Diabetes Among Youngsters Increasing
Nowadays, a large number of youngsters are having diabetes. It is the need of the hour to control sugar levels and avoid further complications like heart or kidney problems. Type II diabetes is a disease caused mainly due to insulin resistance. Incidence of type II diabetes among youngsters is increasing, especially in the age group of 25-35 years. 1 in every 4 i.e 25% of people under 25 years of age are having Type II diabetes, according to Dr. Snehal Desai, Consultant Physician & Diabetologist, Lokmanya Hospital, Pune. The expert explains the causes of diabetes in youngsters, and shares tips on how to manage the condition.
What Can Make My Blood Sugar Rise
Hyperglycemia is the technical term for high blood sugar . It happens when the body has too little insulin or when the body can’t use insulin properly. Here are a few of the causes:
- Too much food, like a meal or snack with more carbohydrates than usual
- Dehydration
- Not enoughinsulinor oral diabetes medications
- Side effects from other medications, such as steroids or anti-psychotic medications
- Illness, stress, menstrual periods or short or long-term pain
The good news is, there are things you can do to avoid highsand to treat them when you get them.
Just How To Lower Blood Sugar Degrees With Diet Regimen
It is important to remember that in order to lower blood sugar levels, it must be carried out in combination with a doctors supervision. Lowering blood sugar degrees should just be done when the body is healthy sufficient to take on such an endeavor, and it can have unfavorable effects if done incorrectly.
Don’t Miss: Printable Low Carb Food List For Diabetics
Youre Getting Yeast Infections More Often Than Usual
Hyperglycemia may lead you to get more frequent genital yeast infections. The culprit is often a type of yeast known as Candida albicans, per the ADA. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in females the symptoms can include: vaginal itching, redness or soreness pain during sexual intercourse pain or discomfort during urination and thick, abnormal vaginal discharge. While yeast infections are common in people who dont have diabetes, having more glucose in your blood puts you at higher risk of getting them. The yeast feeds off the glucose, and if your blood sugar is high theres more glucose in the urinary tract, explains Bandukwala. Uncircumcised men with hyperglycemia are also at risk, he says.
Were also seeing this happen a little more now with patients who take SGLT-2 inhibitors, which force the body to expel more glucose through the urine, the endocrinologist adds. The FDA has added a warning to the prescribing information for SGLT-2 inhibitors about a far more rare and potentially fatal genital condition, known as necrotizing fasciitis of the perineum, or Fourniers gangrene .
Have Collagen With Meals
âIf youâre eating a light meal with little to no protein, try drinking a cup of bone broth or mixing a drinkable collagen formula into a cup of tea or coffee post-meal,â says Nutritional Advisor and VP of Product Strategy Corey Friese with Vital Proteins over email with me. âThe high levels of glycine will promote the conversion of glucose into energy,â Friese adds, which can stabilize levels.
Also Check: Diabetes Weight Loss Diets
Recommended Reading: How Many People In The Us Have Type 1 Diabetes
When To Contact Your Healthcare Provider
Hyperglycemia can turn into a medical emergency like DKA and HHS that requires immediate intervention by your practitioner or a local emergency department. If you have two blood sugar readings of 300 mg/dL or more, or have blood sugar above your target range for more than a week, seek immediate medical help.
Signs of hyperglycemia include:
- Ketones in your urine
- Stomach pain, nausea, or vomiting
- Shortness of breath
Lowering Blood Glucose Degrees With Way Of Living Modifications
One of the most efficient means of lowering your blood sugar level is via a combination of nutritional adjustments, exercise, and also drugs. Reducing your blood glucose degrees can be tough however aid is available if you stick to a diet regimen and also adhere to an everyday workout routine. Reducing blood sugar level degrees might conserve your life in the future, so it is certainly well worth making changes in your way of living if you have a pre-diabetic problem or diabetes.
Recommended Reading: How Long Does Thc Stay In A Diabetics System
What Is Diabetic Ketoacidosis
If you think you may have low blood sugar, check it even if you dont have symptoms.
When too many ketones are produced too fast, they can build up in your body and cause diabetic ketoacidosis, or DKA. DKA is very serious and can cause a coma or even death. Common symptoms of DKA include:
- Fast, deep breathing.
- Nausea and vomiting.
- Stomach pain.
If you think you may have DKA, test your urine for ketones. Follow the test kit directions, checking the color of the test strip against the color chart in the kit to see your ketone level. If your ketones are high, . DKA requires treatment in a hospital.
DKA happens most in people with type 1 diabetes and is sometimes the first sign of type 1 in people who havent yet been diagnosed. People with type 2 diabetes can also develop DKA, but its less common.
