April is Defeat Diabetes Month and Touchette Regional Hospital wants to help you take a stand against this often-life-threatening disease. By following a few simple guidelines, diabetes can be controlled and sometimes medication can even be discontinued. By controlling diabetes, complications can often be avoided.
Eat high-fiber and whole-grain foods, such as brown rice, beans broccoli, nuts, etc. Your body can digest these foods with less impact on blood sugar; they can also lower your risk of developing diabetes in the first place. Be selective with your protein. Substitute red meat with chicken, seafood, beans, and nuts. They are leaner, lower in cholesterol, saturated fat, and calories.
“It’s critical to keep your body in motion, even if it’s only for a short amount of time,” says Laurie Klipfel, Diabetes Educator at Touchette Regional Hospital. “Physical activity helps control blood sugar spikes, and consistent cardiovascular activity improves and regulates blood sugar long term.”
Watch out for trans fats in foods such as cookies, cakes, fried foods, frozen meals, margarine, and others. These foods are known for high calorie counts, increasing your cholesterol, and boosting the risk for diabetes. Cut back on sugared soft drinks, energy drinks and juice. They can contain high-fructose corn syrup or large amounts of sugar, causing blood sugar levels to rise.
People with diabetes or individuals with pre-diabetes should avoid smoking. Nicotine narrows and hardens blood vessels, limiting blood flow throughout the body. Smoking causes higher blood sugar levels, making diabetes more difficult to manage, resulting in further health complications.
Touchette Regional Hospital offers the Complete Care Program to help individuals successfully manage their diabetes. Care and education is the initial focus of the program which assists in preventing devastating complications from this chronic disease. Don’t let diabetes control your life, call the medical professionals at Touchette, 618.332.5370.
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About Touchette Regional Hospital
Touchette Regional Hospital has proudly served the communities of the Metro-East for more than 60 years. TRH offers high-quality Cardiopulmonary, Laboratory, Radiology, Southern Illinois Home Care, Physician Specialty Services, Pharmacy, Transportation, Physical Therapy, Senior Care Services, Community Health Connections, Start Now Cancer Awareness Program, Obstetrical Services, 24-hour Emergency Department, New Vision/Substance Abuse Program, Special Needs Dentistry for children, Behavioral Health (inpatient and outpatient), Medical/Surgical/Telemetry, Intensive Care and Surgical Services (inpatient and outpatient). For more information, visit www.touchette.org.