Sports Nutrition Tips for The Athlete with Diabetes

If you have diabetes, your best bet to control your blood sugar is to consistently eat a proper diet (as prescribed by your physician or registered dietitian) and exercise on a regular schedule. Many people with diabetes hesitate to exercise because they are afraid of exercising hypoglycemia due to abnormally low blood sugar. If you are one of these people, I recommend that you consult with your health care providers to develop a food plan that works for you, read some book, and practice the following sports nutrition tips.

1. Always exercise after eating, when your blood sugar is on the rise. Do not start to exercise with low blood sugar. Eat a snack first.
2. Always carry sugar in some form with you (Hard candies and glucose tablets are hand because they aren’t messy.) Also carry change with you for a phone call or vending machine.  Yes pay phones still exist!
3. Exercise with someone who knows that you have diabetes and who is aware of the signs of hypoglycemia (confusion, weakness, unconsciousness, convulsions). If your blood sugar plummets, you may stagger and fall; you want you companion to be aware of what’s happening. (Some people with diabetes have been misdiagnosed as drunks.) Also make sure your exercise partner knows what to do in an emergency.
4. Most often, you should not change the insulin dose for training but should eat more food. If you repeatedly become hypoglycemic during or after exercise (despite eating more food), you should talk to your doctor about reducing your insulin.
5. To best determine your food and insulin needs, you should monitor your blood glucose during trying (for instance, between quarters of a football game or between laps of swimming). You may also need to re-establish these needs when the weather changes from hot to cold.
6. If you are going to be participating in a one-shot bout of high activity (such as an unexpected basketball game), you should eat food before it and you may want to reduce your insulin. Through experience, you learn about your body and what strategy works best for you.
7. A person with diabetes has an impaired ability to store and mobilize carbohydrates in the right amounts at the right times, so you should not try to carbo-load. Instead, plan to eat extra calories during exercise.
8. During long-term exercise, replace glucose supplies regularly. When swimming, you may want to pop out of the pool after 50 laps to drink a small can of orange juice; during a marathon, you’ll need to eat sugar or snacks along the route.
9. On a long day trip of, say , hiking or cycling, eat six small meals containing bot carbohydrates and protein. Be over-prepared with extra emergency food in case you get unexpectedly delayed. Explain to your friends beforehand that you are unwiling to share the food with them, or bring more than enough for everyone.
10. Drink plenty of fluids before and during exercise to prevent your self from becoming dehydrated. You need more fluid if your urine is dark and there is little of it.
11. Because exercise has lingering effect, you should eat more than usual after exercising. Otherwise, you may become hypoglycemic that night or even the next day.