Being Extra Thirsty And Having To Urinate More Than Usual
This is a common but not-so-obvious sign of blood sugar that is too high: feeling really thirsty and needing to drink more than usual. Excessive urination, known as polyuria, occurs when glucose builds up in your blood, and your kidneys begin working harder to get rid of the extra glucose, says Zanini. If your kidneys cant keep up and adjust blood sugar so that it returns to a normal level, the excess sugar is flushed out of your body through urine, she adds. You may become dehydrated and get dizzy.
Also Check: Ginger For Diabetes Type 2
How To Control Diabetes: 10 Tips To Maintain Blood Sugar Level
- NDTV Food
- Diet plays a major role in keeping a control on the blood sugar level
- Being overweight causes insulin resistance
- Muscle movement results in the utilization of insulin
If you have been diagnosed with diabetes and looking for all sorts of ways to keep a check on your blood sugar level,
Easy Ways To Lower Blood Sugar Levels Naturally
High blood sugar, also known as hyperglycemia, is associated with diabetes and prediabetes. Prediabetes is when your blood sugar is high, but not high enough to be classified as diabetes.
Your body usually manages your blood sugar levels by producing insulin, a hormone that allows your cells to use the circulating sugar in your blood. As such, insulin is the most important regulator of blood sugar levels .
However, multiple factors can impair blood sugar management and lead to hyperglycemia.
Internal causes for high blood sugar include when your liver produces too much glucose, your body makes too little insulin, or your body cant effectively use insulin. The latter is known as insulin resistance (
2 ).
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 13% of U.S. adults live with diabetes and that another 34.5% have prediabetes. This means that close to 50% of all U.S. adults have diabetes or prediabetes .
Blood sugar management is especially important for people with diabetes, as chronically high blood sugar levels can lead to limb and life threatening complications (
Increased insulin sensitivity means your cells can more effectively use the available sugar in your bloodstream.
Exercise also helps your muscles use blood sugar for energy and muscle contraction .
Whats more, researchers recommend doing so-called exercise snacks to lower blood sugar and prevent the damage that sitting all day can do .
Recommended Reading: Best Sweetener For Baking For Diabetics
What Is Type 1 Diabetes
At the most basic level, diabetesboth type 1 and type 2involve abnormally high levels of blood sugar. Over time, this can lead to serious complications including neuropathy, blindness, as well as heart and kidney diseases.
The causes, though, are different for each diabetes type. Type 2 is driven primarily by environmental factors, such as being overweight or obese and following a high-fat, high-sugar diet. This form of diabetes mostly affects adults.
Type 1 diabetes, formerly called juvenile-onset diabetes, is an autoimmune disease. The body’s own immune system mistakenly destroys the insulin-producing islet cells in your pancreas. Lack of insulin leads to dangerously high blood sugar levels.
RELATED: The Differences Between Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes
Bump Up Your Exercise Intensity
Exercise is a great way to boost your body’s ability to manage blood sugar, but making sure it’s a heart-pumping workout will help even more. Performing brief spurts of high-intensity exercise improved blood glucose levels in diabetics and healthy people for one to three days, per a 2013 review of research. Muscles soak up glucose during exercise to burn for energy, and the higher-intensity movements may aid this process even more.
Don’t Miss: Diabetes And Lower Back Pain
Whats My Target Range
You might be asking, what’s the normal range for blood sugar levels? The answer is, there is a healthy range that you should ideally be aiming for. The infographics above show the general guidelines, but your individual target range for your blood sugar levels may be different. Youll healthcare team will agree with you what it is.
Youll get different readings at different times of the day, depending on things like what youve eaten and how much you are moving around. Heres a guide to help you get started on finding your target range:
If youre a child with Type 1 diabetes
- when you wake up and before meals: 4 to 7mmol/l
- after meals: 5 to 9mmol/l
If youre an adult with Type 1 diabetes
- when you wake up and before meals: 5 to 7mmol/l
- before meals at other times of the day: 4 to 7mmol/l
If you have Type 2 diabetes
- before meals: 4 to 7mmol/l
- two hours after meals: less than 8.5mmol/l
Never Skip Eating Breakfast
Cameron Whitman/Stocksy
Weve all heard that breakfast is the days most important meal. This is especially true for those who have diabetes. I think eating breakfast is important, especially with potential risk for hypoglycemia and avoiding potential highs related to fasting for too long a period of time, Crandall Snyder says.
