Keeping Cool

By Martha Funnell, MS, RN, CDE

As winter ends, the longer days and the appeal of sunshine motivates many people to spend more time outside and to become more active. If you have diabetes, being more active can make it easier to keep your blood glucose levels in your target range. But as with so many things in diabetes, you do need to take care to protect yourself— especially on very warm days and when it is humid. If you are traveling this summer, you also need to make plans to keep your medicines and other supplies safe.

1 DRINK PLENTY OF FLUIDS

Keeping hydrated is one of the most important things you can do to keep yourself safe in the summer. Some people find their blood glucose levels are higher when it’s hot and humid. Drinking plenty of sugar-free fluids is one way to flush the extra sugar from your body and to keep your blood glucose levels on target.

If you exercise outside in the summer, carry a bottle of water with you. This is true even if you are working in your yard or garden. Drink enough fluid to replace the amount that you lose by sweating. One sign that you are dehydrated may be cramps when you are exercising. Other signs are dry mouth and lips, needing to urinate less often and dark urine. There is no set amount of water or other liquids you need to drink, but if your urine is clear and pale yellow, you are well hydrated.

You will also need extra fluid if you are taking a long airplane flight. The air can be very drying. You will feel less tired and jet-lagged if you stay hydrated. Be sure to keep all of your medicines, your meter and its strips with you on the plane and not in your checked bag. The temperatures in the luggage compartment vary a great deal and can be either too hot or too cold. Plus, keeping your supplies with you prevents problems if your luggage gets lost.

2 KEEP YOUR MEDICINES COOL AND DRY

It is safe to store your insulin at room temperature as long as it is less than 86º in the room. If it is hotter than that in your house, keep all bottles of insulin in the refrigerator. If cold insulin stings when you take it, you can roll the bottle between the palms of your hands to warm it slightly before taking your dose. Avoid storing your insulin on a windowsill or a counter in direct sunlight.

Don’t leave your insulin in your car for any period of time. The inside of a car and especially the trunk can quickly go over 100º on a hot day. Most of the time, you can keep your insulin pen or vials in your purse or pockets when you are away from home and will need them. When taking a long car trip in the summer, keep your insulin in a cooler, but do not put it in ice or allow it to touch an ice pack. If insulin freezes at all, it no longer works.

Make sure that the lids are tightly closed on your pill bottles to protect them when it is humid.

3 PROTECT YOUR  METER AND STRIPS

For the most accurate results, store your meter at room temperature. Most companies recommend that meters be kept between 40 and 86º. High altitudes can also affect your meter. Humidity can damage your strips, so store them in the original bottle and make sure the lid is on tight.

4 PROTECT YOUR SKIN

  • Wear a hat and sunscreen when you are outside to protect your skin. Along with the risk of skin cancer, sunburn is a physical stress and can raise your blood glucose levels.
  • As part of protecting your skin, you need to protect your feet. Be sure to put sunscreen on the tops of your feet if you are at the beach.
  • Wear shoes at the beach and when swimming in the sea. Use common sense about wearing sandals and make sure they fit well and give you the protection you need.
  • If you have neuropathy or any numb areas on your feet, shoes that offer more protection and support than sandals will be a safer choice.

 


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Constance Brown-Riggs, MSEd, RD, CDE, CDN—an award-winning RD, certified diabetes educator, and past national spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, is the author of The African American Guide to Living Well With Diabetes, which received the Favorably Reviewed designation from the American Association of Diabetes Educators, and Eating Soulfully and Healthfully with Diabetes.

Dr. Lori Shemek, PhD, CNC, CLC, the best-selling author of “Fire-Up Your Fat Burn! and leading health and weight loss expert, is also known as “The Inflammation Terminator.” She has made it her mission to educate the public on the toxic effects of certain foods and lifestyle choices and how they create inflammation in the body. She is a leading authority on inflammation and its role in weight loss, preventing disease and optimizing health.

Rebecca Bitzer – MS, RD/LD, CEDRD is an award-winning Registered Dietitian, writer, speaker, blogger, and REBEL Dietitian business owner. Rebecca and her team of six Registered Dietitians have counseled thousands of clients struggling with diabetes for over twenty-five years. They work closely with each other along with internists, endocrinologists, therapists, and families.

Maureen Sullivan – RN, CDE has worked for many years as a Registered Nurse, most of them in emergency and trauma services. She is a Certified Emergency Nurse, Certified Diabetes Educator, and the former manager of a hospital stroke program. Maureen’s wealth of knowledge, passion for nursing and education, and ability to engage people makes her an excellent teacher and a captivating lecturer. Recently, Maureen has been concentrating on writing, speaking and teaching, as well as working on her award-winning weekly podcast, “The Health and Humor Show.”

