6 Unknown Tips for Weight Loss When You’re Diabetic
Control your diabetes and achieve weight loss
Diabetes is all about controlling the glucose in your blood. The mantra heard over and over again is to control your carbohydrate intake and exercise and all will be well; the truth is that controlling your Type II Diabetes takes more effort… And losing weight with Type II Diabetes requires special attention and understanding to achieve. The following are some tips and explanations of why they are important for controlling your Diabetes and achieving weight loss.
1. De-stress and keep calm. When a person is under stress, either emotional or physical, there is a physiological reaction called the fight-or-flight response. The fight-or-flight response releases cortisol into the blood which causes the liver to release a lot of glucose. Since the fight-or-flight response was designed to give you the energy to deal with dramatic physical danger all that extra glucose was needed to run or way or fight an enemy. Today most of our stress is emotional which does not require the extra glucose so it just stays in your blood and raises your levels.
2. Low intensity exercise. Exercise is great for diabetics but it has to be the right type. Since diabetics already have high glucose levels and intense exercise releases even more glucose I recommend that my patients do low intensity exercise. Weight lifting will burn up that extra glucose without releasing more. If you want to do cardio try to keep your heart rate around 100 beats per a minute which is enough to burn glucose but not release any extra.
3. Eat fats with your food. While it is important to limit our carbohydrate intake, you still must eat some. Combining foods with healthy fats; olive oil, avocado, whole milk cheese etc. with complex carbohydrates will slow their absorption and allow for a more level glucose response
4. Don’t eat over rippened fruits. While limiting your fruit intake is advisable, eliminating ripened fruit is a must. Over ripe fruit has more sugars that are easier to absorb.
5. Herbs for glucose control are a great tool. My favorite herb for diabetics and weight loss is Gymnema. This herb has the benefit of stabilizing glucose levels and dulls your cravings for carbohydrates. When taken orally it also has the ability to stop you from tasting sweetness in foods thus limiting your desire.
6. Fiber with each meal. Including fiber with each meal is a great way to slow the absorption of carbohydrates. You may want to consider a tablespoon of; flax seeds or chia seeds in 8 ounces of water , 15 minutes before eating. The fiber will also help fill you up and limit your calorie intake.
Bonus: Sleep to loose weight and manage diabetes. The body goes into a completely different physiological state when you sleep which has the benefits of detoxifying to loose weight and hormone balancing to manage diabetes. The average person should get 7-8 hours of restful sleep a night.
Combine the above tips with low glycemic dietary choices and limit your overall calorie intake for steady and healthy weight loss.
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