The Easy Diabetes Diet Plan Cookbook - Exercise

Whether you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, exercise and fitness is important for your overall wellness and health. It’s also important to balance your physical activities with the food that you eat – exercising too much or not exercising enough can also cause your glucose levels to either drop or soar which is not good for you as a diabetic. That’s why it is also important to frequently check your blood sugar levels before and after a workout and to have food with simple carbohydrates nearby so that you can deal with hypoglycaemia when it strikes.

Like food, exercise and other physical activities affect the glucose level in your blood and the amount of insulin your body needs just like food does. While food supplies our body with glucose that insulin converts into energy, exercise uses up the energy that food and insulin provide. You might think that it would be easier to just manage your blood sugar level by restricting your diet and by exercising less so that you would need less insulin but you would be wrong. Your body needs glucose and it will eventually need to expend the energy that you get from it. The more regularly this cycle runs, the healthier you’ll be. That’s why as a diabetic you need to keep an eye on these two Fs – food and fitness. But how exactly does exercise affect the glucose level in your bloodstream?

Your blood glucose level during and after exercise is affected by a number of factors such as the original glucose level before you got started, the intensity of the workout, the length of time for the workout, and any changes you might have made to your insulin doses if you’re a type 1. If your blood glucose is less than 100mg/lb or milligrams per pound, try having a small snack (about 15 grams), something that’s rich in simple carbs, to boost your blood glucose level a little and to avoid hypoglycaemia.

Glucose levels aside, there are also certain exercises that are more suited for diabetes while there are others that are not and would put you at risk.  For example, studies have shown that diabetes have caused problems with feet and legs. That’s because diabetes reduces blood flow to certain areas, especially the outer limbs, and your feet and legs are just about as far as you can get from the heart while still being part of the body. The damage to these areas can also include nerve damage which means that you could already be hurt and not feel it or know it. You can plan out a more complete fitness plan with your physician.  

This is an excerpt from the book: The Easy Diabetes Diet Plan Cookbook