There is a wealth of information on type 2 diabetes available. Google searches will provide pages and pages of information regarding the causes, treatments, and consequences of not treating the condition. With all of this information available, the way type 2 diabetes is addressed in popular media and consumer health venues is shockingly inconsistent.

The majority of articles or news reports regarding type 2 diabetes have a similar structure: they indicate the percentage of people who have been diagnosed with the disease, how the rate of type 2 diabetes diagnoses is increasing, and all of the health complications that come with it. These figures and facts are invariably described as "astonishing" and the consequences as "dire."

Many will go on to say things like "type 2 diabetes is a perfectly preventable ailment," making anyone diagnosed with the disease feel completely responsible for their condition. They go on to lay out a series of stringent dietary and exercise guidelines that you must follow in order to manage your condition. They'll be presented as "simple" or "easy," but they'll almost always be completely unrealistic and so unsustainable. Finally, they'll threaten that if you don't follow the instructions, you'll be executed.

While there are efforts that can be taken to lower the chance of having diabetes, it is impossible to totally remove the risk. Furthermore, if you already have diabetes, it isn't "all your fault," and maintaining type 2 diabetes doesn't have to be a full-time job.

So, here are the steps you can follow easily.

1. Ditch the food “dos and don’ts” and aim for balance instead.

It's normal for people who have been diagnosed with diabetes to assume that they can no longer eat a wide variety of meals. Many patients claim that after being diagnosed, they were ordered to avoid "anything white," such as white bread, white pasta, white rice, white potatoes, and even bananas. Others feel that sugar-containing foods, such as desserts and many fruits, must be avoided.

The idea is that certain foods have a higher carbohydrate content than other foods, hence they will have a greater impact on blood sugar levels. It's true that when significant amounts of carbohydrate are ingested all at once, the bodies of people with diabetes have a harder time absorbing them. That isn't to say that high-carbohydrate diets are no longer acceptable or "bad" for the body. Carbohydrate is still an important food for people with and without diabetes since it is a source of energy. It simply implies that someone with type 2 diabetes's body may require more assistance in utilizing this carbohydrate as efficiently and effectively as possible.

BALANCED MEALS ARE KEY TO NATURALLY MANAGING DIABETES

Aiming for balance in meals is one way we may provide such help. I'm not going to give you a formula for what constitutes balanced eating since there isn't one. Rather, balanced eating is a set of concepts that can be applied in a variety of ways. It basically entails preparing meals that include the majority of the major food categories the most of the time.

• Carbohydrate is the most vital fuel for the body, and it is found in starchy vegetables and grains. Potatoes and winter squash, as well as bread and rice, are all good choices.

• Dietary fiber included in fruits and vegetables helps to slow the release of carbohydrate from the digestive tract into the bloodstream.

• Protein-rich foods (meat, fish, eggs, and beans) aid to decrease the absorption of carbohydrates into the bloodstream while also controlling the hunger hormone ghrelin. Slower glucose release allows the body to respond more quickly to the incoming carbohydrate.

All of this leads to more constant blood sugar levels, which leads to a more stable appetite and can even help lessen food cravings.

The takeaway here is that combining carbohydrate with other foods, particularly those high in fiber and protein, aids overall blood sugar regulation by limiting carbohydrate absorption from the GI tract. Instead of focusing on what you need to eliminate from your diet, consider what you may add to help your health.

Balanced diet helps to alleviate emotions of deprivation in addition to addressing the body's basic needs. One common issue is that when people believe they "shouldn't" eat carbohydrates, their desire for the banned meal grows. This can lead to eating habits that aren't good for our physical or mental health in the long run. The ability to resist temptation lessens as those sensations of deprivation grow stronger. We eventually “give in” and eat the forbidden because we have “already blown it” — we say to ourselves, “What the hell, I might as well eat it all and start over tomorrow. This becomes an unpleasant, repeated cycle which can compound our physical health issues and lead to a tormented mental state regarding food.

Finally, we've included some fun meals because enjoyment is an important aspect of a well-balanced, health-promoting diet. Fun foods are those that don't have a lot of nutritional value but taste great and are something you love eating. That means eating a dish of ice cream after dinner, having birthday cake at a birthday celebration, and bringing potato chips to work are all OK and even encouraged. Because it's much easier to eat these things in ways that are good for our bodies when we make them permissible.

2. Introduce some routine into the timing of your meals and snacks.

It's beneficial to feed the body in a consistent and predictable manner throughout the day. This is true for everyone, but it is especially beneficial for diabetics. Providing the body with enough fuel and a variety of nutrients throughout the day helps to maintain blood sugar levels and appetite hormones, which aids in appetite regulation.

