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More people than ever are being diagnosed with diabetes. According to Diabetes UK, diabetes diagnoses doubled in the 15 years before 2021. Almost 4.1 million people in the UK now live with any type of diabetes, with a further 850,000 living with type 2 diabetes who are yet to be diagnosed.
What’s the cause? Sedentary lifestyles, rising obesity rates, and high-sugar diets all contribute to this diabetes epidemic.
Regular glucose tests for diabetes are crucial for early diagnosis, monitoring glucose levels, and managing the condition long-term. But there’s more to diabetes control and prevention than just a diabetes checkup.
In this guide:
Top Lifestyle Tips to Manage Diabetes
Risk factors for diabetes include some things you can’t change: your genes, ethnicity, and family history. That being said, there are several modifiable risk factors that not only reduce your risk of diabetic complications but can even reverse the condition.
Healthy Eating
Diet is everything in diabetes. Most people develop type 2 diabetes due to an unhealthy diet, leading to obesity and insulin resistance. The logic goes that the reverse can either manage diabetes or reverse it.
You should eat a high-fibre diet rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and whole grains. Full of vital nutrients, the fibre – the indigestible part of carbohydrates – fills you up and slows down digestion, preventing the blood sugar spike characteristic of diabetes development.
On the other hand, avoid processed foods and refined carbohydrates. Think white bread, snack foods, and desserts. These foods are high in sugar and rapidly increase your blood sugar levels.
Portion control is another important factor. Limiting the size of each meal is the simplest way to lose weight and push your diabetes into remission. (Tip: use a smaller plate to limit the size of your meal.) Low-calorie diets (800-1,200 calories per day) or intermittent fasting are proven techniques to reverse or mitigate diabetes, correcting your body’s blood sugar response.
Regular Physical Activity
Exercise is the gold standard of diabetes control. It strengthens your heart, builds muscle, burns calories, and, most importantly, resolves insulin resistance (the precursor of type 2 diabetes).
Type 2 diabetes occurs because insulin, a hormone that triggers glucose uptake into cells, no longer works effectively. A combination of excess visceral fat, lack of exercise, and a sedentary lifestyle influence insulin signalling, impairing insulin release and promoting insulin resistance. Exercise reverses this trend, increasing insulin sensitivity.
Aerobic and resistance exercise, in particular, spark improvements in blood glucose regulation, even without weight loss or dietary changes. As a 2016 review noted: “A lifestyle incorporating aerobic exercise and/or physical activity that complies with the guidelines of being of moderate intensity for at least 30 min on 3–5 days per week, is associated with improved insulin sensitivity and glycaemic control.”
Even a single exercise session resulted in an improvement in insulin sensitivity within 72 hours. But the kind of exercise also matters. Expect resistance training and aerobic exercise to result in greater changes to your glucose check than flexibility exercises.
Aerobic Exercise (e.g., walking, cycling, or swimming). These activities get your heart pumping and help lower your blood sugar levels. Plus, they make your body more sensitive to insulin, which is key in managing diabetes.
Strength Training (e.g., weightlifting or using resistance bands). Building muscle not only makes you stronger but also boosts your metabolism, which helps your body use insulin more effectively and keeps your blood sugar in check.
Flexibility Exercises (e.g., yoga or simple stretching). Staying flexible keeps your joints moving smoothly and can really help reduce stress. Plus, it makes it easier to go about your day without stiffness or discomfort.
Weight Management
Losing weight is a simple yet effective way to see better results on your glucose test for diabetes. Simply losing around 5% of your body weight has real ramifications for your health, including lowering the risk of diabetes.
Remember: type 2 diabetes is caused by impaired insulin signalling and insulin resistance triggered by excess peripheral visceral fat (aka obesity). Therefore, by losing weight and being in a calorie deficit, you’re resetting your system. Insulin suddenly starts to become effective again.
When it comes to shedding those extra pounds to improve your glucose test results, small, consistent changes make a big difference. There’s only one rule of weight loss: calories consumed must be less than calories burned. You can either eat less, do more, or try a combination of both.
Prioritise whole, unprocessed foods like vegetables, fruits, lean proteins, and whole grains. Not only are these foods more filling, but they help stabilise your blood sugar. In combination with regular exercise, like the aerobic and strength training mentioned earlier (or just walking more), you can see sizeable losses in a relatively short period. But you’ve got to keep it off long-term for persistent results.