A high-protein breakfast has an edge over breakfasts that are high in carbohydrates, according to research from The University of Missouri-Columbia. In the research, women ages 18 to 55 consumed meals with similar calories, fat, and fiber contents but differing amounts of protein. Researchers monitored the amount of glucose and insulin in the participants blood for four hours after they ate breakfast. The best breakfasts contained 39 g of protein and led to lower post-meal glucose spikes than the meals with less protein, the researchers found.
Besides, eating breakfast may help overweight people with type 2 diabetes shed extra pounds. Of the participants in the National Weight Control Registry who maintained at least a 30-pound weight loss for at least one year, 78 percent said they eat breakfast daily.
Read Also: Does Being Diabetic Make You Gain Weight
Monitor Your Carbohydrate Intake
What and how you eat is a very important factor in keeping your blood sugar levels in the healthy range. Choosing foods that stabilize your blood sugar and keep high blood sugar spikes to a minimum will help you stave off a diabetes diagnosis or help control existing diabetes. Some diets oversimplify a comprehensive food intake, and simply tell you to limit carbs or focus on low-carb foods. Its more complicated than that.
However, tracking your intake of foods that contribute to high blood sugar levelssuch as baked goods, processed foods, fried foods, and sweeteners can be a good place to start modifying your diet to balance your blood sugar.
Ramp Up Your Movement Each Day
Exercise helps improve blood glucose in people with type 2 diabetes by increasing insulin sensitivity and the bodys ability to use glucose as energy, according to the American Diabetes Association. In type 2, exercise helps improve insulin resistance, says James G. Beckerman, MD, a cardiologist in Portland, Oregon. The end result is lower blood sugars.
Crandall Snyder tells patients that exercise is like spring cleaning for the body. It takes the stored form of glucose and uses it for energy so the next time you eat carbohydrates there’s a place to put it, she says.
Because exercise can immediately reduce blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes, work with your healthcare team to determine the right amount of activity and timing for you. A study published in September 2017 in Frontiers in Endocrinology found exercising 30 minutes after the start of a meal is usually best for maintaining blood sugar controls.
Learn more about managing your blood sugar in Diabetes Daily’s article “HbA1C: Everything You Need to Know.”
Read Also: What Is The Most Common Form Of Diabetes
How Do Brussels Sprouts Affect Blood Sugar Levels
Dr Brewer, who also works with the supplement for maintaining healthy glucose levels CuraLife, said: They will not bring down blood glucose levels on their own but may help to slow the rise in glucose levels seen after eating when included in a meal.
The main goodie packed in the small green vegetables is fibre.
Fibre moves slowly through our bodies and can slow the absorption of sugar into the blood.
DONT MISS:
Make Physical Activity Part Of Your Daily Routine
Set a goal to be more physically active. Try to work up to 30 minutes or more of physical activity on most days of the week.
Brisk walking and swimming are good ways to move more. If you are not active now, ask your health care team about the types and amounts of physical activity that are right for you. Learn more about being physically active with diabetes.
Following your meal plan and being more active can help you stay at or get to a healthy weight. If you are overweight or obese, work with your health care team to create a weight-loss plan that is right for you.
Recommended Reading: What Should My Sugar Level Be With Type 2 Diabetes
Healthy Eating For Blood Sugar Control
If you have diabetes, a healthy eating plan for you is not that different from a healthy eating plan for people without diabetes. The American Diabetes Association echoes the dietary guidelines recommended for the general public that is, a diet centered on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes , and low-fat dairy products.
However, you’ll want to pay special attention to your carbohydrate intake.
Vegetables, fruits, and whole grains provide more nutrition per calorie than refined carbohydrates and tend to be rich in fiber. Your body digests high-fiber foods more slowly which means a more moderate rise in blood sugar.
For most people with diabetes, carbohydrates should account for about 45% to 55% of the total calories you eat each day. Choose your carbohydrates wisely ideally, from vegetables, whole grains, and fruits. Avoid highly refined carbohydrates such as white bread, pasta, and rice, as well as candy, sugary soft drinks, and sweets. Refined carbohydrates tend to cause sharp spikes in blood sugar, and can boost blood triglyceride levels.
What You Shouldnt Eat
The best way to keep type 2 diabetes under control is by maintaining a low sugar diet. Many diabetics are very careful about avoiding sugar in their tea or coffee and also dont eat sweets that are loaded with sugar. But there is always the danger of consuming hidden sugars. Almost all processed foods including sauces, condiments, and even energy bars and shakes contain several teaspoons of sugar. Low sugar Indian dishes like upma for diabetes is a good alternative to junk food. It is better to avoid these types of foods or to read labels carefully before eating something that is dubbed healthy.
Don’t Miss: Does One High A1c Mean Diabetes
Testing And Regulating Blood Sugar