Eat Fat Fiber And Protein At Each Meal
Boosting energy levels when you have diabetes is largely tied to making sure weâre doing everything we can to promote stable blood sugar levels. This goes for people with type 2 diabetes and any other type of diabetes. This is where balancing our meals and snacks with fat, fiber, and protein comes into to play.
Dont totally ditch carbs with meals and snacks. Carbohydrates are the bodys preferred source of fuel. It is ok to add fruit, beans or rice to a salad. A salad with chicken is great but your body may need a bit more than that to keep you going, says KeyVion Miller RDN, LD/N, Food and Nutrition Blogger of The Millers Kitchen.
How Does High Blood Sugar Affect The Body
High sugar in the blood can lead to a number of other symptoms and complications. Here are just a few.
Urination and thirst: High blood sugar goes into the kidneys and urine. This attracts more water, causing frequent urination. This can also lead to increased thirst, despite drinking enough liquids.
Weight loss: High blood sugar can cause sudden or unexplained weight loss. This occurs because the bodys cells are not getting the glucose they need, so the body burns muscle and fat for energy instead.
Numbness and tingling: High blood sugar can also cause numbness, burning, or tingling in the hands, legs, and feet. This is due to diabetic neuropathy, a complication of diabetes that often occurs after many years of high blood sugar levels.
Managing Blood Sugar Levels
Many people with diabetes must check their blood sugar levels daily with a glucose meter. This device takes a drop of blood, usually from a finger, and displays the sugar level within a few seconds.
People with type 1 diabetes will need to take insulin as their doctor recommends, usually several times a day.
Those with type 2 diabetes or gestational diabetes may need to change their diet and exercise habits. They may also need to take oral medications or insulin.
A number of strategies can help prevent hyperglycemia.
People should:
- check their blood sugar levels as their doctor advises and take the correct amount of insulin, if they have type 1 diabetes
- speak to their healthcare provider or dietitian about which foods to eat or avoid, how much to eat, and how often
- take precautions to avoid infections, for example, through regular hand washing, as illness, such as a cold, can trigger a rise in blood pressure
- plan their food intake and exercise to balance blood sugar levels
- minimize stress, as far as possible, for example, through exercise, getting enough sleep, and stress-reducing activities such as meditation or yoga
Low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia, can happen when a person:
- has certain medical conditions
- does a lot of exercise
- skips meals or eats too little
It can also be a side effect of diabetes medicines. Taking too much insulin can result in low blood sugar levels.
Symptoms of low blood sugar may include:
- visit a doctor regularly
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When Should You See A Doctor
Your yearly doctorâs appointment is an excellent time to check in on your blood glucose levels. This is especially true if your age , weight, or family history put you at higher risk for developing diabetes in general.
If you suspect you may have high blood glucose already, Zanini says that any changes in your health count as cause to see your doctor. Make an appointment to undergo the diagnostic tests listed above and to discuss treatment options with your provider. If you have high blood glucose and experience trouble breathing, vomiting, confusion, extremely high thirst, or other symptoms of diabetic ketoacidosis, seek medical attention right away. This condition occurs when your body burns fat too quickly and converts it into ketones, which make your blood acidic. It can be life-threatening if left untreated.
Is Diabetes To Blame For Your Headache
Take control of pain
Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disease that results in blood sugar, or glucose, abnormalities. This causes a host of symptoms and related complications, some of which can be life-threatening. A common symptom of high or low blood glucose is a headache. Headaches alone arent harmful, but they can signal that your blood sugar is out of its target range. If you have frequent headaches, diabetes may be to blame. Find out if diabetes is the cause of your headache so you can take proper action.
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How To Fight Diabetes Fatigue To Get Your Energy Back
Diabetes not just affect your lifestyle and diet but it also effects your endurance and energy level. The level of exhaustion exceed beyond normal and you will feel drained out even after doing a light physical activity. The constant diabetes fatigue makes you irritated and you will feel yourself as disable when it comes to physical activities. All these things causes depression in the patients. Lets see why diabetes makes the patients worn out and how one can get the energy back to live a healthy life.
Do Not Skip Your Meal
People on insulin or medicine must never skip a meal after taking insulin/ medicine. This is because it may also result in hypoglycemia and hence can cause severe weakness.
Always talk to your doctor for further evaluation and make sure to eat small meals every 23 hours in order to keep blood sugar levels under control.
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What About High Blood Sugar
There are even more factors that can make you feel tired when you have high blood sugar from eating the wrong TYPE or AMOUNT of foods.
