How to make sense of blood sugar levels
I don’t understand what my blood sugar levels mean! If you live with type 1 diabetes or type 2 diabetes, you have probably been asked to check your blood sugar a lot. But what are you supposed to be checking? How do you interpret the values you see? Managing your diabetes is easier when you know what the values mean and what you are trying to accomplish. What is the normal blood sugar level? Your doctor is the best person to ask what your blood sugar level range should be. Since everyone is different and unique, your goals may be different from the standard...
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Sugary Drinks: Not So Sweet After All
The World Health Organization recommends reducing sugar intake to 10% of daily energy intake—in other words, 200 of the 2,000 calories that you consume in the day, or 50g of sugar. And lowering that percentage to 5%, or 25g, would be even healthier. That’s barely 6 teaspoons a day! One thing you quickly learn when living with diabetes is that sugar is everywhere. Keeping a close watch on what you eat is fine, but applying the same vigilance to what you drink is just as important. Soft drinks are little calorie bombs. Each can has about 150...
Read More
Putting your best foot forward!
In the long run, the hyperglycemia that characterizes diabetes ends up affecting the nerves (in what is known as neuropathy) and the blood vessels, especially the capillaries. This results in a loss of sensitivity and a decrease in the natural hydration of the feet, which leads to dry skin, cracks and calluses. This means that not only are you more likely to injure your feet and not realize it right away, but you heal more slowly, and your wounds are more likely to become infected. How do you prevent problems? ...
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6 secrets to enjoying weddings (without your numbers going crazy)
If June is supposed to be wedding month, then why are all of your August weekends booked with stag and stagette dos, and nuptials from morning to night? The trend has shifted, with more Canadian weddings taking place in August than any other month.1 You've already seen advice on managing diabetes at weddings and parties, so we'll skip the obvious (eat before you go! drink water!). Instead, here are some ideas for having fun without regretting it an hour later (or the next morning). 1. Raise your Champagne glass! You don't have to skip alcohol just because you have diabetes. Just keep it in...
Read More
Travelling Tips
The long-awaited moment is finally here: you’re going on vacation and you deserve this break. While you pack your bags and look for your passport or your keys, here’s our basic guide to a memorable and hassle-free trip! Setting off! While travelling by car, bus, plane or train, make sure your diabetes medication and equipment are always close at hand. If you’re flying, make sure that your medication still has its pharmaceutical label and that your syringes and needles are stored in their...
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Dining Out With Diabetes
How nice it is to share a good meal in good company, leaving stoves and crockery behind to be waited on at a restaurant! The problem is that many dishes on the menu often tend to increase blood sugar. Dining out with diabetes: mission impossible? Not at all. What’s good (and healthy) on the menu? To follow your diet plan more easily, you should try to choose restaurants with good variety, substitutions at no extra charge and generally healthy options… but you still have to spot the pitfalls!...
Read More
Stress: It’s Not All In Your Head!
When your body is under attack, or when it feels attacked, it will naturally have a fight or flight response, with the hormonal reaction this entails. Cortisol and adrenaline, among other hormones, increase glucose levels, which are quickly transported to cells to provide energy to the body. Diabetes causes insulin to not always play its role effectively, which can lead to hyperglycemia. However, if you’re living with type 1 diabetes, you are at risk of hypoglycemia. Breathe! To develop better defense mechanisms...
Read More
The Art Of Food Swapping
You know you shouldn’t, but the temptation is too strong. You run the numbers in your head. You try resisting a little… but then you forfeit. As you know, some foods don’t go very well with diabetes. The problem is that they are awfully tempting. However, there are ways for you to eat delicious food while keeping your blood sugar under control. Here are a few tips! Feel like having pizza? Pizza is far from being diabetes’s best friend, but you can limit the damage by swapping salted meats, such as pepperoni and...
Read More
How To Make Better Resolutions
Making a list of resolutions for the New Year is fine... as long as you’ve got the iron will to keep them all. Instead of making a big deal of announcing major changes and then dumping the whole thing after two weeks, here’s how to really get on the path to success! 1. Do not pin all your hopes of changing on New Year’s Day. So you want to eat better? Don’t think the stroke of midnight will magically spell the end of excess! In fact, the prospect of having to deny yourself after the New Year will make treats all the more tempting in December. So start putting your life choices...
