Living with diabetes means making daily choices that can affect your blood sugar and overall health. Healthy eating, regular activity, quality sleep and stress management can support diabetes care and help lower the risk of complications.
You do not need to change everything at once. Small, realistic steps are often easier to maintain over time.
At Banner Health, your diabetes care team can help you build healthy habits that fit your medical needs, abilities, schedule and preferences.
Food affects blood sugar, but there is no single eating plan that works for everyone with diabetes. Your needs may depend on your type of diabetes, medications, activity level and other health conditions.
A balanced eating plan often includes:
Carbohydrates have the greatest effect on blood sugar because your body breaks them down into glucose. You do not need to avoid carbohydrates. Instead, focus on the type, portion and timing.
Helpful habits may include:
A registered dietitian or diabetes care and education specialist can help you create an eating plan that works for your health, budget and food preferences.
Learn more about healthy eating for diabetes.
Physical activity helps your body use insulin more effectively. It can also support heart health, strength, mobility, sleep and emotional well-being.
Activities may include:
Try to reduce long periods of sitting by standing, stretching or walking when possible.
Start slowly if you have not been active recently. Talk with your health care provider before beginning a new exercise program, especially if you take insulin or have heart disease, nerve damage, foot problems, diabetic eye disease or another health condition.
Your provider can also explain whether you should check your blood sugar before, during or after exercise.
Learn more about exercise and diabetes.
Blood sugar monitoring can help you understand how food, activity, sleep, stress, illness and medication affect your levels.
Some people use a glucose meter. Others use a continuous glucose monitor, or CGM. How often you need to check depends on your type of diabetes, medications, treatment goals and risk of high or low blood sugar.
Work with your care team to understand:
Keeping a record of your readings, meals, activity and medication may help you identify patterns.
Do not adjust insulin or medication unless your care team has explained how to do so safely.
Learn more about blood sugar monitoring.
Healthy habits are an important part of diabetes care, but they do not replace medication when it is needed.
Take insulin and other diabetes medications as directed. Make sure you understand when to take them and whether they should be taken with food.
Tell your provider if you:
Do not stop or change medication without talking with your health care team.
Sleep and diabetes can affect each other. High or low blood sugar, frequent urination and nerve pain may interrupt sleep. Poor sleep may also make blood sugar harder to manage.
Healthy sleep habits include:
Most adults need at least seven hours of sleep each night, although individual needs vary.
Talk with your provider if you regularly have trouble sleeping, feel very tired during the day or snore loudly. These may be signs of insomnia, sleep apnea or another sleep disorder.
Learn more about sleep and blood sugar.
Stress hormones can affect blood sugar. Stress may also make it harder to sleep, eat well, stay active or keep up with medications.
Healthy ways to manage stress may include:
Living with diabetes can also lead to diabetes distress or burnout. You may feel frustrated, discouraged or tired of managing the condition every day.
Tell your care team if emotional stress is making it difficult to follow your treatment plan. Counseling, diabetes education and peer support can help.
Smoking, vaping and other tobacco use can make diabetes harder to manage. Tobacco damages blood vessels and increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, eye problems, nerve damage and slow-healing wounds.
Quitting can improve your health at any age. Counseling and medications can make the process more manageable.
Ask your provider for help creating a plan to stop using tobacco.
Alcohol can raise or lower blood sugar. Its effects depend on how much you drink, whether you have eaten and which medications you take.
People who use insulin or certain diabetes medications may have a higher risk of low blood sugar. This can happen hours after drinking, including overnight. Symptoms of low blood sugar may also look similar to intoxication.
Talk with your provider about whether alcohol is safe for you. It may not be recommended if you are pregnant or have frequent low blood sugar, liver disease, pancreas problems or medications that interact with alcohol.
Follow the blood sugar monitoring and medication plan recommended by your care team.
Diabetes can damage nerves and reduce blood flow to the feet. This may make it harder to feel an injury or heal from one.
Check your feet each day when possible. Look for:
Wash and dry your feet carefully, wear shoes that fit well and avoid walking barefoot.
Contact your provider promptly if you notice a wound, infection or other change that is not improving.
Many diabetes complications develop slowly and may not cause symptoms at first. Regular checkups and screenings can help find problems early.
Your care may include:
How often you need these services depends on your diabetes type, treatment plan, health history and previous results.
Large lifestyle changes can feel overwhelming. Start with one or two steps that feel realistic.
For example, you might:
Set specific goals and track your progress. Your care team can help you adjust your plan when something is not working.
You do not have to manage diabetes alone. Your care team may include a primary care provider, endocrinologist, diabetes care and education specialist, registered dietitian, pharmacist and other specialists.
Diabetes education and support can help you:
Banner Health provides education and support for people who are newly diagnosed and those who have lived with diabetes for years.
Sign in to Patient Account