When we go lengthy periods of time between meals or skip meals entirely, the hormones that control our hunger fluctuate, and our blood sugar levels drop. These changes cause the body to warn us that we're running out of gas and that we'll need to fill up soon. The more we delay, the more pressing the need becomes, the stronger the signs get, and the less at ease we become. The acute hunger pangs that continue to afflict us may make us irritated, unable to concentrate, and distracted. Our demand for high-carbohydrate foods grows as well.

In these circumstances, we will naturally seek for items that can help us spike our blood sugar and meet our immediate energy needs. Foods with a high carbohydrate and fat content (such as candy bars and potato chips) are ideal for this. As a result, we eat them. And we frequently overindulge in them. Because once we start eating, we tend to eat quite quickly. Again, our bodies are communicating an urgent need to us through unpleasant sensations, and we want those sensations to go away. The faster we eat, the quicker we can get rid of our discomfort. Except that we frequently experience discomfort in the opposite way, since once our bodies have had time to catch up and absorb all we've eaten, we realize we've overcompensated and over devoured, leaving us feeling uncomfortably full. Because there is little there to assist slow down the digestion and absorption of the carbohydrate that was consumed so quickly, a person with diabetes may find that their blood sugar levels spike, meaning they rise extremely high, extremely quickly.

3. Use mindfulness to tune into hunger (and non-hunger) cues.

Mindfulness is defined as paying attention in the current moment without making any judgments. It's being able to notice and respond to our experiences, in this case the sensations in our bodies surrounding hunger, fullness, and appetite.

When we can become more attentive to moderate hunger, we can intervene before it becomes intense hunger and the previously described chain of events is set in motion. Furthermore, as we get more attuned to pleasant fullness, we will be able to respond to it (if we so choose) before being uncomfortably full and our blood sugar levels becoming too high.

Move over, as we get more aware of our bodily hunger and fullness cues, we become more aware of our non-hunger cues to eat as well. Emotional cues (such as stress, anger, grief, and so on), physical cues (such as weariness, pain, hormone fluctuations, thirst, and so on), and environmental cues (such as certain people, places, or activities, and so on) all contribute to our desire to eat. The core of the urge for food in these circumstances isn't a physiological requirement for sustenance, but some other need that we're attempting to meet with food.

What role does this play in blood sugar control? When it comes to eating, mindfulness can help us eat in a way that is more in line with our bodies' true requirements. We are better equipped to make decisions that support our general well-being, including blood sugar control, when we pay attention to cues.

4. Move your body in a way that feels good.

Because diabetes treatment entails more than just what we eat, it's also crucial to consider how we move. We emphasize the value of joyful exercise at Green Mountain at Fox Run. That is, movement that feels pleasant in the body and accepts that everyone's "correct" movement is different.

For far too many diabetic women, exercise has become a necessary evil for maintaining physical health. The problem is that, when we consider mobility in this light, it is nearly hard to sustain it over time. We begin to despise it. Because of the unpleasantness we associate with it, we eventually give up on it completely.

We may build a movement habit that we actually keep to and, dare I say, even look forward to and enjoy if we adjust our mindset from "exercising because I have to" to "moving because it feels good."

Movement is helpful for women with diabetes because it helps to regulate blood sugar levels by encouraging the body to use up blood sugar as a fuel source, and improves the body’s cells sensitivity to insulin, meaning less insulin is needed to return blood sugar levels to normal.

And, when we do something that feels good and that we appreciate, it releases a large number of feel-good neurotransmitters. These may not have a direct effect on blood sugar levels, but they can indirectly reduce stress and motivate us to continue acting in ways that benefit our general health and well-being.

5. Create tools to manage and relieve stressors in your life.

Stress has the ability to affect blood sugar levels regardless of what you eat or drink. When we are under stress, our bodies go into fight-or-flight mode. In order to fight or run, the body releases stored energy, including glucose, into the bloodstream, resulting in substantial and rapid spikes in blood glucose levels. Because the body of a person with diabetes is less able to handle large influxes of glucose, those levels can remain elevated in the blood for a long time. Chronic stress can cause persistently increased blood glucose levels that are unrelated to diet. And, it is prolonged elevated glucose levels that contributes to many of the associated health risks.

Furthermore, because we are so focused on our immediate needs and experiences when we are stressed, it can be difficult to make decisions that are in the best interests of our long-term health. For example, we may be aware that some eating patterns (such as indulging in a huge piece of concentrated sweets all at once) are detrimental to blood glucose regulation, yet when we are stressed, we rely on food to help us meet an urgent need: coping with the stressor.

What about medications for diabetes?

Some people can control their blood sugar levels by making dietary and lifestyle modifications. Others, though, are not. Medications can play a vital and necessary role in type 2 diabetes management, and there is no shame in using them. They can also be a great addition to other tactics, such as those outlined in this article, for those trying to reduce their pharmaceutical usage.