Healthy Lifestyle Choices
It’s not all about weight loss, diet and exercise. Everything from smoking to stress and lack of sleep can affect your diabetic control. Follow these lifestyle tips:
Quit Smoking. Smoking increases your risk of insulin resistance and reduces blood flow. That raises the risk of diabetic complications, e.g., amputation, neuropathy, and heart disease.
Manage Stress. High stress levels lower insulin secretion over time. People also tend to eat less healthily when stressed or tired. Take time to relax, whether it’s meditation, outdoor hiking, or joining a social group.
Sleep More. Sleep is the single best thing for your health. Yet, most people fail to get the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep per night. However, lack of sleep is associated with insulin resistance and pre-diabetes.
Monitoring Blood Sugar Levels
Ultimately, the only number that matters is the result of your type 2 diabetes test. Persistently high blood sugar levels will lead to nerve damage, heart disease, and eventually amputation.
Testing Options
Several diabetes tests exist to monitor the condition. The most common is either the finger prick blood test or continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). Other tests like HbA1c measure blood sugar levels over the previous months.
Understanding Readings
Know your numbers: normal fasting levels are less than 7 mmol/l, and post-meal levels should stay below 10 mmol/l. Consistently high readings indicate the need to adjust your management plan.
Leveraging Technology
Use apps and glucose monitors to track your progress, manage your diet and exercise, and receive reminders for regular diabetes checks. These tools provide valuable insights, helping you maintain control and prevent complications.
Preventative Measures for Diabetes
Prevention is better than cure. Although people talk about diabetes with increasing acceptance, it’s an extremely harmful and damaging condition. Reducing your risk of type 2 diabetes is crucial for your long-term health. Consider the preventative steps:
Routine Diabetes Checks
Several diabetes tests exist, monitoring different aspects of the condition. There are two primary tests to consider:
Fasting Blood Glucose Test: This test measures your blood sugar after an 8-hour fast. A small blood sample is taken, usually from a vein, and sent to a lab.
Normal: less than 7 mmol/l
Pre-diabetes: n/a
Diabetes: 7 mmol/l or more
HbA1c Test: This test measures your average blood sugar over the past 2-3 months by analysing the percentage of glycosylated haemoglobin.
Normal: Below 5.7%
Pre-diabetes: 5.7%-6.4%
Diabetes: 6.5% or higher
Going private for your diabetes tests provides more accurate and timely results. You can book your appointment and undertake the test within just a few days. We recommend undergoing a test every 3-6 months, depending on your blood sugar control.
Consulting Healthcare Professionals
Alongside testing, speak to your healthcare provider regularly. They’ll review your test results and discuss issues related to your blood sugar control. They may recommend helpful medications or lifestyle changes to manage your condition.
You could be referred to a diabetes educator or nutritionist to help with prevention, especially if you have prediabetes. They’ll provide personalised advice to keep you fit, healthy, and diabetes-free.
Importance of Private Diabetes Tests
Private clinics aren’t under the same strain as the NHS. They provide quicker, more convenient diabetes checkups without the long wait times. You’ll get care that’s tailored to your needs, with the flexibility to choose from testing options like a fasting glucose test or an HbA1c checkup. Afterwards, you can take your results to your healthcare provider for further advice.
What’s even better is how comprehensive testing options can help with early detection. Potential benefits include:
Personalised Insights: Get results that are specific to your unique health profile.
Quick Feedback: Receive results fast so you can take action right away.
Ongoing Support: Benefit from continuous care and follow-up for effective diabetes management.
Convenient and Stress-Free: Flexible scheduling with all tests in one visit, making it easy to stay on top of your health.
Final Thoughts
Type 2 diabetes isn’t inevitable. Through the right combination of lifestyle changes, including weight loss, exercise, a healthy diet, and regular glucose tests for diabetes, you can manage and prevent the condition.
Remember to stay active, eat plenty of fibre, quit smoking, manage your stress levels, get more sleep, and much more to boost your overall health and mitigate diabetes.
You can book your next diabetes test today with Health Klinix. We provide both fasting glucose tests and HbA1c tests. Book your diabetes checks now.
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Reviewed and approved by:
Dr Ravi Gowda, Consultant in Infectious Diseases and Travel Medicine
MBBS, MRCP(UK), DTM&H, MRCGP, DCH, DRCOG, DFFP
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