Diabetes is a disease that constantly works against our health and wellbeing. It can be responsible for premature aging, unhealthy weight loss/excess weight gain, and loss of luster from our skin and hair. Suffice to say that unless we also take active steps to counter the effects of diabetes on our natural beauty, it can have very detrimental effects on how we look. Keeping that in mind, here are three tips that will help you keep diabetes away from your natural glamor.

Counter the Effects of Diabetic Dysphagia

People with diabetes may often report experiencing dysphagia, which will only increase in frequency with age. Dysphagia refers to any difficulty or pain that one might experience while and/or after swallowing their food and/or drink. It’s the most common esophageal motor disorder observed among diabetics.

Now, it’s difficult to be concerned with eating healthy and drinking lots of water every day when every spoonful and every gulp becomes a cause for pain. Patients begin to associate the very acts of eating and drinking with pain, discomfort, and fear of choking. As a result, maintaining a healthy diet becomes next to impossible for them. The worst part with dysphagia is that these associations are rooted in facts, given that there really is a constant choking hazard and swallowing can indeed become very painful.

Fortunately, there is a way around it. Diabetics with dysphagia should start using the xanthan gum-based thickener called Simply Thick with their water and all other beverages. Unlike the corn starch used in common food and drink thickeners, xanthan gum is perfectly safe for diabetics to consume daily with food and water.

Consult a Dietician

Get a dietician’s help to find the most ideal and healthy diet chart for you. Do tell them about your dysphagia, and they will try not to include hard-to-swallow foods in your diet. There may still be a few foods on the diet chart for nutritional benefits, which you will not be able to swallow without difficulty in their whole form.

Don’t fret though, because you can use a blender to turn them into a thick nutritious slush for easier consumption. Be careful with seeds, bones, and other hard bits because they are not supposed to go into the blender or end up in your slush.

Exercise

If your physician sees no reason as to why you should not exercise, they will tell you that daily exercise is actually a requirement for all diabetics to stay healthy and beautiful. Include 20 – 30 minutes of daily exercise in your routine. As for the exercises themselves, that is entirely up to your own health conditions and the limitations posed by your physician. Nevertheless, the following exercises should be safe for most diabetics, and they will keep you looking and feeling fit.

• Powerwalking
• Swimming
• Cycling
• Weight training

The definition of beauty is not concrete, and a lot depends on who is looking. Nevertheless, there are some universal factors that are naturally synonymous with good looks everywhere. The most important of all those factors is health because nothing can make us feel and look better than the glow which comes naturally from just being healthy. Health allows for the kind of beauty that transcends the usual limits of time and lets us stay elegant even as we age.