Read MorePages
Sugary Drinks: Not So Sweet After All
The World Health Organization recommends reducing sugar intake to 10% of daily energy intake—in other words, 200 of the 2,000 calories that you consume in the day, or 50g of sugar. And lowering that percentage to 5%, or 25g, would be even healthier. That’s barely 6 teaspoons a day! One thing you quickly learn when living with diabetes is that sugar is everywhere. Keeping a close watch on what you eat is fine, but applying the same vigilance to what you drink is just as important. Soft drinks are little calorie bombs. Each can has about 150...
Read More Putting your best foot forward!
In the long run, the hyperglycemia that characterizes diabetes ends up affecting the nerves (in what is known as neuropathy) and the blood vessels, especially the capillaries. This results in a loss of sensitivity and a decrease in the natural hydration of the feet, which leads to dry skin, cracks and calluses. This means that not only are you more likely to injure your feet and not realize it right away, but you heal more slowly, and your wounds are more likely to become infected. How do you prevent problems? ...
Read More 6 secrets to enjoying weddings (without your numbers going crazy)
If June is supposed to be wedding month, then why are all of your August weekends booked with stag and stagette dos, and nuptials from morning to night? The trend has shifted, with more Canadian weddings taking place in August than any other month.1 You've already seen advice on managing diabetes at weddings and parties, so we'll skip the obvious (eat before you go! drink water!). Instead, here are some ideas for having fun without regretting it an hour later (or the next morning). 1. Raise your Champagne glass! You don't have to skip alcohol just because you have diabetes. Just keep it in...
Read More Travelling Tips
The long-awaited moment is finally here: you’re going on vacation and you deserve this break. While you pack your bags and look for your passport or your keys, here’s our basic guide to a memorable and hassle-free trip! Setting off! While travelling by car, bus, plane or train, make sure your diabetes medication and equipment are always close at hand. If you’re flying, make sure that your medication still has its pharmaceutical label and that your syringes and needles are stored in their...
Read More Dining Out With Diabetes
How nice it is to share a good meal in good company, leaving stoves and crockery behind to be waited on at a restaurant! The problem is that many dishes on the menu often tend to increase blood sugar. Dining out with diabetes: mission impossible? Not at all. What’s good (and healthy) on the menu? To follow your diet plan more easily, you should try to choose restaurants with good variety, substitutions at no extra charge and generally healthy options… but you still have to spot the pitfalls!...
Read More Stress: It’s Not All In Your Head!
When your body is under attack, or when it feels attacked, it will naturally have a fight or flight response, with the hormonal reaction this entails. Cortisol and adrenaline, among other hormones, increase glucose levels, which are quickly transported to cells to provide energy to the body. Diabetes causes insulin to not always play its role effectively, which can lead to hyperglycemia. However, if you’re living with type 1 diabetes, you are at risk of hypoglycemia. Breathe! To develop better defense mechanisms...
Read More The Art Of Food Swapping
You know you shouldn’t, but the temptation is too strong. You run the numbers in your head. You try resisting a little… but then you forfeit. As you know, some foods don’t go very well with diabetes. The problem is that they are awfully tempting. However, there are ways for you to eat delicious food while keeping your blood sugar under control. Here are a few tips! Feel like having pizza? Pizza is far from being diabetes’s best friend, but you can limit the damage by swapping salted meats, such as pepperoni and...
Read More How To Make Better Resolutions
Making a list of resolutions for the New Year is fine... as long as you’ve got the iron will to keep them all. Instead of making a big deal of announcing major changes and then dumping the whole thing after two weeks, here’s how to really get on the path to success! 1. Do not pin all your hopes of changing on New Year’s Day. So you want to eat better? Don’t think the stroke of midnight will magically spell the end of excess! In fact, the prospect of having to deny yourself after the New Year will make treats all the more tempting in December. So start putting your life choices...
Read More