Tips for taming type 2 diabetes
Changing habits: one step at a time People who are diagnosed with diabetes must learn to live with the disease. This can be a daunting task, as it requires significant lifestyle changes. However, it is important to be kind to yourself and to implement these changes at your own pace. Nutrition Pay special attention to your eating habits. In addition to lowering your sugar intake, make sure you eat enough carbohydrates. As a general rule, adults need 45 to 75 grams of carbohydrates per meal (and 15 to...
Read MoreSugary 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 MorePutting 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 MoreTravelling 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...
Read MoreDining 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 MoreThe 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 MoreHow 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 MoreGive Some Sparkle To That Water
At the cottage, on the beach or during an evening with friends, it’s nice to keep a glass in hand without worrying about your blood sugar rising with your alcohol level. Drinking water is an excellent plan, but why not tickle your taste buds at the same time? Iced tea Commercial iced teas are often loaded with sugar, but homemade tea infusions, hot or cold, are simple, economical and low-calorie! Hot infusions You can infuse your tea as usual for a few minutes (in 65°C water for green tea, 80°C for oolong tea or 95°C for black tea), then leave it...
Read More(Somewhat) Healthier Choices For Halloween
Candy, caramel apples and chocolate, oh my! At first glance, Halloween would not seem to be diabetes's best friend. Perhaps you even dread its arrival each year and have to fight your natural attraction to the sweets lining store shelves (and their magnetic power over your children). You don’t need to torture yourself like that: enjoying Halloween without going overboard is completely possible! Here are some ideas for kids, young and old. Chocolate. Your best option is dark chocolate—it’s not too sweet and has a low glycemic index. Otherwise, go for wafer-style...
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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 MorePutting 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 MoreTravelling 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...
Read MoreDining 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 MoreThe 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 MoreHow 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 MoreGive Some Sparkle To That Water
At the cottage, on the beach or during an evening with friends, it’s nice to keep a glass in hand without worrying about your blood sugar rising with your alcohol level. Drinking water is an excellent plan, but why not tickle your taste buds at the same time? Iced tea Commercial iced teas are often loaded with sugar, but homemade tea infusions, hot or cold, are simple, economical and low-calorie! Hot infusions You can infuse your tea as usual for a few minutes (in 65°C water for green tea, 80°C for oolong tea or 95°C for black tea), then leave it...
Read More(Somewhat) Healthier Choices For Halloween
Candy, caramel apples and chocolate, oh my! At first glance, Halloween would not seem to be diabetes's best friend. Perhaps you even dread its arrival each year and have to fight your natural attraction to the sweets lining store shelves (and their magnetic power over your children). You don’t need to torture yourself like that: enjoying Halloween without going overboard is completely possible! Here are some ideas for kids, young and old. Chocolate. Your best option is dark chocolate—it’s not too sweet and has a low glycemic index. Otherwise, go for wafer-style...
Read More