Educating yourself on the subject of diabetes should be your number-one priority if you have been diagnosed with the disease. Before you can properly treat it, you need to know exactly what you’re dealing with. Here are a collection of tips you can use to assist in the fight against diabetes.

Herbal tea is a great drink for diabetics as it contains many wonderful nutrients and can taste so good you don’t even think about adding cream or sugar. Be sure to check the ingredients as some manufacturers will add sugar or artificial sweeteners.

If you have Diabetes, then your children are more susceptible to the disease themselves. Make sure that any diet changes you make are reflected by the eating habits of your children, and that you include them in the exercise you do. It’s more fun to make the changes in your life if everyone has some input.

Be careful with the medicines you choose when you have a cold, many are laden with sugar which can affect your blood sugar levels. Make sure you take this into account if you’re keeping track of what you eat to maintain even blood sugar levels, or if your blood sugar mysteriously spikes.

Feel free to ask your doctor any question about Diabetes you might have, from how it affects your bowel movements to if it can cause sexual dysfunction (yes, it can!) No question should be too embarrassing or uneducated for you to feel comfortable finding the answer to as your doctor is there to help!

Be VERY careful with any advice you receive online about diabetes treatment. It is fine to do your research online, and even to find out what other people are doing to take care of their disease, but you need to take any new information you want to act on to your doctor, to make sure that it’s medically sound.

To keep your blood sugar levels from spiking, research high glycemic index foods. If you’re not knowledgeable about what ingredients you should avoid, you may consume something harmful without realizing it. If you need to eat something quickly and don’t have time to look it up, stick to non-processed foods.

After reading these tips, you now have a powerful tool at your disposal — information. What’s important now is that you use this tool to build a strong defense against diabetes. This disease might not seem very serious now, but a failure to manage it properly can be devastating. Don’t find out the hard way; use what you’ve learned here and work to stay healthy.