Strategies to keep blood glucose low

There are two main short-term strategies to keep blood glucose as low as possible in type2 diabetes. One is exercise and one is diet. Losing weight is another long-term strategy.

Exercise uses energy. This then makes the cells of the muscles consume energy and require more glucose. As previously explained, in type2 diabetes glucose cannot enter cells because the insulin being produced is ineffective. However, our bodies are made of trillions of cells. Some cells will be able to accept glucose and some will not, with a wide range in between. Exercise creates a demand for glucose. Cells that recognise insulin will tend to remove glucose from the bloodstream and so lower blood glucose levels. Those cells that cannot use glucose will use fat instead, or substances derived from fat. That means, if you are overweight, as is nearly everyone with type-2 diabetes, exercise will help burn off a little fat. Other main advantages of exercise are to help move lymph through the body, and that helps remove toxins, keeps the cardiovascular system exercised, helps with digestion and helps build muscle. Extra muscle creates more cells that use more glucose.

One must be very careful about the choice of exercise. If you have not exercised for years, it is best to take it steady. Nearly everyone can walk and this is the best way of starting. If you go down to the gym and start pounding away, you could be asking for trouble. People are always telling you that exercise does not count unless it is brisk. That is rubbish; any form of exercise is beneficial as long as you do not over-exert yourself. It is always best to build exercise into your daily routine. Walk whenever and wherever you can. Take the stairs, not the lift. Walk to the shops instead of driving. Play with the kids and have fun. Wash your own car, do housework, just generally get moving. Walking, more that any other form of exercise, releases endorphins. These promote a feeling of well being. People often remark that their thinking improves with walking. So if you have something complicated you need to resolve, try walking to help you. Often a walking or exercise partner can really help. You can walk and talk for miles and just not notice how far you’ve gone.

People tell me that they do not have time for exercise, but I say make time. Try going to bed half an hour earlier. You can then arise half an hour earlier for exercise!

If you have been a couch potato for years, take it steady. Your muscles may need breaking in gradually and your joints could be vulnerable. Choose an appropriate exercise, one that you like so that it can be fun. I chose swimming, and now swim a mile nearly every day. It is relaxing. When I started, it took me 85 minutes to swim a mile, but it now takes me only 55. If you swim breaststroke, be careful with the lateral forces on your knees. Also, light weight lifting is a good way to build muscle and use energy.

Always consult a health care professional before adopting any exercise programme. Also bear in mind the following motto: “Little and often, never overindulge”.

Dietary management is critical to glucose control. Whereas exercise can help remove glucose from the blood, diet is what causes it to rise in the first place. Although the above motto is equally applicable to food, I shall be taking a much deeper look at food. Food and its effects on the body are very complex subjects.

Many experts believe that being overweight or obese contributes to diabetes. This is because healthy volunteers have induced type2 diabetes by becoming overweight, and then reversed it by taking weight off. Also nearly everyone with type 2 diabetes is overweight or obese, including me! Therefore the experts believe that if you lose weight, your diabetes could reverse. Nothing in life is that simple. I believe that metabolic disturbance causes both weight gain and eventually type2 diabetes. It is only by correcting the metabolic disturbance that both might be reversed. Theories abound as to what causes the metabolic disturbances in the first place and there may be multiple causes requiring multiple interventions. Not only that, the causes may be unique to an individual. The bottom line is that losing weight on its own may not correct diabetes because there are more complex causes that need to be corrected as well. Unfortunately, the metabolic disturbances are precisely the reason for weight gain. That, and what we can euphemistically call positive calorie balance (eating too much and using too little!).

The challenges that face most of us with type2 diabetes are managing blood glucose on a daily basis and developing a long-term strategy to lose weight and correct underlying metabolic disorders. The key to these is the correct exercise and diet programme and possibly something I have not yet mentioned: detoxification.