Background Information:

Type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease that affects the way your body processes sugar/glucose. Your pancreas produces insulin, but your body has become insulin resistant and will not use it and insulin is needed to allow glucose to get into the cells for fuel.

Dietary Guidelines:

1. Diabetics should eat 45-60 grams of carbs a meal, but no more than 180 grams a day.
2. The recommended ratio of grams in a diabetic’s diet should be: 55:20:25, carbs:fats:protein.
3. A balanced meal would consist of ¼ protein, ¼ starch, ½ non starchy vegetables.
4. Complex Carbs such as:
5. Whole Grains
6. Beans
7. Nuts
8. Vegetables
9. They take longer to digest and make you feel fuller.
10. Unsaturated Fats
11. Almonds
12. Avocados
13. Peanut Butter
14. Sardines
15. Salmon
16. Vegetable Oils
17. Fibers (fiber doesn’t raise blood sugar)
18. Plants (Vegetables, Legumes, Fruits)

How to Monitor Blood Sugar Daily and Long Term with A1C:

What A1C is: A1C is a blood test that shows someone how well they are managing their blood sugar over a period of two-to-three months time. The A1C is also called the hemoglobin A1C, glycohemoglobin test, glycosylated hemoglobin, or the HbA1C. It is a test that measures what percentage of your hemoglobin is coated in sugar(glycated). The normal percentage in your blood for a diabetic patient for A1C is 6.5% or above.

What Blood Sugar is: Blood Sugar is the concentration of glucose, sugar, in the blood. The glucose, sugar, is made from the food that we eat, and is transported throughout the body in the cells in the bloodstream. Our bodies regulate their blood glucose levels so they don’t become too high or too low so our bodies can function properly.

How to Monitor Blood Sugar Over Time: Monitoring your blood sugar over time is a very crucial part of the treatment. When someone is first diagnosed with diabetes, he is usually given a blood sugar meter (or told to go buy one) and told how and when to use it, as well as what numbers to shoot for. However, the advice a person receives on when to monitor and what the results should be generally depend on his type of diabetes, age, and state of overall health. It can also depend on a health-care provider’s philosophy of care and which set of diabetes care guidelines he follows. At least three major health organizations have published slightly different recommendations regarding goals for blood sugar levels. It has to be always under 100mg/dl, or before your meals it has to be 70-99mg/dl.

Lifestyle of Exercise Information:

So if you do not have enough insulin available, your blood glucose levels can actually increase right after exercise. Basically, stimulated by the demand from your exercising muscles, your body is pouring glucose into your bloodstream. ... Do not exercise if your blood sugar is over 250 mg/dl and you have ketones. You also always have to carry something with sugar in it just in case your blood sugar starts to get too low.

Quotes, Videos, Graphics or Personal Stories:

I drastically changed my diet and started counting absolutely everything I ate. I even kept a diet journal. I mainly ate chicken, vegetables, deli meat and yogurt or milk. Lately I have also discovered that many vegetables have a great impact in controlling my blood glucose.

Within a month of being diagnosed, I managed to take my blood glucose readings from 380-plus to under 100. It took a lot of hard work and discipline, but I am happy with the outcome.

I have had no complications and am currently pregnant and healthy. I want to live to see my baby grow, so I am always doing my best to be in control of my diabetes. It’s been a long journey, but I am confident I will succeed.

- Anonymous, Age 28

Exercise also played a critical role, though Pennington will admit it wasn't pleasant at first. "I got out, I walked around the block, and I thought I was going to die," she says. But about a year later, Pennington was able to join her college-age son on a 6-mile mountain hike in Colorado. Now she tracks her steps with a pedometer (she'll even stop at a Walmart during road trips to rack up 12,000 steps by walking the store's aisles) and gets more quality time with her husband since they're walking partners. She's lost 100 pounds, lowered her blood pressure and cholesterol enough to quit medications, and dropped nearly 3 percentage points on her A1C. Though sustaining her healthy habits takes daily determination, Pennington is glad she can take charge of her health. "Remembering those in my family who had passed because of cancer," she says, "I knew that had they been given the chance for making things better with diet and exercise, they would have jumped at the chance."

- Valerie Pennington, Age 46

Three Sources Cited in APA:

Dansinger, MD (October 26, 2016). Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) Test for Diabetes. Retrieved from

http://www.webmd.com/diabetes/guide/glycated-hemoglobin-test-hba1c

Abma (May 21, 2015). Blood Sugar Monitoring: When to Check and Why. Retrieved from http://www.diabetesselfmanagement.com/managing-diabetes/blood-glucose-management/blood-glucose-monitoring-when-to-check-and-why/

Neithercott (December, 2009). Diabetes Success Stories. Retrieved from http://www.diabetesforecast.org/2009/dec/diabetes-success-stories.html?

Nordqvist (Friday 12, September 2014). What is blood sugar? What is blood glucose? Retrieved from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/249413.php