What is Diabetes?
We’ve all heard of the disease, but let’s really understand it. This is the first part of our series Deconstructing Diabetes with Shweta Garodia – a leading Clinical Nutritionist from Surat city.
You get diabetes when one of these things happens in your body.
A) The pancreas doesn’t produce enough insulin, or when
B) The body cannot use the insulin being produced.
What is Insulin?
Insulin is a hormone that regulates glucose levels in our bodies. Contrary to popular belief, Diabetes can be prevented if we follow a healthy lifestyle that includes a good diet and an exercise regimen followed religiously. Diabetes has less to do with your sugar intake and more to do with the kind of life you lead. A person with a sedentary lifestyle is at a higher risk of getting Diabetes.
A Diabetic patient has to take certain precautions and keep the following things on hand at all times in case of a medical emergency –
1) Home blood glucose monitoring kit ( Glucometer ):- Regularly check your blood sugar levels.
2) Ketone kit:- Home ketone test kit can be used to check ketones in your urine or blood. (Normally, the cells in your body use glucose (sugar) from your blood for energy. If your cells can’t get enough glucose, your body breaks down fat for energy instead. This produces an acid called ketones, which can build up in your blood and urine.)
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3) Emergency Sugar sources:- In case of a sudden drop in blood sugar levels, one should always carry glucose tablets, sugar candies or Fruit juices.
4) Always carry a Medical Alert Identification Card, – including your Name, Contact Number, Address and Medical Condition.
Shweta Garodia
Clinical Nutritionist at Unisn Health Checkups & Diagnostic centre
Address – Sargam Shopping Center, 2nd floor, C K Tower Besides, Surat, Gujarat 395007
Check out her Instagram Page – NourishwithShwets
Get to know about diabetes from Shweta Garodia here!
