October 14, 2008
Enjoy A Happy Pregnancy With A Diet For Gestational Diabetes
If you look after yourself and your diabetes, and there’s lots of tips for a healthy diabetes 2 diet, you will not suffer any adverse effects from diabetes. Regularly testing your blood glucose level, eating and drinking healthily, doing plenty of physical activity, and sticking with whatever diabetes treatment you have been prescribed will all contribute towards safe management of your blood sugar levels. Effective management of blood glucose is crucial in reducing the risk of suffering more severe health issues, and your health professional works with you to achieve this.
Why you must control your blood sugar levels
One signs of diabetes that can be detected through some simple blood tests is raised blood glucose levels. Diabetes need not be life threatening, it simply means, efficient management of blood sugars is very difficult for your body. The key to caring for your diabetes is ensuring your blood sugar levels are in the 4 to 7 millimoles per liter range. You can easily manage this if you simply monitor and test your blood every day. Get into the habit of regular testing and you’ll be preventing further health issues cropping up.
Doing your own blood sugar tests at home is easier than ever. There’s an increasing availability of blood testing apparatus, from basic blood testing strips through to extravagant electronic monitors with PC interfaces that take management and analysis of your test results to a whole new level.
Whether you have type 1 or type 2 or gestational diabetes, the recommended blood glucose level to aim for is 4-7 millimoles per liter. This is close enough to the normal range of people who don’t have diabetes to enhance your odds of a long and healthy life.
The frequency at which you should test your blood can depend on many variables, including any prescription drugs you take, the food you eat (are you following a gestational diabetes diet?), and if you’re active. All you need to do is fit them in around your lifestyle and empower you to help manage your diabetes without any fuss.
The HbAlc Test - Not Just Gobbledygook
Although testing your blood glucose level at home is very important with regards to keeping your diabetes under control there is an additional test, called the HbAlc test, which is done by your doctor and you have one every 6 to 12 months.
Your home based tests differ from the HbA1c test in that your home based testing kits shows real time results whereas the HbA1c test shows historic results for the last 2 months. An HbA1c test will give your results as a percent figure- the closer they are to 7 per cent (or below) the better.
The four main factors that affect your blood glucose control are what you eat, your level of physical activity, diabetic tablets and insulin. If you don’t pay attention to monitoring your blood sugar levels you run the risk of getting hyperglycemia which results from high blood sugar levels.
Keeping your blood glucose level well controlled is a very effective way in preventing more serious health conditions arising from your diabetes. Good control means that the pretty much all the test results should be falling within the range of 4-7 millimoles per liter. This should lead to a HbA1c result in the proximity of 7 points too.





