Top 5 Myths About Diabetes
As a part of our ongoing series focused on Diabetes Awareness Month, we’re busting some of the most common diabetes myths we hear over and over again.
Myth 1: Diabetics can’t get life insurance
That’s simply untrue. Plenty of people with diabetes can secure life insurance policies, but too few people know it. While almost 30% of Americans (or about 100 million) have diabetes or prediabetes, only 54% of Americans have life insurance.
At Mira, we specialize in helping people with diabetes find affordable policies. Every insurer uses their own approach to calculating the premium, so no two life insurance providers will give you the exact same offer. That’s where the experts at Mira can help.
Myth 2: Diabetes means a very strict diet
The reality is that an ideal diabetes diet is really just healthy eating with a little more fine-tuning. A diet rich in vegetables with protein, fats, and nutrition-dense carbohydrates is what most diabetics aim for, though each individual will have foods that work for them and some that just don’t.
Diabetics need to pay close attention to their blood sugar levels, which go up and down based on a number of factors including activity level and the food most recently eaten. Sugary foods can quickly spike blood sugar, so while not off the menu entirely for all diabetics, they do require some careful consideration and planning.
For instance, someone with diabetes might be able to eat a slice of cake if they went on a brisk walk soon after to burn through some of that extra glucose in their bloodstream. And the opposite is true too — when exercising, diabetics often need to refuel with fruit or grains to increase their blood sugar and keep it within a healthy range.
Myth 3: Diabetics get sick more often
No, but there is a connection between your immune system and blood glucose. Many people mistakenly assume that getting diabetes somehow weakens your immune system, but that’s not the case.
Diabetics who manage to keep their blood sugar within a healthy range won’t necessarily get sick more often, but catching a cold can create serious diabetes complications. That’s why doctors and diabetes coaches can get so focused on keeping the immune system strong.
When a person catches a cold virus, for instance, the immune system responds. As an indirect result of that immune response, the body uses up insulin faster, causing your blood glucose to rise. This insulin drop from the cold or flu can become quite serious, or even result in a coma. That’s why it’s so important to be prepared for winter bugs and plan a strategy to keep blood sugar as even as possible.
Myth 4: It’s unsafe to get pregnant with diabetes
Actually, many diabetics have healthy pregnancies that result in healthy, happy babies. But it is important to have blood glucose numbers steady and within a healthy range before getting pregnant.
Excessively high blood sugar early on in a pregnancy — before 13 weeks — can result in serious issues or even birth defects, but many women don’t even know they’re pregnant until the fetus is already four or even six weeks along. That’s why it’s so important to talk to a doctor if you’re thinking of getting pregnant anytime soon.
And once you get pregnant, you’ll need to take extra care to change your diet to include enough extra calories for the growing fetus. Many times during a pregnancy diabetics will need to change a medication dose or switch from an oral diabetes medication to insulin injections. That’s why doctors keep an extra close eye on pregnant patients with diabetes.
Myth 5: Diabetes management requires significant weight loss
It’s true that losing weight after starting diabetes treatment is common, but that’s often a side effect of medications (like metformin), eating healthier, and getting more active.
It’s also true that burning off body fat can improve blood glucose levels, but huge drops in weight aren’t necessary to see results. Many diabetics reap big benefits from losing a little weight — just 15 or 20 pounds can make a huge difference for many.
Diabetes is a complex illness that comes with a host of side effects and concerns. On top of that, it’s a disease that varies quite a bit from individual to individual. How one diabetic manages to keep blood sugar levels steady won’t necessarily work for someone else. This makes it’s all too easy for myths to form, leading to misinformation. Always double check any fact someone told has told you about diabetes from a reputable news source and work with your doctor to develop a diabetes management strategy that works for you.
Learn more about how Mira helps diabetics find affordable life insurance!
