November is American Diabetes Month, which is the topic of my Health & Fitness column in the Aiken Standard this week. I tried to cover the basics of diabetes including the causes, health effects, and prevention and treatment of this serious disease.
If you have diabetes you should take treatment seriously. Uncontrolled diabetes can lead to serious complications. While your doctor may prescribe medications (insulin or others), a healthy diet and regular exercise are essential for controlling your blood glucose.
If you don’t have diabetes or if you have been diagnosed with prediabetes, know that adopting a healthy diet, getting regular exercise, and maintaining a healthy body weight are the best ways to reduce your risk of diabetes…and many other chronic diseases, too!
If you want to learn more about diabetes, a great place to start is American Diabetes Association.
You can review the evidence for diet and exercise as ways to prevent and treat diabetes in these position papers from the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Diabetes Association: