According to a report by BMC primary care, approximately 6 million adults in Nigeria are living with diabetes. While prevention is better than cure, a Diabetes diagnosis is not a death sentence.
Here are some useful self-care tips to follow if you have diabetes, you can also share the tips with any friend or relative living with diabetes.
- Stay Physically Active If you are Diabetic, you should find ways to stay active. You can do this by playing sports, exercising, or just taking walks regularly. This will help in controlling blood sugar levels, boost your body’s sensitivity to insulin, and also lowers the risk of nerve damage.
- Choose Whole foods over Processed food: Diabetic or not, you always have to be cautious of what goes into your mouth, and how it will affect your health. A healthy diet for a diabetic patient includes a mix of whole foods in the closest form possible to how they are found in nature. Skip the high saturated fat, high salt, added sugar, preservatives, food dyes, and all other types of processed foods. Choosing whole grains like brown rice, quinoa, bulgur, etc can help to keep your blood sugar stable.
- Be Medication Compliant: As a diabetic person, you should have medications prescribed to you by your Doctor. Ensure you take these medications as prescribed with respect to timing, dosage, and frequency. If you miss any dose or notice an unusual reaction to any of the meds, consult your doctor for the next line of action.
- Avoid Red Meat: Red meat is known for being high in saturated fats which you should avoid if you are Diabetic. This includes Beef, Pork, and Mutton. Substitute instead with white or lean meat like chicken, which is healthier for you.
- Get Regular Checkups: You should have regular consultations with your Doctor, to know the status of your health, if you need to change medications, and so on, and also carry out blood sugar and blood pressure checks regularlyHaving diabetes is not the end of the world and following these steps would help make it easier for you to manage it effectively.
