(Newswire.net — August 1, 2016) — The 2014 National Diabetes Statistics Report is quite frightening. According to the report, a total of 29.1 million people or 9.3% of the population have diabetes.

From the total figures, 21.0 million people have been diagnosed while 8.1 million people with diabetes have been undiagnosed. Furthermore, the report reveals that 15.5 million diabetes patients are men while 13.4 million are women.

Although, diabetes takes its place as one of the leading causes of death, having it is definitely not a death sentence. A diabetes patient can live longer through early detection and proper management.

Here are 4 effective things you could do to keep your diabetes in check.

Proper diet

To keep factors that could trigger diabetes in check, you need to eat highly nutritious diet and stay away from unhealthy diet that’s dangerous for your condition. It’s also important that you pay attention to the quantity of food you eat and its timing.

Generally, you need to focus on whole grain carbs, healthy fats, high fibre cereal, fruits and vegetable, high-fibre cereal, and high-quality protein.

Not only this, you also need to abstain from trans fats from partially hydrogenated or deep-fried foods, packaged and fast foods, processed and red meat, as well as low-fat products that have replaced fat with added sugar.

Be active

The common risk factors for diabetes are high blood sugar level, blood pressure, cholesterol and weight. And one way of keeping all these in check is through regular exercise.

With regular exercise or light house chores, your muscles will break down sugar to produce energy. Regular physical activity also helps to use your body insulin more efficiently. This way, all the risk factors can be properly controlled.

Wear diabetic socks

Diabetes raises the blood sugar level, which can increase the risk of foot infections or worse still, ulcer. This is rampant among diabetes patients who normally wear cover shoes with thick stockings. While it might be extremely difficult to do away with stockings while dressing up for work, you could help yourself with diabetic socks.

These are non-elasticized socks that are designed to eliminate constriction of the foot or leg from blood flow. They exist in various colours and sizes just like ordinary socks. For example, diabetic socks for women with large feet or men with muscular legs must be big enough to provide a comfortable fit for those wearing them.

Take medications

Sometimes diabetes can be managed off medication if it’s caught early enough. However, it gets to a point where you need medication to support your diet plan and physical activity.