HEALTHY LIVING

Personal solutions for everyday life.

A healthy lifestyle
Simple steps to a healthy lifestyle
Eat a healthy diet
Lose weight if youre overweight
Take regular exercise
Drink alcohol in moderation
K
 eep your blood glucose (sugar), blood pressure and cholesterol levels as normal
as possible - follow the advice of your diabetes team
Stop smoking (smoking increases the risk of circulation problems)
L
 ook after your teeth and maintain oral hygiene (people with diabetes are at
risk of having problems with their teeth and gums)
Also:
H
 ave your eyes checked regularly (at least once a year) for signs of retinopathy
and other eye problems
Have your blood glucose, HbA1c, blood pressure and cholesterol checked regularly
Attend regular diabetes reviews (you should have a review at least once a year)

Your diabetes team

A diabetes team is a group of healthcare professionals with specialist knowledge
and experience of supporting people with diabetes. For example, teams may
include diabetologist / endocrinologists (hospital specialists who deal with
hormone disorders such as diabetes), family doctors, specialist diabetes nurses,
dieticians, ophthalmologists (for specialist eye care) and podiatrists (for foot care).

Healthy eating
The advice for healthy eating is the same for people with diabetes as
for those without.
Eat regular meals based on starchy carbohydrate foods (e.g. bread, pasta,
chapatis, potatoes, rice and cereals)
Cut down on saturated fat (from meat and dairy products):
- choose lean cuts of meat and trim off visible fat
g it
- grill, steam, microwave, boil or bake food instead of frying or roastin
diet
Choose low-fat dairy products (e.g. semi-skimmed or skimmed milk,
)
spreads
yoghurt, and low-fat

Eat oily fish regularly

Check food labels (a low-fat food may have more glucose than you think)
Eat more fruit and vegetables (at least five portions a day)
Cut out sugary foods such as cakes and biscuits
flavour
Use less salt - try experimenting with different herbs and spices to add
Drink 1-2 litres (2-4 pints) of water a day

Losing weight
If youre overweight, your body cant use insulin as well as it should, which means
that your diabetes control may not be as good as it could be.
Losing weight involves making permanent changes to what you eat and drink.
Doing more exercise can also help. Remember, small changes can make a real, longlasting difference.
Dont feel downhearted if your weight loss slows down as you go on - losing weight
takes time. Try to keep focused on the benefits of losing weight:
your diabetes control should improve
you may be able to take fewer tablets or inject less insulin
you may enjoy exercise more
youll feel more confident

Being more active

Taking more exercise is another step towards a
healthier lifestyle. It can be as simple as taking
the stairs instead of the lift, or walking to the
next bus stop.
Increasing the amount of exercise you do
can help you:
lose weight and keep the extra weight off
improve your diabetes control and
blood glucose level
f eel more confident and improve your
sense of well-being
cope better with stress
reduce the risk of developing brittle bones.

Stopping smoking
Smoking increases your risk of having a heart attack or stroke, and doubles the risk of
illness and death. If youre pregnant, smoking can harm your baby. Its not easy to stop
smoking, but there are methods that can help you to stop - talk to your diabetes team.
Stopping smoking will save you money, and youll feel fitter and look better.

Drinking
Alcohol is not out of
bounds to people with
diabetes, but you
need to follow
some simple advice.

Alcohol

advice

A
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an
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Some lo
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ink and w
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hen your o eat your
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can be m
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inking
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sleep - hy
ose and h
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a
appen so ve a snack before
Mix sp
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irits with
after a dr you go to
low-calor
drinks an
inking se
ie
d
rinks and
d diet so
ssion
ft drinks
try altern
ating alc
oholic

Life assurance
If you held life assurance before you were diagnosed with
diabetes, you do not need to declare that you have diabetes to your
insurer for that policy.
Diabetes may present problems for people looking for a new policy, including higher
premiums, because of the increased risk of poor health. The good news is that your
premium may go down as your condition stabilises.
Choose your insurance company carefully to get the best deal. Contact Diabetes UK for
more information or ask your diabetes team for advice.

Other information
Other leaflets in this series include
specific explanations of some of the
terms used here. Leaflets on blood
testing, hypos, travel, impact on sexual
health, driving and employment, illness,
and complications may be particularly
helpful for you. Ask your diabetes team
for the ones you want.

Further information is available from

Customer Care
Lilly UK Answers
Lilly House
Priestley Road
Basingstoke
Hampshire RG24 9NL
Tel: (01256) 315000
www.lillydiabetes.co.uk/patients
Provided as a service for patient care
UKDBT01180 June 2012

Contact numbers and notes