Importance of Exercising and Healthy Diet When You Have Diabetes

Controlling elevated levels of glucose in your blood isn’t as easy as it may seem. Healthy eating plans and exercises help people suffering from diabetes to improve their heart health as well as blood sugar levels.

Importance of Exercising and Healthy Diet

Besides reducing body fat and enhancing the quality of life, exercising can boost your sensitivity to insulin as well. In this article, you will get to know why exercising and a healthy diet is of paramount importance when you have diabetes.

Why Is It Important to Exercise When You Have Diabetes?

When you exercise, you burn calories. Everyone knows that. However, exercise can do more good for those suffering from diabetes. Moderate physical activities combined with resistance training can help you to have increased insulin sensitivity and stronger muscles as well. Those who do vigorous exercise are less likely to be affected by heart disease risk factors as well.

• Brisk Stroll: Brisk walking can be extremely rewarding for those who have diabetes. Besides helping you to get fresh air, brisk walking lowers your stress to a significant extent. According to a scientific study, people walking two hours a week are less likely to suffer from diseases related to the heart. It is described briefly in our Diabetes Freedom review.
• Aerobic Exercises: Aerobic exercises can be a fun way to stay fit. Not only does it help you to burn your calories but also pave your path to reduce blood sugar levels. In addition, your stress level comes down too. Men and women doing aerobic exercises for 25 minutes thrice every week experience lower insulin resistance. It also helps those who are at risk for diabetes with abdominal obesity. You can consider swimming as well.
• Climbing Stairs: This is perhaps the easiest exercise that you can do. When you start going up and down stairs, both your heart and lungs start working faster. As a result, you burn calories and stay healthy. Whenever you need that smoke break, consider hitting the staircase instead of the elevator.
• Resistance Training: Resistance training doesn’t have to be as difficult as you imagine it to be. Helping your bones and muscles to be stronger, it lowers your blood sugar levels to a significant extent. Combine resistance training with aerobic exercises for optimal results. If you are still not sure where to start, consider beginning with push-ups, squats, and lunges.
• Yoga: While you may consider yoga as a low-impact exercise, it can improve your blood circulation and keep you rejuvenated. When you practice yoga regularly, you will be able to get rid of the stress that modern life gifts you. Besides energizing nerves, yoga plays a key role in strengthening muscles and calming the mind. If you are new to yoga, you can start with asanas like bow pose, seated forward bend, sitting half spinal twist, etc. However, practicing yoga doesn’t give you the liberty of skipping other physical activities.

Why Is It Important to Follow a Healthy Diet When You Have Diabetes?

 A healthy eating plan is essential for managing weight and controlling risk factors related to heart disease. Eating meals at regular intervals is absolutely necessary for those suffering from diabetes. Regular monitoring of your blood glucose levels is essential to control diabetes. A faulty glucometer not only gives incorrect test results but can also worsen your diabetes. Therefore, investing in the best blood glucose meter is very crucial. But, with so many brands and devices in the market, it gets challenging to select the best blood sugar monitor for yourself. Ideally, you should start by enriching your diet with carbohydrates, good fats, fiber-rich ingredients, and fish. Here are some of the diet plans that can help you to get started.

• Mediterranean Diet: Fruits and vegetables remain at the heart of a Mediterranean diet. You must include ingredients such as olive oil, chicken, fish, whole grains, etc. in your meals. What you must avoid includes red meat, salt, and butter. This diet is extremely effective in controlling blood sugar levels.
• DASH Diet: DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. In this diet, the main focus is on ingredients such as low-fat dairy products, fruits, lean meats, nuts, beans, and vegetables. According to scientific research, DASH diet can significantly help in improving your insulin sensitivity.
• Paleo Diet: The main idea behind paleo diet is to introduce you to a habit followed during the pre-farming era. If you follow this diet, you have the liberty to consume fruits, vegetables, fish, nuts, and lean meats. However, it restricts you from consuming refined sugar, processed vegetable oils, grains, dairy, etc.
• Alkaline Diet: Alkaline diet rests on the theory that consuming wheat, sugar, and meat makes your body acidic. People following this diet usually consume seeds and vegetables. Increasing the metabolism rate, this diet can help you to manage your weight efficiently.

Fighting diabetes is not as daunting as it seems when you combine the right eating plans and physical activities. Besides having fiber-rich meals, moderate exercises will increase your insulin sensitivity and help you to have lower blood sugar levels.