How Can A Diabetic Lose Weight?

Are you people trying to lose weight while managing diabetes? So, yeah, there is good news for you. Managing diabetes while losing weight is now quite easier. In this article, you will learn how to lose weight and maintain and manage diabetes.

Importance of Losing Weight for Diabetics

Achieving and maintaining a healthy weight is very important and difficult for diabetes. Excessive body fat makes insulin resistant. Glucose is not able to reach the cells properly. Causing accumulation of glucose in the blood that increases sugar levels. Losing weight helps in reducing insulin resistance and makes cells sensitive to glucose.

Factors to consider while losing weight include age, health, insulin dose, lifestyle, exercise, and weight.

According to the WHO, 90 percent of people with type 2 diabetes are overweight or obese. A Research indicates that the higher the BMI (a common measure of being overweight or obese), the greater the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Fat tissues affect the hormones that increase the risk of metabolic syndrome, including diabetes. But losing 10 to 15 lbs can improve your health and blood sugar levels.

Weight Loss & Insulin Resistance

Insulin is the hormone that helps to regulate blood sugar levels in the body and helps cells convert blood sugar into energy. In some people with diabetes, blood sugar levels are high for a while, causing the pancreas to release more and more insulin. At last, the cells stop responding to insulin becoming insulin resistant. And glucose remains in the blood, causing a spike in sugar levels.

Losing weight with insulin resistance is more difficult because your body converts blood sugar into fat instead of energy.

To overcome insulin resistance, artificial insulin is injected into the body before, during, and after meals depending on different body responses.

Read | How a Diabetic Can Gain Weight

Benefits of Exercise for Diabetic & Weight Loss

Exercise plays an important role in losing weight. Doing exercise provides a lot of benefits. But before exercising, ensure your insulin level is neither too low nor too high. If someone takes insulin doses, manage it before and after doing exercise. Consult your doctors or dietitian if you are taking insulin before any happens.

Improve insulin sensitivity
Improve glucose level
Lower risk of heart disease
Helps in improving diabetes faster
Improve circulation and reduce stress
Helps in burning extra glucose in the body and also decreases resistance to insulin

Diet for Weight Loss

For many people with diabetes, exercise is not enough to lose weight. This type of diet helps in improving weight loss faster.

DASH Diet:

DASH diet stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, created to help people manage their blood pressure. It is planned by experts from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

It is a healthy and nutritious diet for everyone, not just those with diabetes. It is rich in fruits, vegetables, and grains and low in fat, sugar, and sodium.

A typical serving guide for a patient following the DASH diet is as follows:

Vegetables: 6-5 servings/ day
Fruits: 5 serving/ day
Carbohydrates: 7 servings/ day
Low-fat dairy products: 2 servings/ day
Lean meat products: about two or fewer servings/per day
Nuts and seeds: 2 to 3 times/ week

Low-Carb Diet:

Taking insulin and medication and avoiding carbs put the body at risk of low sugar levels. If you are on fixed insulin dosage, you may need to eat carbohydrates more consistently to avoid drops in blood sugar. Limits a person’s intake of carbohydrates and includes higher amounts of protein and healthful fats.

A Low-carb diet contains 20-50g of carbohydrates/per day. So if you want to follow this weight-loss diet, consult your physician first.

Low-carbohydrate foods include:

Lean meats, such as chicken breast or fish
Eggs and milk
Leafy green vegetables, cauliflower, and broccoli
Nuts and seeds, including nut butter
Oils like coconut oil, olive oil, and rapeseed oil
Fruit, such as apples, peaches, bananas, melons, and strawberries
Dairy products, including plain whole milk and plain Greek yogurt

Mediterranean Diet

The Mediterranean diet contains food choices and cooking styles of the Mediterranean region.

It includes very small amounts of red and processed meats, butter, and sweets.

The diet typically includes:

Variety of vegetables
Whole grains and cereals
Fruits in moderation
Nuts and seeds
Herbs and spices
Olive oil
Fish
Eggs

The NIH considered that the Mediterranean diet might be useful for weight loss for people with diabetes.

Medically Management of Weigh Loss for Diabetes

Weight Loss Medications:

Weight loss medicine is helpful. They are prescribed and managed by a medical weight loss program. It is a good option to replace surgery. Medicines usually help manage your hunger, give you more satiety and less hunger, and making harder for the body to store fat.

Following your doctor’s advice is very important, as some medications have serious side effects.

Weight Loss Surgery:

If you have a lot of weight and it becomes difficult to lose, consult your doctors before surgery. As different body demands differently.

There are different kinds of surgeries; the most famous is Bariatric surgery. It aims to make you feel full and eat less.

It changes the way of working of the digestive system works. It changes:

Working of Hormones in the gut affects insulin release and synthesis.
Increases bile acid that, in turn, makes cells insulin sensitive
Improve the usage of insulin to lower the sugar level

10 Simple Ways for Weight Loss for Diabetics

10 simple ways to help you in achieving weight loss faster:

Set realistic goals and follow them accordingly.
Do not cut any meals; instead, make meals smaller
Use meal replacement products
Consume a lot of fruits and vegetables
Include whole grains in your diet
Change eating behavior, do not avoid cravings, and add a bit of your favorite. Food to meal
Include water, fluid, and sweetened fruit juices instead of beverages
Do not get harsh; make gradual changes
Adjust your medicine and insulin dose
Include 30-40 minutes of exercise daily

Final Words:

Maintaining and losing weight is difficult, but it is not impossible. Improving diet with exercise provides ease in weight loss. The best weight loss diet is the one a person finds easier to stick to for a long time. Before making any dietary changes, always consult a healthcare professional.

FAQs:

How weight loss helps in managing diabetes?

Weight loss is good for people with diabetes. It helps in improving insulin sensitivity. People with diabetes can recover faster while losing weight.

What is the effect of exercise on insulin?

Helps in improving insulin sensitivity, is good at controlling glucose levels, and helps reduce the risk of heart disease. It also burns extra glucose in the body and decreases insulin resistance.

Are weight loss medicine helpful?

Yes! But to some extent. It is good not for all, but for those whose BMI is greater than 32 or above, that’s difficult for them to lose weight. So, consult a physician before taking any kind of medicine.

Does different diets helpful in weight loss?

Of course! A famous diet like the DASH diet is important in managing and controlling diabetes. Many studies have been performed to see the effect of diet on weight loss. Their results show that diet plays a 50 % positive role in controlling diabetes.

Is it important to consider insulin doses before exercising or eating meals?

Yes. It’s important to prevent the person from the risk of hypoglycemia. Because during exercise, many carbohydrates are utilized, dropping the body’s sugar levels. So check your glucose level before exercising or eating a meal and adjust the insulin dose accordingly.

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