BEAT STRESS, BEAT DIABETES

What is stress?

Stress is our body’s response to a situation or life event. It is the degree to which you feel overwhelmed or unable to cope as a

Result it becomes unmanageable.

Stress leaves negative impact when a person faces continuous challenges

without relief or relaxation between stressors. As a result, the person

becomes overworked, and stress-related tension builds.

Signs of stress

Stress leads to a variety of physical symptoms, including the following:

●Headaches.

●General feeling of "being out of it."

●Racing heartbeat.

●Increase in or loss of appetite.

●Disturbed sleep.

●Upset stomach, diarrhea.

●Muscle tension in neck, face or shoulders.

●Tiredness, exhaustion.

●Weight gain or loss.

HOW DOES STRESS AFFECT DIABETES

Stress can affect a person’s hormone levels. When you are stressed the

stress hormone such as cortisol levels rise in your body, due to which

body tissues become less sensitive to insulin. As a result,

more glucose is available in the blood stream.

So this is the reason why People with diabetes are who regularly

stressed are more likely to have poor blood glucose control. They

generally experience an increase in their blood glucose levels or may

have a more varied response. This means that they can experience

either high or low blood glucose levels.

On the other hand stress also can affect your blood sugar levels

indirectly by causing you to follow your regular diabetes care

routine. When you're stressed out, you might:

●Exercise more or less

●Eat more or less

●Eat less healthy foods

●Not test your blood sugar level as often

●Forget or delay a dose of medication and/or insulin

How to beat the stress

There are some actions that you can take as an individual to manage

the immediate, sometimes unpleasant, signs of stress.

Try to get regular exercise. Physical activity has a big impact on

your brain and your body. Exercise reduces stress and improves

many symptoms associated with mental illness. Exercise can help

you lose weight and increase insulin sensitivity. Increased insulin

sensitivity helps cells to absob

sugar in your bloodstream in a better way. Exercise also helps your muscles use

blood sugar for energy and muscle contraction.

●Eat Healthily. A healthy diet will reduce the risk of diet-related

diseases. There is also a growing amount of evidence showing

how food can affect our mood. Feelings of wellbeing can be

protected by ensuring our diet provides adequate amounts of

nutrients including essential vitamins and minerals, as well as

water.

●Be aware of your smoking and drinking. If possible, try to cut

right down on smoking and drinking. They may seem to reduce

tension, but in fact they can make problems worse. Alcohol and

caffeine can increase feelings of anxiety.

●Get some restful sleep. Sleep problems are common when you’re

experiencing stress. If you are having difficulty sleeping, you can

try to reduce the amount of caffeine you consume and avoid too

much screen time before bed. Writing down your to do list for the

next day can be useful in helping you priorities but also put the

plans aside before bed.

●Deep Breathing. Practicing deep breaths can take

the pressure off. You’ll be surprised how much

better you feel once you get good at it. Just follow these 5 steps:

i.Sit in a comfortable position with your hands in your lap and your feet on the floor. Or you can lie down.

ii.Close your eyes.

iii.Imagine yourself in a relaxing place. It can be on the beach, in a

beautiful field of grass, or anywhere that gives you a peaceful

feeling.

iv.Slowly take deep breaths in and out.

v.Do this for 5 to 10 minutes at a time.