Understanding Type 1 Diabetes
Understanding Type 2 Diabetes
Physical Activity is crucial in diabetes management
To determine how you respond the physical activity, you should track your blood sugar before, during and after physical activity.
Seek your doctor’s guidance before starting any exercise regiment to determine how it might affect your blood sugar. It will vary from person to person, because some individuals might be inactive for a long time while others may have to do a fair bit of walking daily for work etc. Your doctor will explain to you what risks exist with the medication that you are taking and the physical activity that your are contemplating.
Typical recommendations from the medical literature is about 30 to 40 minutes of moderately intense physical activities per day about 3 to 5 times per week such as:
- Fast walking
- Spinning
If you are on insulin or other medications that can cause low blood sugar (hypoglycemia), then you should test your blood sugar 15 to 30 minutes before exercising.
If you don’t take medications for your diabetes or you don’t use medications commonly linked to low blood sugar levels, you probably won’t need to take any special precautions prior to exercising. But still check with your doctor.
Below are some general guidelines for pre-exercise blood sugar levels. The measurements are expressed in milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) or millimoles per liter (mmol/L). source: www.mayoclinic.org
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Lower than 100 mg/dL (5.6 mmol/L). Your blood sugar may be too low to exercise safely. Eat a small snack containing 15 to 30 grams of carbohydrates, such as fruit juice, fruit, crackers or even glucose tablets before you begin your workout.
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100 to 250 mg/dL (5.6 to 13.9 mmol/L). You’re good to go. For most people, this is a safe pre-exercise blood sugar range.
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250 mg/dL (13.9 mmol/L) or higher. This is a caution zone — your blood sugar may be too high to exercise safely. Before exercising, test your urine for ketones — substances made when your body breaks down fat for energy. The presence of ketones indicates that your body doesn’t have enough insulin to control your blood sugar.
You should get your cholestorel and bA1c checked every 6 months.
If you exercise when you have a high level of ketones, you risk ketoacidosis — a serious complication of diabetes that needs immediate treatment. Instead of exercising immediately, take measures to correct the high blood sugar levels and wait to exercise until your ketone test indicates an absence of ketones in your urine.
Activity has other benefits
Being active does more than just keep your heart healthy. It keeps your body and mind healthy too.
The added benefits of regular exercise include:
Mental well-being and stress relief.
Increased flexibility, if stretching is done afterwards.
Increased bone strength, if the exercise includes weight-bearing exercises, such as jogging or lifting weights.