type 2 diabetes and energy levels

[gray]

Hi,my names Gray,I'm a bit late to this forum as I was diagnosed with late onset diabetes 2 years ago.I wondered if anyone can suggest anything,dietary or supplement wise that would give a quick energy boost when you feel yourself flagging and weary ! Thanks,kind regards to all.

 

[LeeLee]

Hello Gray, welcome to the forum. You're early in discovering this site compared to me, I was 8 years into my journey! There's no magic wand that I know of. Sorry, but that's the way it is. The best thing you can do is to get your blood glucose levels down.

What regime are you following? Diet/exercise only? Metformin? Other drugs? Insulin?

How's your diet? ALL carbs turn almost instantly into sugar as soon as they're eaten, so cutting them right down can help big-time.

Do you need to lose weight? Dropping shedloads of weight has brought my levels into normal-person range, and I have masses more energy than I ever thought possible.

How active are you? You don't have to go to the gym to increase your fitness. Exercise increases your body's ability to use the insulin that you produce (or inject) more effectively, and a bit every day does help. It sounds counter-intuitive to go for a walk when you're feeling exhausted, but it really does help.

Read everything you can get your hands on - there are links to very useful stuff in the sticky thread at the top of the Newbies forum. Remember that your diabetes journey is a marathon, not a sprint. Baby steps in the right direction all add up.

I'm off to do my weekly shopping now, on my bicycle! 🙂

 

[gray]

miracle cures !

Hi Lee Lee,Hope your shopping trip went well ! I must admit,post diagnosis i starteed by not changing my diet much,then got a few wake up calls,then dreaded shopping,spent ages staring at shelves packed with food thinking 'no,no,can't eat that,too much sugar'! Finally i think i'm actually getting it without the stress of indecision. Yeah,weight is'nt too much of a problem now,i'm blessed with slim-ish genes now that i've lost nearly 4 stone over 2/3 years. Without going into detail,things fell apart for me many years ago now,finding myself on my own i started over indulging in the wrong things on many fronts,ergo diabetes.But a lot of therapy under the bridge. I don't exercise as much as i should but i don't drive so i walk everwhere and carry everything.i've set up a punchbag with the help of a mate who gave me some kiddies boxing gloves which just about fit. That's going to be my exercise !
I did'nt imagine there were quick fixes for diabetes per se,just wondered if there were particular foods or supplements that obviously don't contain sugars,fats etc that nevertheless gave an energy boost. I'm involved in a music project with a mate but run out of energy too quickly!
Many thanks for your reply,are you managing well yourself ? Kind regards,gray

 

[LeeLee]

If weight (and therefore calories) aren't an issue, you have a lot more choice! Nuts have lots of trace elements that can be low-ish in even a healthy British diet. For example, Brazil nuts contain selenium, that many of us might struggle to get from other foods.

Bear in mind that the word 'energy' on labels is just a marketing ploy, and supplements are usually unnecessary for people who don't have a medical condition that affects the absorbtion of nutrients and who eat a balanced diet containing a variety of meat, vegetables, fruits, grains.