment of < 4 criteria is considered poor, 45 is considered fair, 68 is considered good and 910 is considered excellent .
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A Brief Introduction To Diabetes
Diabetes results from an inability to regulate glucose levels in the blood. This occurs when the body doesnt produce enough insulin or doesnt respond appropriately to insulin.
Eating carbohydrates activates a cascade of biological processes that results in their breakdown to glucose. The concentration of glucose in the blood is referred to as the blood sugar level. Certain hormones, such as insulin, function as messengers and inform a cell when this level is too high.
The binding of insulin to its receptor stimulates the cell to take in glucose. The glucose is then metabolized to generate ATP, the energy currency of the cell. The role of insulin is important because a high blood glucose level can cause a range of serious complications.
People with type 1 diabetes produce low amounts of insulin while people with type 2 diabetes dont respond appropriately to it. A high blood sugar level brings on a slew of complications such as heart, nerve, or kidney damage.
As a diabetic, your number one goal is to avoid spikes in your blood sugar level and to monitor it using a glucose meter.
What Are The Signs Of Diabetes
Symptoms of diabetes include regular urination, extreme thirst, dark urine, dry skin and nails, fatigue, bad hunger, poor body weight, and low energy. If you have any of these symptoms, you ought to make an appointment with your doctor for more information about your health and how to prevent diabetes. A high blood sugar level level need to be the first thing that your physician checks throughout a diabetes screening.
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What Type Of Workout Are You Doing
In addition to the previous point, what workout youre doing will heavily impact what type of food you need more of.
For example, if youre planning on doing a cardio-heavy workout, youll want to have mainly carbs in your pre-workout meal or snack . But if youre going to do a strength training session, youll want to have more protein in addition to carbs.
People with diabetes or those with excessively fluctuating blood sugar levels should test their glucose levels to ensure they can perform at their optimum safely. Since those with type 2 diabetes produce too much insulin , exercise can greatly reduce glucose levels. So be sure to test yours before and after a workout.
If youre looking to just stretch, a pre-workout meal probably wont even be necessary.
Sample Diet For Diabetic Bodybuilders
I could write a book on this shit over what I’ve learned since I was diagnosed with diabetes, but I’m going to give you a sample diet of how I eat as a diabetic to gain muscle.
Feel free to use this as a template to help you. And if you’re not a diabetic, you can use this anyways to your benefit.
Meal 1 4 scrambled eggs, 2 slices turkey bacon, 1/2 cup oats
Meal 2 8 oz tilapia, 1/2 cup brown rice, 1 cup mixed veggies
Meal 3 1/2 cup brown rice, 8 oz lean beef or steak
Meal 4 1/2 cup brown rice, 1 cup veggies, handful of mixed nuts, can of albacore tuna fish
Meal 5 TRAIN/inner workout
Meal 6 6 oz sweet potato, 8 oz Tilapia
Meal 7 2 spoons natural peanut butter, 9 egg whites/1 whole scrambled
That is something that I would eat right there on any given day. That is pretty much a spitting image of what John Doe is doing right now.
If you have any questions on bodybuilding as a diabetic, feel free to contact me and I will do my best to answer your questions. And if you’re wondering if anyone else out there is bodybuilding as a diabetic, you have found one right here. If I can do it, you can do it. What one man can do, another man can do! What one man can do, another man can do!
This doesn’t have to be a death sentence. Use this to your advantage to pay even closer attention to your diet and your health. I’m willing to bet if you try hard enough, you may just be better than you were before!
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How To Gain Muscle With Diabetes
Expert Reviewed Four Parts:Preparing to ExerciseBuilding Muscle with ExerciseStaying Safe While ExercisingEating to Build MuscleCommunity Q& A Staying active is very important if you have diabetes. Some studies indicate that weight training exercises can prevent and even reverse the onset of type 2 diabetes muscle is a dense tissue, and it has a high metabolic rate. As you build more muscle, your body burns more calories even when you are just sitting there doing nothing, versus someone with less muscle. Although there are great benefits, you do have to use caution when exercising. By learning the proper steps to take, you can build muscle mass even with diabetes.Continue reading > >
What Are The Signs Of Low Blood Glucose Type 2 Diabetes Bodybuilding Supplements
Signs include blurred vision, dry mouth, fast or irregular heart beat, headache, lightheadedness, exhaustion, constipation, and inflamed feet or hands. You might likewise experience indigestion, frequent urination, uneasyness, fatigue, irritability, insomnia, and chills. See a physician immediately if you experience any of these symptoms. These signs might likewise suggest other conditions, so its important to have your physician examine you out thoroughly.
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Have A Protein Shake Before Your Workout
Protein shakes are very effective for improving strength.
While many trainers have a post-workout shake, research has shown that drinking a shake containing at least 6 grams of amino acids the muscle-building blocks of protein and 35 grams of carbohydrates 30-60 minutes before exercising increases your protein synthesis more than drinking the same shake after training.
Since exercise increases bloodflow to your working tissues, drinking a carbohydrate-protein mixture before your workout may lead to greater uptake of the amino acids in your muscles, says Kevin Tipto, PhD, an exercise and nutrition researcher at the University of Texas.