When your blood sugar goes too high, your kidneys are working overtime to eliminate the excess of glucose and sugar from your blood. This makes you tired in 2 major ways:
How Can People With Diabetes Cope With Sleep Issues
Careful management of blood sugar levels can help improve sleep for people with type 2 diabetes. Additionally, given the close relationship between diabetes and sleep, good sleep hygiene habits are particularly important. These include both daytime and nighttime habits, such as:
- Adhering to a diet plan that works for you and helps keep blood sugar controlled
- Getting regular exercise
- Keeping a regular sleep schedule
- Avoiding stimulants like caffeine or nicotine before bed
- Keeping the bedroom cool, dark, and quiet
Based on your personal situation, your doctor may be able to recommend sleep aids for diabetics or additional ways to get better sleep. They may choose to conduct a polysomnogram, or sleep study, to see if a sleep disorder is to blame for your sleep problems. Secondary sleep disorders can then be treated with targeted therapies such as a CPAP machine.
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What Else Causes Fatigue
;Lifestyle factors:
Being overweight and getting little exercise when you have diabetes can also contribute to fatigue. Lots of research points to the positive effects of regular exercise in alleviating symptoms of fatigue. In fact, moderate to vigorous exercise has been proven to enhance energy and improve your mood. Find out how even standing or light walking can be beneficial when you have diabetes.
Other medical conditions and medications:
Keep in mind that fatigue can also be a symptom of other underlying conditions such as:
- Anemia
Some of the medications may be contributing to your lack of energy too. These include:
- Corticosteroids, which are used to treat inflammation and pain
- Statins for cholesterol
- Diuretics for high blood pressure
- Beta blockers for high blood pressure and anxiety
How Does Diabetes Affect Sleep
Its estimated that one in two people with type 2 diabetes have sleep problems due to unstable blood sugar levels and accompanying diabetes-related symptoms, High blood sugar and low blood sugar during the night can lead to insomnia and next-day fatigue. As with many chronic conditions, feelings of depression or stress about the disease itself may also keep you awake at night.
When blood sugar levels are high, the kidneys overcompensate by causing you to urinate more often. During the night, these frequent trips to the bathroom lead to disrupted sleep. High blood sugar may also cause headaches, increased thirst, and tiredness that can interfere with falling asleep.
By contrast, going too many hours without eating or taking the wrong balance of diabetes medication can also lead to low blood sugar levels at night. You may have nightmares, break out into a sweat, or feel irritated or confused when you wake up.
Talk to your healthcare provider if you are experiencing fatigue, trouble sleeping, or any other worrying symptoms. They can help analyze the reason and work with you to keep your blood sugar levels more stable.
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When To Speak To Your Healthcare Team About Fatigue
If you are experiencing regular fatigue you should speak to your healthcare team. They may want to look at your medications and they will usually have some tips on how to cope.
The team will also be able to offer medical advice on whether the extreme tiredness is a sign of something more serious, such as diabetes complications.
How Do I Treat Diabetes
Improve your lifestyle: Making changes in your day to day life can help reduce fatigue. Here are some lifestyle changes to consider:
- Lose some weight or maintain a healthy weight
- Engage in moderate to vigorous exercise multiple times a week
- Make healthy food choices
- Limit stress as much as possible and find ways to unwind
- Develop good sleep habits, such as regular bedtimes and no screen time at night
Manage your blood sugar levels: Monitoring your blood sugar levels regularly will ensure youre not experiencing the highs and lows that will negatively impact your sleep.
Seek professional advice: Be sure to check in with your diabetes healthcare provider to help you monitor your diabetes and determine if there are underlying conditions that could be contributing to fatigue.
Remember that feeling fatigue on occasions is normal when you have diabetes, but feeling exhausted all the time is not. Getting to the bottom of the issues contributing to your fatigue will mean you can get on top of staying healthy.
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The Importance Of Symptoms
Modern diabetes care is characterized by a strong focus on evidence-based, number-driven targets and outcomes. While this approach does have its benefits, it has shortcomings and limitations as well, one of which is that little attention is paid to the symptomatic well-being of the persons with diabetes. At times, in fact, complaints may be neglected, and symptoms sacrificed, to justify the use of particular therapeutic strategies or tools. A casual reading of modern guidelines suggests that the end-target is more important than the means . Understandably, such clinical judgment is bound to be met with patient dissatisfaction. One symptom which may be ignored in the quest for optimal numerical end-targets, is fatigue.
What Is Diabetic Ketoacidosis
DKA is a serious, short-term complication of diabetes. It occurs when your body has high blood glucose and a buildup of blood acids called ketones. Since people with type 2 diabetes do not produce enough insulin so their body can use glucose for energy, their body may burn fat instead to get energy. Burning fat causes the production of ketones, which can be toxic in the bloodstream.4-6
DKA most commonly occurs in people who are sick with nausea, vomiting, and not eating. Therefore they do not take their insulin. It can also occur in people who do not know they have diabetes and their pancreas has already failed to produce the necessary amount of insulin. Illness also increases your need for insulin because blood sugar rises as your bodys response. Symptoms of diabetic ketoacidosis usually develop quickly, and in extreme cases can cause a person to go into a coma. It should be treated as a medical emergency. If you experience symptoms of ketoacidosis, call your doctor right away.4-6
While maintaining a healthy weight is a healthy part of type 2 diabetes management, it is important to note that rapid, unexplained weight loss requires immediate medical attention.
