Today, our lifestyle is a serious threat to our health. We live in a way in which we do not provide the right food to the body, nor do we exercise right. Taking into account the fact that we consume so much processed food and even more unhealthy food, is there anything that can be done? Well, of course! Without having to put much effort, follow some simple steps, which will result in plenty of benefits.

Remember, the main area of focus in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle is your diet. After all, it is true that this has massive effects on the health of any person, regardless of the stage of life he or she is in.

Sleep better: Over the longer run, it is impossible for a person to prosper health-wise if he or she does not get a sufficient amount of sleep, according to what is actually needed. A few simple things which can be done to improve a person’s sleep are cutting out caffeine and alcohol from one's diet. While it may seem that alcohol helps a person sleep better, it does throw the sleep cycle out of whack. Similarly, caffeine has properties which contribute to keeping a person up for long hours.

Eat a balanced diet: When it comes to the ideal diet for a healthy person, it should contain an adequate amount of nutrients and should also be balanced, so as to not overload on any one set of nutrients. Comprehensiveness has its much required advantages. So, adequate portions of fresh fruits and vegetables is a must, while you should keep a check on the consumption of sugar, fast food and starchy food items.

Quit smoking: Smoking is one of the worst habits any person can have and it does no favours for any individual, regardless of the situation that is faced. If no problems are faced, it can create its own! Apart from the repercussions on the heart, what also occurs when a person smokes is that the bones are weakened and the bladder is irritated. Additionally, the risk of cancer increases. So, who would want to compound the normal troubles of life with the misery all these things can provide?

Focus on fitness: Regular exercise is something which is quite underrated. Consistency is said to be the key. As a matter of fact, it improves sleep and does wonders for a person’s mood, apart from other health benefits such as keeping the weight in control. It not only protects joints, but also helps overall health, and can go a long way in letting you lead a healthy life.

The above discussed lifestyle changes can do wonders for your overall health. These will surely help you in living a healthy as well as happy life forever.

What is a blood sugar test?
A blood sugar test is a procedure that measures the amount of sugar, or glucose, in your blood. Your doctor may order this test to help diagnose diabetes. People with diabetes can also use this test to manage their condition.

Blood sugar tests provide instant results and let you know the following:
Your diet or exercise routine needs to change
How your diabetes medications or treatment is working
If your blood sugar levels are high or low
Your overall treatment goals for diabetes are manageable
Your doctor may also order a blood sugar test as part of a routine check up. They may also be looking to see if you have diabetes or pre-diabetes,a condition where your blood sugar levels are higher than normal.

Your risk for diabetes increases if any of the following factors are true:
You are 45 years old or older
You are overweight
You don’t exercise much
You have high blood pressure, high triglyceride’s, or low good cholesterol levels (HDL)
You have a history of gestational diabetes or giving birth to a baby who weighed over 9 pounds
You have a history if insulin resistance
You have a history of strokes or hypertension
You have a family history of diabetes
Checking your blood sugar levels can be done at home or at a doctor’s clinic.

What does a blood sugar test do?
Your doctor may order a blood sugar test to see if you have diabetes or pre-diabetes. The test will measure the amount of glucose in your blood. Your body takes carbohydrates found in foods like grains and fruits and converts them into glucose. Glucose, a sugar, is one of the body’s main sources of energy. For people with diabetes, a home test helps monitor blood sugar levels. Taking a blood sugar test can help determine your blood sugar level to see if you need to adjust your diet, exercise, or diabetes medications.
Low blood sugar (Hyperglycemia) can lead to seizures or a coma if left untreated. High blood sugar (Hyperglycemia) can lead to ketoacidosis, a life-threatening condition that’s often a concern for those with type 1 diabetes.
Ketoacidosis occurs when your body starts using only fat for fuel. Hyperglycemia over a long period can increase your risk for neuropathy (nerve damage), along with heart, kidney, and eye diseases.

What are the risks and side effects of a blood sugar test?
A blood sugar test has low to no risks or side effects. You may feel soreness, swelling, and bruising at the puncture site, especially if you’re drawing blood from a vein. This should go away within a day.

Types of blood sugar tests
You can take a blood sugar test two ways. People who are monitoring or managing their diabetes prick their finger using a glucometer for daily testing. The other method is drawing blood.
Blood samples are generally used to screen for diabetes. Your doctor will order a fasting blood sugar (FBS) test. This test measures your blood sugar levels, or a glycosylated hemoglobin, also called a hemoglobin A1C test. The results of this test reflect your blood sugar levels over the previous 90 days. The results will show if you have pre diabetes or diabetes and can monitor how your diabetes is controlled.