Good quality whey-protein powders usually contain at least 30 grams of protein per serving, as well as a healthy supply of vitamins and minerals.
Other liquid supplements such as weight-gain powders can also provide a lot of high quality protein and nutrients in each serving, but they also tend to be extremely high in calories, carbohydrates and sugar.
While this is sufficient for most weight lifters, it is not ideal for those with conditions such as type 2 diabetes, for whom weight loss may be a key goal.
Beta Alanine Treatment For Diabetes And Powerful Supplement For Bodybuilding
Beta Alanine has proved to be a treatment for type 2 diabetes other than increasing the exercise capacity by 20%.
What exactly is Beta Alanine?
Beta-Alanine is naturally occurring beta amino acid and is thereby classed as a non-essential amino acid. Commonly found in beef, pork, chicken and fish it is predominately used by athletes to improve their exercise capacity.
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Never Use Before Sleeping
You should never administer insulin before you go to sleep. This is very dangerous and could result in a coma or even death.
This is because, while asleep, you wouldnt be able to detect the early stages of hypoglycemia, should it occur.
Therefore, if you choose to use insulin, administer it only during waking hours when you can compensate for a drop in blood sugar by consuming carbs.
Summary
We strongly discourage using insulin in bodybuilding. Should you choose to use it, proper education and guidance are key.
Bodybuilding As A Diabetic
So onto bodybuilding as a diabetic. OK, here is the deal with bodybuilding with diabetes. You are not going to be able to eat QUITE AS MUCH as you did before. You can still eat above maintenance level calories from time to time, but the days of bulking are pretty much over UNLESS you take more medication.
You can still build plenty of muscle and eat 5,000 calories a day, but you’re going to need more insulin. I didn’t want to go this route, because once you elevate your insulin intake, it’s almost like it’s hard to go back to not using as much. In most cases insulin use gets higher and higher the longer you go on with diabetes. The problem with this, is the hypoglycemic crashes can get worse.
Also, in the beginning when your blood sugar drops you know it. You feel shaky, irritable, sweaty, and tired. The more often this happens the less prevalent those signs are. You may check your blood sugar one day and you’re down at 50 ng/dl and you had no idea you would be that low! It gets dangerous, trust me.
I’d rather walk around 20 points higher 24/7 and take less insulin, than fuck with death while trying to make sure I was at 80 24/7. But rest assured, you can still be one bad ass motherfucker as a diabetic bodybuilder.
The issue is, the diets advocated for diabetics are nothing! God damn, the calories are so low you’d waste away! So how was I going to go about tweaking things for myself, now that I was bodybuilding with diabetes?
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What To Do At The Gym
If you have type 2 diabetes, the American Diabetes Association recommends:
Moderate-to-vigorous intensity aerobic exercise five times a week. Shoot for 30 minutes a day. You donât have to do all of it at the gym. Other activities, like taking a walk or riding a bike, count, too.
Strength training at least twice a week. This can include using weight machines, free weights, or resistance bands. You can also use your body weight for resistance .
If youâre new to exercise or havenât worked out in a while, go slow and try doing even 5 to 10 minutes a day. As you get stronger and more fit, you can add a few minutes each day.
Show Sources
Whats The Recommended Amount Of Carbohydrates For Diabetic Athletes
First, we recommend speaking with your endocrinologist when developing an insulin plan for training and continuous glucose monitoring and pre-training medical testing. Determine your safe blood glucose range for training and competing. Once youve determined your pre-training plan with your physician, consult a registered dietitian nutritionist specializing in sports and diabetes care to develop a nutrition plan and carb cycling.
In general carbohydrate recommendations increase as daily exercise duration and intensity increases. For those engaging in a combination of aerobic or strength training exercise require 5-7 grams of carbohydrate/kg body weight/day. For individuals that perform endurance exercises such as running or cycling the carbohydrate intake should be in a range of 7-10 grams of carbohydrate/kilogram of body weight/day. For ultra distance or very prolonged exercise, the requirement increases to 10-12 grams of carbohydrate/kilogram body weight/day.
Clean Carbs contain 24 grams of complex carbohydrate superfoods per serving. We suggest taking this prior to and after training.
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Proven Foods And Supps Essential For Every Type 2 Diabetes Diet
When you have type 2 diabetes, picking the right foods is essential. But with all the information out there, knowing what foods are best can be confusing. Check out this list of 12 proven food choices that will help get you on the right track!
Cut out bread.
No sugar in your coffee.
Only one potato at dinner.
If you’ve got blood sugar problems then you’ve heard those instructions over and over. The focus is always on what you should remove from your diet, and it’s incredibly frustrating. What about what you can eat?
What about the foods you should be adding to a diet for type 2 diabetes … the foods that can actually improve blood sugar control? Research shows there are many natural foods and nutrients that can help, either by reducing sugar absorption into the bloodstream or improving insulin resistance.
It’s certainly worth your while to learn what those foods are, rather than just what to avoid. I’ve done some of the research here and strongly recommend you start with the following.