When you live with diabetes type 2, monitoring your blood sugar levels becomes part of your daily routine.
The reason behind the necessity of doing so is fundamentally lifesaving.
Even if you are keeping up with a good diet and exercise program in an effort to prevent your condition from worsening, there is no guarantee that your glucose levels are always where they should be.
Stress and illness are factors that can send your blood sugars out of control as well.
You should be aware of these things even as you implement a diabetes diet full of whole grains, lean proteins and fresh fruit and vegetables.
Years ago, people with diabetes type 2 had to undergo stressful processes to have their blood sugars checked.
Today, however, you have access to dozens of kinds of meters that conveniently and easily display your blood sugar levels to you.
The range you should be aiming for is between 75 and 130 mg/dl, or 4 and 7 mmol/l, depending on what units you use.
It is not uncommon to have your numbers fall outside this range on occasion, but if this does happen, try to obtain a reading within the range and measure again a few hours later.
The question that many people living with diabetes type 2 is how often they should test their blood sugar levels.
This depends on whether you are taking insulin or not.
If so, you should test before eating meals and before you go to sleep.
Some insulin-takers need to test even more frequently.
If your condition is controlled solely by diet and exercise, you only need to test right before eating dinner in the evening and in the morning prior to breakfast.
If you are curious about how your diabetes diet is affecting your blood sugar levels, you could test an hour or two after each meal as well, but it is not required for your safety.
Monitoring your blood sugars is also useful with diabetes type 2 if you want to eat something outside your diabetes diet but are not sure how it will affect you.
You can eat a small amount and test the level of sugar in your blood a few hours later.
Testing before you exercise can be important to determine if you should eat before your workout.
Diabetes does not need to be debilitating, but you will have an increased level of responsibility to take care of yourself.
The reason behind the necessity of doing so is fundamentally lifesaving.
Even if you are keeping up with a good diet and exercise program in an effort to prevent your condition from worsening, there is no guarantee that your glucose levels are always where they should be.
Stress and illness are factors that can send your blood sugars out of control as well.
You should be aware of these things even as you implement a diabetes diet full of whole grains, lean proteins and fresh fruit and vegetables.
Years ago, people with diabetes type 2 had to undergo stressful processes to have their blood sugars checked.
Today, however, you have access to dozens of kinds of meters that conveniently and easily display your blood sugar levels to you.
The range you should be aiming for is between 75 and 130 mg/dl, or 4 and 7 mmol/l, depending on what units you use.
It is not uncommon to have your numbers fall outside this range on occasion, but if this does happen, try to obtain a reading within the range and measure again a few hours later.
The question that many people living with diabetes type 2 is how often they should test their blood sugar levels.
This depends on whether you are taking insulin or not.
If so, you should test before eating meals and before you go to sleep.
Some insulin-takers need to test even more frequently.
If your condition is controlled solely by diet and exercise, you only need to test right before eating dinner in the evening and in the morning prior to breakfast.
If you are curious about how your diabetes diet is affecting your blood sugar levels, you could test an hour or two after each meal as well, but it is not required for your safety.
Monitoring your blood sugars is also useful with diabetes type 2 if you want to eat something outside your diabetes diet but are not sure how it will affect you.
You can eat a small amount and test the level of sugar in your blood a few hours later.
Testing before you exercise can be important to determine if you should eat before your workout.
Diabetes does not need to be debilitating, but you will have an increased level of responsibility to take care of yourself.
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