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Your Blood Sugar Levels Are Not In The Healthy Range
When your blood sugar is too high, it affects how your body burns glucose from the for energy. Unless youre on some specialized diet, sugar is your bodys primary fuel source If your primed to use it.Once we get sugar from food, the pancreas releases insulin, opening the cells to absorb the sugar for usable energy. However, if your cells dont respond properly to the insulin, the sugar wont absorb into your cells. Instead, it stays in your blood stream. When your cells cannot get sugar , they are literally starved for energy. If you have no energy, you feel tired and fatigued.High blood sugar also leads to another reason for fatigue:
The Truth About Blood Sugar Levels And Tiredness
Many people donât realize that your energy levels and how tired you feel is very closely related to your blood sugar levels. If you look up the symptoms of both hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia and youâll see tiredness and fatigue listed as symptoms for both conditions. So, over long periods of time, poorly managed blood sugars can definitely lead to unexplained tiredness, fatigue, and exhaustion.;
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What Can I Do To Fix This And Get Healthy Again
With some minor life-style changes, you can see and feel big improvements quickly. Here are some things you should focus on:
- Lose Unwanted FatThis may not be fun, but its very important and its the first step in keeping your glucose in check.
- Eat Better Natural FoodsThis means lower glycemic foods, less carbohydrates, healthy proteins and fats. It also means to stay AWAY from processed, man-made foods. Also, make sure you eat often smaller meals throughout the day to stabilize your blood sugar and have lots of fiber as well.
- Exercise Daily Aerobic & AnaerobicExercise utilizes the carbohydrates you eat, so it keeps your blood sugar stable. Having more muscle also improves insulin sensitivity, which means less insulin is needed.
- Proper SupplementationThere are specific natural herbs, vitamins and minerals that can help stabilize your blood sugar, while also improving insulin sensitivity.
Simply making some small adjustments in each of these categories will mean fast results for you. Which means more energy, less body fat, better cognition and you’ll simply look and feel YOUNGER!
When To See A Doctor
A person with diabetes should see their doctor regularly to monitor and manage their diabetes.
They may also wish to consult a doctor who specializes in treating new or worsening fatigue that interferes with daily life.
People should seek medical attention for fatigue that occurs alongside other symptoms, such as fever, chills, or malaise, as these could indicate an infection.
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What Is Diabetes Fatigue
As it was mentioned above, diabetes fatigue is an extreme tiredness that individuals with diabetes can experience. It is a tiredness that disrupts a persons life and makes it difficult to function. It is very common, and studies have shown that 85% of those with diabetes experience fatigue.
Some signs of fatigue include:
- Dizziness
Reactive hypoglycemia, a term used to define the crash that a person gets after eating a lot of sugar and carbs, can be an early sign of diabetes. In order for the body to use the sugars and carbs that are consumed for fuel, each molecule must be paired with insulin to get into the cell. If there isnt enough insulin available, then the sugar molecules stay in the bloodstream and cause high blood sugar.
What happens is that over time, eating a lot of sugar and carbs causes your body to have to produce a lot of insulin. Eventually, you develop insulin resistance and the insulin stops working as well which causes your body to make even more to keep the blood sugar under control. So after eating a large meal of sugar and carbs, the body starts producing a lot of insulin to try to use the food for energy. The problem is that after the food is digested, there is still insulin floating around and it causes the sugar to drop.
Signs of reactive hypoglycemia are:
- Difficulty concentration
- Dizziness
- Palpitations
Why Does Diabetes Cause Sudden Weight Loss Constant Hunger And Fatigue
Your body gets energy from glucose that is in the foods you eat. In type 2 diabetes, your body is not able to use the glucose effectively. This causes your blood glucose levels to become too high. This can lead to constant hunger. Your body may start burning fat and muscle for energy instead, which can cause rapid weight loss.1,2
Weight loss can also be caused by frequent urination, which is another common symptom of type 2 diabetes. This happens in type 2 diabetes when extra glucose and other fluids from your organs are removed in your urine. This process can make you dehydrated and leave you feeling extra thirsty. This causes you to drink more fluids to quench your thirst, which leads to even more urination.2
Dehydration from excessive urination can also lead to feelings of fatigue. High blood sugar is another cause of fatigue since your body cannot use the glucose for energy. Studies have found that fatigue in people with type 2 diabetes may also be a result of chronic inflammation caused by a weakened immune system.3
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