When to test blood sugar?
When and how often you should test your blood sugar depends on the type of diabetes you have and your treatment.
Type-1 diabetes: According to the medical experts, if you’re managing type-1 diabetes with multiple dose insulin or an insulin pump, you’ll want to monitor your blood sugar before eating a meal or snack, exercising, sleeping, critical tasks like driving or babysitting.
High blood sugar: You’ll want to check your blood sugar levels if you have diabetes and feel increasing thirst and the urge to urinate. These could be symptoms of high blood sugar and you may need to modify your treatment plan. If your diabetes is well-controlled but you still have symptoms, it may mean you’re getting sick or that you’re under stress. Exercising and managing your carbohydrate intake may help with lowering your blood sugar levels. If these changes don’t work, you may need to meet with your doctor to decide how to get your blood sugar levels back into target range.

Low blood sugar: Check your blood sugar levels if you feel any of the symptoms like shaky, sweaty or chilly, irritated or impatient, confused, light-headed or dizzy, hungry and nauseous, sleepy, tingly or numb in the lips or tongue, weak, angry, stubborn, or sad. Some symptoms like delirium, seizures, or unconsciousness can be symptoms of low blood sugar or insulin shock. If you’re on daily insulin injections, ask your doctor about glucagon, a prescription medicine that can help if you’re having a severe low blood sugar reaction.
You can also have low blood sugar and show no symptoms. This is called hypoglycemia unawareness. If you have a history of hypoglycemia unawareness, you may need to test your blood sugar more often.

Pregnant women: Some women develop gestational diabetes during pregnancy. This is when hormones interfere with the way your body uses insulin. It causes sugar to accumulate in the blood. Your doctor will recommend testing your blood sugar regularly if you have gestational diabetes. Testing will make sure that your blood glucose level is within a healthy range. Gestational diabetes usually goes away after childbirth.

No scheduled testing: Home testing may be unnecessary if you have type-2 diabetes and have a diet- and exercise-based treatment plan. You may also not need home testing if you’re taking medications that aren’t associated with low blood sugar.

Diabetes is a metabolic disorder in which our body’s use of food for production of energy is affected. Most of the food we eat is carbohydrates, and this is broken down by the digestive juices into a simple sugar called glucose. Glucose is the main source of energy for the body. After digestion, the glucose passes into our bloodstream where it is available for body cells to use for growth and energy. Insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas, facilitates the entry of glucose into our cells. When we eat, the pancreas is supposed to produce the right amount of insulin to move the glucose from our blood into our cells. In diabetics, the pancreas either produces little or no insulin, or the body cells do not respond to the insulin that is produced. Due to this, glucose levels rise in the blood, floods into the urine and passes out of the body, making the body lose its main source of fuel.
Most diseases are surrounded by a number of myths. This stems basically from ignorance or lack of proper information. Similarly, diabetes too has given rise to a number of imaginary beliefs.

Myth: Eating too much sugar causes diabetes.
Fact: There is no proof that sugar is the main cause behind diabetes. Diabetes is more related to family history, wrong eating habits and little or no physical activity.

Myth: Healthy foods don't raise blood sugar.
Fact: The fact is that all foods provide carbohydrates. And if there is enough insulin present in the body naturally or provided by injections, it will utilise the carbohydrates and consequently the blood sugar will not rise. However, if your body is producing less insulin or not utilising it sufficiently, then blood sugar is bound to rise even if you eat healthy foods.

Myth: Only medical treatment can control diabetes.
Fact: Diabetes is a disease that requires dietary intervention along with medical treatment. Medications are only a part of the cure. What is also needed is a healthy lifestyle behaviour that will allow the medication to work more effectively. This comes with a healthy, well balanced diet as well as a regular exercise routine.

Myth: Diabetics have to eat special foods.
Fact: Diabetics can eat the same food as non-diabetics, but in moderation.

Myth: No diet modification is required, if external insulin is being administered.
Fact: Insulin is not replacing a meal plan or involvement in any physical activity. Thus diet modification is needed, irrespective of whether insulin is being given or not.

Myth: Exercises are of no help in diabetes.
Fact: Exercise helps the pancreas to secrete more insulin, while at the same time, keeps the stress levels under control. Both these factors help to keep the blood sugar under control.

Myth: People with diabetes can eat any number of sugar free products
Fact: Sugar free does not mean calorie free. It is advisable to keep a check on the calorie product of the food, before consuming it. This way the total calorie intake can be kept under control and will further help in keeping a check on the blood sugar.


Myth : I don't have a family history of diabetes, so I won't get it.
Fact: Some people are born with a greater chance of developing diabetes than others. However, plenty of people diagnosed with the disease don't have a family history of diabetes. Your weight and lifestyle can be factors in whether you develop diabetes.


