Can people with diabetes seriously play sports?
Some physical activities are always good for people with diabetes. They help to keep your body in perfect shape and have a good influence on your health. For people with diabetes, it’s even more important to do some exercises because they help lower blood glucose levels and increase the sensitivity of cells to insulin.Moreover, living with diabetes is not only physically exhausting but also psychologically exhausting. And that’s why it is important to not only take care of the body but of mental health also. And during sports, the body produces endorphins that improve mood and self-esteem. As a result, the risk of developing depression is reduced by up to 30%.
And what about serious sports? Football, horse riding, or swimming?
Since sport for people with diabetes is associated with an increased risk of hypoglycemic attacks (low blood sugar), traumatic and extreme sports such as parachuting, rock climbing, diving, and other dangerous activities should be avoided. It’s worth choosing such activities that allow the patient to control his well-being. So people with diabetes can do almost every sport they want just wisely.And to help you to do sport wisely, we picked up the main tips for you to be safe while doing any sport.
Tips for playing sport for people with diabetes:
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Don’t be afraid of taking a rest. Always control your feelings and if something goes wrong - stop! You need to understand that your health is the main thing.
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Try to understand your body. Try to understand the specialties of the reaction of your body. And use this knowledge to maximize the training process and always be safe.
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Drink as many fluids as possible. It is always important to maintain a water balance in the body.
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Eat small carbohydrate snacks. A carbohydrate snack can help you regulate your blood sugar if it’s needed.
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Be careful with medicines. Some medicines can lower blood sugar levels and increase the risk of hypoglycemia. So it’s very important to talk with your doctor about that.
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Avoid drinking alcohol. It may sound too obvious not to drink alcohol before training but for people who have diabetes, it’s much more serious because the ingress of even a small amount of alcohol into the bloodstream can increase the risk of hypoglycemia.
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Don’t compare yourself with others. You need to understand that you have a little bit different circumstances than any other member of your team. So never compare yourself with them. You need to have your own training pace. And compare yourself only with your previous version.
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Tell others about your disease. It’s a very important tip because sometimes the teammates who know about your disease can save your life. Knowing what to do in some extra situations allows them to help you and give you a feeling of safety. Moreover, each team member should be honest with the others ones - that’s the key to a successful team.
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Control your blood sugar. Always check your blood sugar level before, during, and after doing the exercises.
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Choose our adhesive patches. Our freestyle libre patches will perfectly protect your CGM sensor even during the hardest exercises and allow you to control your blood sugar levels.
Conclusion?
There are a lot of great sportsmen with diabetes who have proved that you can be a winner despite the circumstances. So don’t be lazy! Don’t let diabetes destroy your dreams, and do any sport you want with a reasonable attitude!And our libre freestyle sensor covers will help you protect your CGM sensor, so while training, you can be calm about its safety and control your blood glucose all the time!