Once you’ve been diagnosed with diabetes, it is important to know what you can do to manage it and gain control!

The first thing to do is to work with your GP. If your GP has prescribed medication, or given you a referral to a specialist, it is important to follow your GP’s plan.

Aside from medication, there are other things you can do to help manage your diabetes. Lifestyle modification – including increasing your activity levels, and improving your diet – is effective in assisting in the management of type 2 diabetes.

Exercise improves glucose control in a number of ways. When you exercise, glucose is utilised as a source of energy. Glucose is stored in your blood, muscle and liver, so that after you exercise, the amount of glucose in your muscle and liver has been reduced. The next time you eat, glucose replenishes those diminished stores, rather than building up in your blood.

If you build some muscle through resistance exercises (also known as “weight training”), this provides even more storage sites for glucose, which also help to reduce the amount of glucose building up in your blood.

When you exercise, you also improve your insulin sensitivity – this means your cells respond better to insulin, so less of it is required to perform the same job. This also helps to improve your glucose control. On top of that though, it means your insulin levels tend to be lower – which is really important if you’re looking to lose weight, as high insulin levels signal your body to store fat from the food you eat, and prevent that fat being used as an energy source.

When it comes to diet, stick to a few simple rules to help keep you glucose levels in control:
-    Slow & steady carbs!
You’ve probably heard about low GI carbohydrates a lot! And it can be hard to know what to go for. Choose brown and grainy options over white options wherever possible! Except for rice – the best rices to go for are a couple of “white” options – doongara and basmati. These are even better than brown rice in terms of GI!
-    Go for green!
Fill up your plate with veggies at every meal – these provide lots of vitamins and minerals, but also tend to be low GI, helping to keep you feel satiated for longer. Plant sources of fats also tend to be mono and polyunsaturated (which are the good kind!) – things like avocado, nuts and seeds.
-    Keep it lean!
When it comes to animal sources of protein, trim all visible skin and fat prior to cooking, and keep portion sizes for meat to the size of the palm of your hand and fish up to the size of your whole hand.

For ideas about what sort of exercise you should get into, and meal and nutrition ideas, check out The Glucose Club’s articles page, or book into see one of our accredited exercise physiologists in our clinics, or through one of our programs.