Lauren Harris-Pincus, MS, RDN is a nutrition communications specialist, registered dietitian in private practice, social media consultant, speaker, spokesperson and corporate consultant. She is currently the owner of Nutrition Starring YOU, LLC and www.NutritionStarringYOU.com. Lauren strongly believes that we should “Think Healthy, not Skinny”, and “EveryBODY is unique, your diet should be too”. Lauren was co-host of the Family Food Experts Kitchen radio show, available for listening on iHeart Radio and iTunes. Also known as one of the “NutritionBabes”, Lauren co-founded NutritionBabes.com, a popular Health and Wellness website in 2009. NutritionBabes.com was voted one of Healthline’s Top 100 Health Blogs in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

Mark Heyman, PhD, CDE is a clinical health psychologist and the director of the Center for Diabetes and Mental Health (CDMH). In addition to treating patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, Dr. Heyman provides training for health care providers on how to identify and address the emotional and behavioral aspects of diabetes in their patients. He also works with pharmaceutical and medical device companies to help them understand these issues and incorporate this information into their sales, marketing, and patient education materials. He is particularly interested in empirically supported behavioral interventions that promote behavior change and improve physical and mental health in people with diabetes.

Katie Ferraro, MPH, RD, CDE is a nationally-recognized registered dietitian, certified diabetes educator and author with an expertise in nutrition communications and curriculum development. She is the co-author of “Diet Therapy in Advanced Practice Nursing” (McGraw Hill, 2014) and an Assistant Clinical Professor of Nutrition at the University of California San Francisco and University of San Diego’s graduate schools of nursing.

Dr. Beverly S. Adler, PhD, CDE (aka “Dr. Bev”) is a clinical psychologist and certified diabetes educator, author and speaker. She specializes treating the emotional issues of people with diabetes. In her private practice, she provides individual, family and/or group therapy utilizing a cognitive behavior therapy orientation, combined with a spiritual approach. Her goal is to empower her patients to manage their diabetes.

Dr. Bev is the author of two self-help diabetes books. She has written numerous articles which are published in print and online – always focused on diabetes from the emotional perspective. She also speaks to audiences of people living with diabetes, as well as, to audiences of healthcare professionals and diabetes educators. Dr. Bev, herself, has been living successfully with type 1 diabetes for 40+ years.

In August 2016, Dr. Bev was honored to receive the “CDE Entrepreneur of the Year” Award from her Metropolitan NY Association of Diabetes Educators.

Jill Weisenberger, MS, RDN, CDE, FAND is an internationally recognized nutrition and diabetes expert with more than two decades experience. Through writing, speaking and one-on-one coaching, Jill empowers people to grab control of their health. She has worked as both a nutrition counselor and a diabetes educator in the hospital and research settings, and now in private practice in Newport News, VA. Jill is known for her practical approach and caring attitude. Her no-nonsense strategies to eating well include foods that both taste good and are good for you.

Marlene Koch (pronounced ‘cook’) is a nationally recognized nutritionist, popular TV personality and New York Times bestselling author. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from UCLA with a Bachelor’s degree in Nutritional Science. She is a registered dietitian and one of a select group of dietitians to hold an advanced certificate in Child and Adolescent Weight Management from the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics.

Marlene has taught professional chefs from the American Culinary Federation the principles of healthy cooking and eating. She has been adjunct Nutrition professor and cooking instructor for Columbus State College and the Columbus State Culinary Academy, and she is a nationally recognized expert in weight loss, diabetes, child and adolescent nutrition, and sugar substitutes.

Marlene has sold over one million cookbooks, and is a regular guest on QVC.

Barbara Ruhs – MS, RDN is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and owner of Neighborhood Nutrition LLC, a consulting firm focused on providing solutions to help food companies and supermarkets improve consumer health & wellness. She’s a former supermarket dietitian and has run a successful business for 17 years. A leader in the field of nutrition, her mission is to help people by impacting the way food is produced, marketed and sold. She’s a strong advocate for supermarket dietitians and believes the retail food industry has the greatest potential to impact public health.

Cheryl Orlansky has over 25 years of experience in health promotion and chronic disease prevention and management. Her first career as a registered dental hygienist led her towards a path of wellness and nutrition! Her expertise is in diabetes, weight management and cardiovascular disease for individuals and groups. She works in a large private practice including endocrinology, internal medicine, rheumatology, neurology and sleep medicine. She is an award winning dietitian with current leadership positions in state and local dietetics organizations.

She has been interviewed and quoted in media outlets for WebMD, Atlanta Sports and Fitness, Georgia Public Broadcasting, and the Atlanta Journal and Constitution. She has partnered with V-103 Radio to lead supermarket tours as part of a community outreach during National Nutrition Month.

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Jackie Newgent, RDN, CDN, is a registered dietitian nutritionist and classically-trained chef. With a passion for helping people (including her father) with diabetes, she’s author of The With or Without Meat Cookbook: The Flexible Approach to Flavorful Diabetes Cooking and the award-winning The All‐Natural Diabetes Cookbook, both published by the American Diabetes Association. Jackie is also author of 1,000 Low-Calorie Recipes and Big Green Cookbook. Her next book, The All-Natural Diabetes Cookbook—2nd Edition, was published in 2015.

Nutritionist Rania Batayneh, MPH is the author of the best-selling book, The One One One Diet. She holds a master’s degree in public health nutrition from the University of Michigan School of Public Health and is also a Wellcoaches Certified Health and Wellness Coach endorsed by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).

OmnichannelHealth Media, publisher of DiabetesDigest.com, does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See additional information.