Stress And Diabetes: How To Keep Calm And Control Blood Sugar

Living with diabetes can be challenging, and stress is often a significant yet overlooked factor affecting blood sugar control. Understanding stress and diabetes is the key to improving overall health.

What you need to know:

• The stress-diabetes connection
• Effective stress management techniques for people with diabetes
• Lifestyle changes for stress reduction
• Managing stress and diabetes

The stress-diabetes connection

Stress and diabetes connection is significant:

• Stress may contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes.
• People with diabetes are 2 to 3 times more likely to have depression than people without the condition.
• It can affect your mood and how you look after yourself, affecting your emotional health.
• It causes the body to release hormones like cortisol and adrenaline, which are part of the “fight or flight” response. These hormones raise blood sugar and blood pressure and make it harder for insulin to work properly.

Effective stress management techniques for people with diabetes

Stress and diabetes go hand-in-hand. Counteracting stress can keep diabetic complications at bay. Here are some techniques for stress management for diabetes.

Relaxation techniques

Some relaxation techniques for people with diabetes include:

• Deep breathing: Sit or lie down, close your eyes, and inhale slowly through your nose. Hold your breath for a few seconds, then exhale slowly through your mouth. Repeat several times.
• Progressive muscle relaxation: Start with your toes, slowly clench each body part for five seconds, then relax.
• Yoga: Focus on your breathing, stretching, and body placement. You can try a downward dog or warrior’s pose.

Mindfulness practises

Mindfulness practises for diabetics include:

• Meditation: Focusing on your breathing, images, sounds, or specific thoughts can help clear your mind. You can also use a guided meditation app or website.
• Practising mindfulness: Try to be present in the moment. Calmly acknowledge and accept your feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations.
• Guided imagery: Visualize calming situations. You can write a script and read it to yourself or use a guided meditation recording.

Time management

Effective time management tactics can help people with diabetes manage stress and feel less overwhelmed. These include:

• Prioritizing important tasks and the ones you can put off
• Setting realistic goals, striving for excellence, not perfection, and not worrying about things you can’t control
• Breaking tasks into smaller, more manageable steps
• Delegating responsibilities when possible
• Learning to say no to excessive commitments
• Combining tasks and errands for time efficiency. For example, when making a meal for yourself, make more than one serving; eat one serving now and save the rest for later.

Lifestyle changes for stress reduction

Regular physical activity

Exercising regularly is the most important place to start. It doesn’t necessarily mean power lifting at the gym or training for a marathon. A short walk around the office or standing up to stretch during a break at work can offer immediate relief in a stressful situation. Getting your blood moving releases endorphins and can improve your mood almost instantaneously.

Optimum nutrition

Stress levels and a proper diet are closely related. When overwhelmed, you often forget to eat well and use sugary, fatty snack foods as a pick-me-up. Try to avoid sugary snacks. Fruits and vegetables provide many health benefits, and fish with high levels of omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to reduce the symptoms of stress.

Adequate rest

Stress can cause you to lose sleep. Unfortunately, lack of sleep is also a key cause of stress. This vicious cycle causes the brain and body to get out of sync and only worsens with time. Make sure to get seven to eight hours of sleep. Turn the TV off earlier, dim the lights, and give yourself time to relax before going to bed.

Managing stress and diabetes

Effective stress management is crucial for diabetes management, as chronic stress can elevate blood sugar levels and disrupt overall health. Incorporate the above-mentioned stress management techniques and appropriate lifestyle modifications to improve your emotional well-being and control blood sugar. Prioritizing mental and emotional health, along with physical health, and creating a more balanced approach to managing diabetes will lead to better long-term outcomes and a higher quality of life.

 

Stay tuned to the Activ Living Community. Keep up to date with the latest health tips and trends through expert videos, podcasts, articles, and much more on nutrition, fitness, mindfulness, and lifestyle conditions like Asthma, Blood Pressure, Cholesterol, and Diabetes. Activ Living ke saath sahi sehat ki shuruat ABHI karo.

 

You may also be interested in the following blogs:

• Simple Tips To Manage Stress At Work: A Therapist’s Guide
• Unlocking Wellness: Smoking And Diabetes—4 Health Benefits Of Quitting

 

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