Due to the increased prevalence of diabetes, a few basic tips to control diabetes and your blood sugars are listed below for you and your loved ones. We care about your eyes and health! Make good lifestyle choices and enjoy each and every day!
Tips for Avoiding Diabetes:
- Wear a pedometer and get 8,000 to 10,000 steps per day.
- Eat plant-based diet (seven servings of whole vegetables and fruits every day; at least 14 different types of vegetables each week.
- Get 7-8 hours of sleep each night.
- Eliminate high-fructose corn syrup and keep added sugars under 25g each day (read your food labels).
- Take 5,000 IU of vitamin D3 every day to get blood levels above 40 mg/dl (see your PCP or consider a home test available through www.grassrootshealth.org).
- Promote healthy gut bacteria that improve insulin sensitivity by taking a prebiotic or probiotic containing oligofructose and avoiding aspartame, saccharin, and sucralose.
Diabetes in a known cause of blindness if left untreated. Long-term exposure to high blood sugars causes the retinal blood vessels to become leaky and cause permanent irreversible damage to the sensitive photoreceptors, rods and cones.
Tips for Good Sugar Control if You Have Diabetes:
7. Do everything listed in steps 1 through 6 above.
8. Limit carbohydrate content of any large meal to less than 30 grams.
9. Take 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar before meals to l lower blood sugar spikes.
10. Slow down, put your fork down while slowly chewing food.
11. Take prescribed diabetes medications on time, every time; take rapid-acting insulin at least 15 min before eating if required prior to food.
12. Fast at least one day a week to increase healthy gut bacteria and insulin sensitivity.
See your eye doctor regularly and ask what you can do to keep your eyes their healthiest.
Source: Paul A. Chous, OD, MA, FAAO