Living With Type 2 Diabetes
Making healthy choices
Making healthy choices is a big part of managing type 2 diabetes. The more you learn about the disease, the more motivated you may be to make good choices and follow your treatment plan.
Eat healthy foods
Eat a balanced diet, and try to manage the amount of carbohydrate you eat by spreading it out over the day. For information, see: Quick Tips: Smart Snacking When You Have Diabetes.
For more help, see:
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Diabetes: Counting Carbs if You Don't Use Insulin. -
Diabetes: Using a Plate Format for Eating.
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Diabetes: Coping With Your Feelings About Your Diet.
The dietary guidelines for good health can help everyone form healthy eating habits, including people who have type 2 diabetes. It is especially important for people with type 2 diabetes to:
- Shift from eating unhealthy saturated fats to eating healthier unsaturated fats.
- Avoid foods that contain trans fat.
- Eat less salt.
- Be careful with alcohol, which affects your blood sugar. It can make problems from nerve damage, blood pressure, cholesterol, and weight even worse. Adult women should limit alcohol to 1 drink a day with a meal. Adult men should limit alcohol to 2 drinks a day with a meal. And women who are pregnant should not drink at all.
Be active
You don't have to join a gym to get fit or be active. For help, see the topic Quick Tips: Getting Active at Home. For other ideas see:
Test your blood sugar
The American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommends that you keep your blood sugar levels at:1
- 70 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) to 130 mg/dL before meals, when using a home blood sugar test. If you are pregnant, aim for a blood sugar level from 60 mg/dL to 99 mg/dL.
- Less than 180 mg/dL 1 to 2 hours after meals, using the home blood sugar test. If you are pregnant, aim for 100 mg/dL to 129 mg/dL for your highest blood sugar level 1 to 2 hours after meals. For help, see:
A continuous glucose monitor, or CGM, reports on your blood sugar at least every 5 minutes, day and night. And it sounds an alarm if it sees that your levels are headed out of range.
Having a record of your blood sugar over time can help you and your doctor know how well your treatment is working and whether you need to make any changes. For tools you can use to track your blood sugar, see:
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Home Blood Sugar Diary
(What is a PDF document?)
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High Blood Sugar Record Level
(What is a PDF document?)
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WebMD Medical Reference from Healthwise
Topics
Is This Normal? Get the Facts Fast!
Answer:
0-69
70-130
131+
Your level is currently
If the level is below 70 and you are experiencing symptoms such as shaking, sweating or difficulty thinking, you will need to raise the number immediately. A quick solution is to eat a few pieces of hard candy or 1 tablespoon of sugar or honey. Recheck your numbers again in 15 minutes to see if the number has gone up. If not, repeat the steps above or call your doctor.
People who experience hypoglycemia several times in a week should call their health care provider. It's important to monitor your levels each day so you can make sure your numbers are within the range. If you are pregnant always consult with your health care provider.
Congratulations on taking steps to manage your health.
However, it's important to continue to track your numbers so that you can make lifestyle changes if needed. If you are pregnant always consult with your physician.
Your level is high if this reading was taken before eating. Aim for 70-130 before meals and less than 180 two hours after meals.
Even if your number is high, it's not too late for you to take control of your health and lower your blood sugar.
One of the first steps is to monitor your levels each day. If you are pregnant always consult with your physician.
Did You Know Your Lifestyle Choices
Affect Your Blood Sugar?
Use the Blood Glucose Tracker to monitor
how well you manage your blood sugar over time.
This tool is not intended for women who are pregnant.
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