Myth: The strain and stress of everyday life is not related to diabetes.
Fact: The fact is that everyday stresses, as well as emotional and crisis situation can play a role in raising the blood sugar. Hence people with diabetes should take time out to relax and keep their stress levels under control.

A proper understanding of any disease means having a thorough knowledge about the disease, its causes and effects. That is why it is mandatory for all diabetics to be well informed and to be able to separate the myths from the facts.

Gestational diabetes is a kind of diabetes that happens during pregnancy. Diabetes is referred to a condition where your blood glucose or blood sugar is very high. Although, glucose is good as it used by your body for energy, but excessive glucose in your blood can be harmful for both you and your child. Gestational diabetes is mostly diagnosed in the later stages of pregnancy. If gestational diabetes is diagnosed in the early stages of pregnancy, then it is quite possible that you may have had diabetes before you became pregnant. Treating gestational diabetes can help both you and your baby stay fit and healthy. You can protect both, yourself and your baby by controlling your blood glucose levels.

Problems with gestational diabetes in first 3 months prem can lead to abortion or congenital authorities in baby. Mid trimester abortions, urinary and vagina infection can occur. Preeclampsia , chorioamnionitis also possible. In 3rd trimester preterm Labour, intrauterine death, large baby or small for dates can happen. Neonatal hypoxia, respiratory distress are common. So it has to be controlled strictly throughout pregnancy with diet, exercise and medicines.

Here are 7 things that you need to know about Gestational diabetes:

Every three to eight out of 100 ladies tend to develop diabetes during pregnancy, a condition known as gestational diabetes. Fortunately, it can be dealt with and even kept away by maintaining healthy lifestyle choices. Eating leafy foods and avoiding sugar-rich things, is a vital step for both control and counteractive action. Exercise, after consulting your doctor can guarantee that you have a healthy pregnancy.

In diabetes, when your body's glucose or sugar levels get so high that the carbohydrates and sugars cannot be converted into energy, the excess starts accumulating in your body. This additional glucose can harm the vessels in your kidneys and all through your body, particularly in organs like eyes.

Two or three factors might cause danger for creating gestational diabetes, both inside and outside of your control. If you are overweight before you get pregnant or while you are pregnant or your family history shows that you are hereditarily inclined to the sickness, you will probably build up the condition.
nsulin goes. Your specialist may prescribe that you require diabetic pills or insulin to help you control your glucose levels.

Your weight can bring about complexities during the delivery in case of gestational diabetes. So it is best to keep your weight in check in order to have a smooth sailing pregnancy and delivery.

Gestational diabetes can likewise put ladies at risk of contracting preeclampsia, which can bring about a number of side effects and complexities. Side effects brought on may start from swollen feet, legs, fingers, and hands to hypertension and even seizures or strokes.

Apart from the risks of having gestational diabetes during your pregnancy, it might affect the child later on. Your baby may have a higher danger of obesity as it develops, both in the teenage years and youth. Youngsters who are overweight may suffer from type 2 diabetes in the long run.

Diuretics are substances that allow the body to get rid of excess water and sodium. They help in draining out the water by stimulating the kidneys and eliminate sodium from the urine thus, facilitating drainage of excess water. Diuretics are prescribed by the doctor when the body starts to retain excessive fluids.

The conditions that lead to problems such as:

1. High blood pressure: This is a disorder wherein the blood exerts more than the normal force (pressure) against the arterial walls while flowing through them.

2. Diabetes: It is a metabolic disorder wherein the blood sugar level rises significantly.

3. Kidney stones: Kidney stones refer to the formation of stones in the kidneys that can hamper the normal functioning of the kidney, leading to fluid retention in the body.

4. Edema: A disorder wherein parts of the body tend to swell due to inflammation is called ‘edema’.

5. Impaired functioning of the kidney: Impaired functioning of the kidneys makes it very difficult to flush out the excess sodium from the body thus, leading to fluid retention.


There are certain natural diuretics, which can come to your aid in times such as these. Read on to know more:

1. Parsley: Parsley, a very effective diuretic, is an herb that is commonly used for garnishing. It can also help in relieving bladder problems.

2. Black and green tea: Both green and black variants of the humble tea are very effective diuretics; you can enjoy them after a heavy meal to get rid of the bloating.

3. Hawthorn: A type of natural diuretic that is effective in reducing fluid accumulation and increasing urinary excretion. It also helps in treating problems of the kidney.

4. Juniper: A diuretic that has been used since ancient times. Juniper is very effective in removing excess salt and fluids from the body. The advantage of this plant is that it does not lower downs the level of potassium in the body, a side effect of other diuretics.