Tiredness, weariness, and general lack of energy are common complaints among people with diabetes. Periods of extreme fatigue, during which staying awake is a constant struggle, can profoundly impact your quality of life.
Low or high blood sugar levels can also result in this type of fatigue. Stress, overwork, insufficient sleep, and so on are just a few of a dozen other potential causes.
Glucose and insulin signaling
The simple sugar glucose is the body’s primary fuel source. Glucose is always required by your muscle cells for essential functions, including speech, locomotion, reading, thinking, etc.
During digestion, glucose is absorbed into the bloodstream and transported to the body’s muscle cells. Simultaneously, the hormone insulin is secreted by the pancreas into the blood.
Muscle cells can’t absorb glucose without insulin’s help. Insulin accomplishes this by binding to receptors on the cells’ surface and stimulating the cell membrane’s permeability to glucose. After then, the glucose is used as fuel by the cells.
Of course, the insulin won’t be able to unlock the muscle cell receptors if the fat is already blocking them. This is the fundamental challenge for people with type 2 diabetes, and it’s also the reason why an extremely low-fat diet targeted at unblocking the cell receptors is the only proven method for curing the disease.
Diabetic sluggishness and its causes
Too high or too low blood sugar levels are two prevalent causes of fatigue or lethargy.
You’ll feel sleepy and drugged if you have high blood glucose because it makes your blood thick and sticky, reducing the amount of oxygen and nutrients reaching your cells. However, if your blood sugar is too low, your cells won’t have enough fuel to function normally, and you’ll experience fatigue and apathy.
When the pancreas does not produce enough insulin (as in type 1 diabetes), or the body’s insulin does not operate properly (as in type 2 diabetes), blood glucose levels rise.
Both prevent the glucose in your blood from reaching your muscle cells, depriving them of the required fuel. The effect is exhaustion.
It is essential to rule out alternative causes of lethargy or excessive fatigue before diagnosing high or low blood sugar as the culprit. If you suddenly feel weary, you can determine why by utilizing a home glucose tester to check your blood sugar levels.
You may be eating too many carbohydrates, or the carbohydrates you eat may have a high glycemic index (GI), which means they cause a sharp spike in blood sugar levels after being digested.
The approach is to eat fewer carbohydrates or switch to low glycemic index (GI) carbohydrates. However, consuming additional carbohydrates is necessary to restore normal blood glucose levels and provide your body with energy.
Intense weariness can also have medical causes.
Excessive drowsiness can have other causes besides diabetes. Too high or too low blood glucose levels are just two of the more than 15 documented causes of exhaustion.
A variety of other medical issues can cause fatigue.
– anemia, or abnormally low levels of red blood cells
Issues with the Thyroid
– low amounts of the male hormone testosterone
the spread of disease
Untreated heart disease
Medication Adverse Effects – Medical Conditions
At least seven different medical diseases can cause extreme fatigue.
If you experience exhaustion despite having ‘normal’ blood glucose levels (i.e., neither too high nor too low), your doctor may want to look into these problems.
Reasons for Exhaustion Beyond Sleep Deprivation
Many factors besides poor health can contribute to your tiredness.
Sleep deprivation/quality issues
– Working rotating shifts (disturbs your natural sleep rhythms).
– Mood swings (a typical complication of diabetes)
Overworking without resting enough
Causes of Stress
Overconsumption of carbs, mainly processed ones
Consuming an excessive amount of caffeine (leads to exhaustion due to the rebound effect).
– Not getting enough to drink
Inactivity, which leads to muscle weakness.
– Aging
Except for the final item, you have much say over the others. What you can do is as follows.
Diabetic fatigue: six (6) suggestions for combating the condition
To combat diabetic fatigue, you should take similar measures to those you would take to manage your underlying diabetes. They are:
[1] a meal plan for overcoming diabetes
[2] drinking enough water.
Nutritional Supplements, Part 3
(#4) Maintaining an Exercise Routine
Remedying Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Caffeine abstinence ([6])
Defeating Diabetes with Diet [1]
Getting rid of as much fat as possible is the initial step. If you want your insulin to transport glucose into muscle cells effectively, you must reduce the fat you eat.
Eating a plant-based diet high in whole, unprocessed foods is one way to reduce body fat. Only the leanest cuts of meat should be consumed, and eggs and dairy products should be eliminated from the diet. Eat beans, tofu, fish, or skinless chicken breasts for a healthy, low-fat protein.
Sugar should also be kept to a minimum in your diet. This includes cutting out added sugar from beverages like tea and coffee and processed foods. Carbohydrates from fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are your best bet.
About eighty-five percent of diabetics also have hypertension, which is affected by salt intake, and so have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke than people without diabetes who also have hypertension. So, a low-sodium diet is essential.
Soluble and insoluble fiber are both essential in the fight against diabetes and the fatigue that often accompanies it. This is because fiber slows the pace at which sugar is absorbed and makes you feel full sooner, preventing you from eating more than you need. The fiber content of your food should also be high.
High-fiber foods take longer to digest because of their low GI ratings. Consuming foods broken down slowly is crucial in preventing sugar rushes or sharp increases in blood glucose that peak soon after eating, leading to fatigue in people with diabetes.
Smaller, more frequent meals high in fiber and protein and low in fat, sugar, and salt are essential to a healthy diet. To keep your blood sugar level stable throughout the day, it’s best to avoid eating three large meals far apart.
[2] Drinking enough water.
Dehydration can cause fatigue. Therefore, it’s essential to drink lots of water. Drinking two to four liters a day of fluids such as water, juice, tea, coffee, and soy milk is recommended. You’ll feel less tired and have an easier time digesting the fiber in your diet.
Vitamins and Minerals
To avoid nutritional deficits caused by cutting out a significant food group like eggs and dairy, you should also consider taking a wide variety of high-quality dietary supplements.
The B vitamins are crucial to ensuring your nerves stay healthy. Ensure you’re getting enough of these micronutrients when dealing with diabetic nerve issues like diabetic neuropathy. Diabetic fatigue can be alleviated with the use of B vitamins.
Exercising frequently [4]
It’s counterintuitive, yet the more active you are, the more energy you’ll gain. Those who walk briskly for 30 minutes daily feel less tired than those who don’t.
Walk, garden, play tennis, or jump in the pool, whatever you enjoy doing. Spend 30–60 minutes a day doing it. If you can’t commit to 30-60 minutes of exercise, try to do three 10-minute sessions throughout the day.
The Management of Sleep Apnea
Many persons with diabetes experience many brief episodes of cessation of breathing during the night. This so-called sleep apnea causes them to wake up frequently throughout the night. Symptoms include nighttime snoring, morning headaches or sore throats, daytime drowsiness, and inability to focus.
Treatments exist for sleep apnea. And you’ll have more incredible stamina to get through the day.
[6] Keeping caffeine out of your system, especially in the evening.
Although I know that caffeine might keep some people up and make it difficult to fall asleep, it has never had that effect on me. If used excessively, it might also make it more challenging to maintain healthy blood sugar levels. If you know that caffeine disrupts your sleep, you should avoid it, especially at night.
Type 2 diabetes affects Paul D. Kennedy. About five years ago, he stopped using drugs to regulate his blood glucose levels, having used his expertise as an international consultant and researcher to establish a solution to control his diabetes with nutrition alone. The website beating-diabetes.com has further information, or you can email Paul directly at [email protected]. Amazon sells the Kindle version and printed copies of his book, Beating Diabetes. Create Space, an online bookstore, also sells the printed version.
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