Maintain health checkups when you feel well – Longevity starts at a young age!
We are more than halfway through our 2024 year. Each year brings a new trend with diet and the latest in activity, supplements and stress management. More protein, more vegetables, coffee with mushrooms, collagen products, short workouts with weights, stress reduction techniques – the list goes on and on and gets more confusing the more rabbit holes you follow.
I’m thankful that this year we are finally starting to move away from a one-size-fits-all “diet” with the realization that personalizing intake and what we do to manage our overall health is more beneficial. Why is this important in the long term? Should we focus on this sooner than later?
In all the work I have done with people over the years, there is one underlying thing that ties them all together outside of diabetes.
A desire for long-term wellness at the core.
We are in an age where lifespan is lengthening. The average lifespan for a US citizen is 79 years. It has increased over the years which seems to mean we know more about how to really eke out more time on our lovely planet. However, we need to take a deeper look at this span of time, especially when living with a chronic health condition like diabetes.
Are we living longer with value or with loss of life enjoyment? Are we living well and able to care for ourselves into the octogenarian years and beyond?
Longevity is something most people really aim for, but if the cost of living longer means we are taking more medication and going to the doctor for more procedures or that we must rely on family, friends or assisted living facilities then what does that longer lifespan really provide?
This seems to be a bleak thing to think about in a world where we have access to so much more than we did years ago. But in 2024, with a change to personalization and more tools to evaluate health, we may be turning the corner in what it means to live longer with diabetes. Our focus on long-term complications has been something we have heard about since diagnosis. The hard thing is that in the here and now we may not feel the actual benefit. Most of the chronic things that creep up over the years and lead to a later loss of enjoying life do so in a very silent way.
With diabetes, we are hyper-focused on glucose management, and we have parameters checked for the heart, eyes, kidneys, and even our brain. For those with diabetes, this may keep us healthier down the road compared to those without diabetes. All the beneficial things you get checked yearly, the effort you put into the food you eat and the activity you get means you’ll find out if something is wrong much sooner than your counterparts without diabetes. Finally a benefit of life with diabetes!
Research continues to show that attention to certain health parameters makes a difference down the road, but most people pay attention too late. When symptoms already show up it is an indication that damage is already started, and the body is trying to work even harder to heal. If we can keep these things in check when we feel good, we are ahead of the game.
What is the key to a longer, healthier life?
The time to focus is NOW!
According to many studies done on those living well beyond the age of 80, some things are similar. These people have been able to avoid the top 4 common health issues that pop up in advanced years – cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s, cancer, and type 2 diabetes.
Why?
Things older, healthier people hold in common (because genes only have a limited role for some families) include:
- Nutrition intake full of vegetables and fruit with healthy plant-based fats (think Mediterranean diet)
- A diet low in Sugar
- Healthy protein intake
- Movement daily
- Stress management/optimistic outlook
- Community support/Friend connections
- Sleep Quality
We may not be able to avoid diabetes with a type 1 diagnosis, but we certainly can work on the rest and along the way, glucose management is preventative for each of these conditions as well. Inflammation appears to be a key in all these conditions and the focus points above are things that can be done to reduce impact and thus increase the chance of aging with health and grace.
If you feel you might need some assistance with evaluating your overall health quality along with diabetes – since they go hand-in-hand, give us a call at Integrated Diabetes Services – we are here to help you live healthfully for many years to come.
We may not be able to avoid diabetes with a type 1 diagnosis, but we certainly can work on the rest, and along the way, glucose management is preventative for each of these conditions as well. Inflammation appears to be a key in all these conditions and the focus points above are things that can be done to reduce impact and thus increase the chance of aging with health and grace.
If you feel you might need some assistance with evaluating your overall health quality along with diabetes – since they go hand-in-hand, give us a call at Integrated Diabetes Services – we are here to help you live healthfully for many years to come.
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