Occasionally, we invite experts to write about the subject they know best. The following main content was written by

Shawn Dassie, MS, CSCS, USAW, NASM-PES
Director of Fitness and Sports Performance
360 Health Club

Diet and lifestyle play an important part in managing diabetes.  If you live a sedentary life and eat the wrong foods, there is a good chance that you will have diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure, which could then lead to heart disease.

Physical activity can help control blood glucose, weight and blood pressure, as well as raise “good” cholesterol and lower “bad” cholesterol. It can also help prevent heart and blood flow problems, reducing the risk of heart disease and nerve damage, which are often problems for people with diabetes.

Make sure to start slowly with a little exercise, and work up to more and more exercise as you become stronger. Do some physical activity every day. It’s better to walk 10 or 20 minutes each day than one hour once a week.  As your stamina increases and you become stronger and more accustomed to exercising, progress your activities to moderate-intensity activities for at least 30 minutes each day of the week. Examples of this type of activity may include walking briskly, mowing the lawn, dancing, swimming, or bicycling. Do physical activities you really like. The more fun you have, the more likely you will do it each day. It can be helpful to exercise with a family member or friend.

Exercise is very, very important for people with diabetes to stay healthy, but there are a few things to watch out for.

According to the American College of Sports Medicine, individuals should avoid exercise involving heavy weights and this type of training may be bad for people with blood pressure, blood vessel, or eye problems. Diabetes-related nerve damage can make it hard to tell if you’ve injured your feet during exercise, which can lead to more serious problems

Physical activity can also lower blood glucose too much (hypoglycemia), which can leave certain individuals feeling shaky, weak, confused, irritable, anxious, hungry, tired, or sweaty. This condition can also result in headaches, or even loss of consciousness.

To help prevent hypoglycemia during physical activity, be sure to check blood glucose levels before exercising. If it's below 100, have a small snack. In addition, bring food or glucose tablets to exercise sessions just in case. It is not good for people with diabetes to skip meals at all, but especially not prior to exercise. After you exercise, check to see how it has affected your blood glucose level.

On the other hand, exercise should be avoided when blood glucose is very high because the levels could rise further. Do not exercise if blood glucose is above 300, or fasting blood glucose is above 250 and if ketones are present in urine.