Diabetes is serious. And high blood glucose can be a scary thing. But mainline medicine embraces the idea that you can take control and lower blood sugar naturally. Here are two keys to get you off on the right path.

1. Keep the faith. For a diabetic or a pre diabetic, it’s not pablum. Your attitude makes a measurable difference in your risk factors.

The paradox is that a diabetic (or pre diabetic) who is making good choices and controlling their blood glucose may end up healthier than a non diabetic who isn’t conscious of their lifestyle (and insurance companies are realizing this, so don’t think you can’t get insurance!). And it’s not just your discipline. Your attitude makes a huge difference as well.

When you’re positive - engaging your problems with glucose as a challenge - you’re more likely to plan, to schedule, and to stay on your regimen. You’re also putting chemicals in your body that make you healthier. In a study published in 2001, Dr. LS Berk showed that laughing reduces epinephrine levels and arterial inflammation which decreases a diabetic’s risk of heart failure and other complications.

Wherever you are in your process with diabetes, the more you treat it as manageable, the more it will be.

2. Keep exercising! Don’t become complacent. For some reason there’s myth floating around that people with diabetes shouldn’t exercise. Like all myths, it has its root in fact. There are particular situations that would indicate you should stop exercising - if you have hemorrhaging in your eye or severe neuropathy. And there are times when you should consult your doctor first - if you have retinopathy, are coming off an injury, or are over 40 and haven’t exercised in a while, for instance.

But in general every person with diabetes ought to exercise regularly. Add 5,000 walking steps a day (about 2 1/4 miles) to your normal routine, and strengthen your muscles - lift light weights, do mountain climbing or cross-country skiing, or play some tennis. Do something where you’re using your arms.

While diabetes is still the leading cause of blindness and kidney failure in America, that’s not the final destination for every diabetic journey. In fact, you have more resources than ever to reverse the damage glucose is doing to your body.

Here’s your third key:

3. Get on a regimen that you can absolutely depend on to help you lower blood sugar naturally and help you keep it low so you stop the damage as soon as possible and start to heal.

One of the main contributors to the increase of type 2 diabetes is lack of exercise. Over the past years, people have gotten lazier with all the new technology advances, that there are millions of people that don’t ever exercise or get any physical activity in their life. This has caused the rates of people being diagnosed with the disease to increase dramatically.

Type 2 diabetes is when the body does not produce enough insulin for the body to function properly or the insulin that is produced is ignored by the body instead of being used. When the body does not have enough insulin, it is not able to produce energy, which is needed to keep the body working properly. Insulin is what lowers the blood sugar levels since it transforms the glucose into energy, but when a person has diabetes the blood sugar levels rise since no insulin is being used. People with type 2 diabetes can suffer from serious medical complications such as heart attack, stroke, blindness, kidney failure, and amputations of the limbs.

Although there may be some other factors in getting type 2 diabetes, such as genetics, the number one reason for a person being diagnosed with the disease is that they are obese or overweight. This is one of the reasons why exercise is so important when it comes to managing the disease. Just losing a small amount of weight through a healthy diet and regular physical activity can have a dramatic effect on your body. It can lower your blood sugar levels and help you to keep your diabetes under control.

Exercise also have some other great benefits to it for people who have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes or that are pre-diabetic. Regular, moderate, exercise can lower blood sugar levels. Since the body needs glucose (energy) to be able to workout, when you exercise you take can lower your sugar levels since you are burning them off with the work. The American Diabetes Association has recently approved a workout and lifestyle program called Kathy Smith’s Project:YOU! Type 2 which includes approved workouts for people with diabetes. These workouts are specifically geared towards people with type 2 diabetes so that they can lower their blood sugar levels while getting fit and losing weight. Project:YOU! Type 2 also comes with a nutritional guide with recipes to help with the diet aspect as well.

Some of the other benefits of regular physical activity for people with this disease are:

* Improves circulation and lessens the chance for heart disease or a heart attack. * Increases your energy level * Lowers your blood pressure * Improves your muscle strength * Reduces stress and anxiety

The best way to manage type 2 diabetes is to get on a regular exercise plan like Project:YOU! Type 2 and maintain a healthy and balanced diet. Then you can live a long and happy life and be in control of your body.