Whether you have recently been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes or have lived with it for several years it is generally considered fine for you to drive a car or a motorbike. But before setting out to drive, especially on a long journey, it is always a good idea to take some special precautions and to address how you are feeling before you drive. Doing so can prevent you having a diabetic hypo whilst driving, and prevent you having a serious accident that could leave you and others seriously injured, or even killed.
Firstly, ensure you tell the company that issues your driver's license you have diabetes, and your insurance company - as it may invalidate both if you do not. Some companies do not need to know unless you are taking insulin as your management choice but it is better to tell them in the beginning just to ensure you can still use your insurance should the situation arise.
Secondly, an hour before driving, ensure you have eaten a healthy and balanced meal. This should include a little animal protein, a small amount of healthy fat (like coconut oil or avocado fruit), with some healthy low-GI vegetables with the skin on as this is where the fibre is. This will help to keep your blood sugar within a healthy range, and should help prevent you going into a diabetic hypo.
The problem with eating a meal full of high-GI foods or refined white carbohydrates, is that they can cause blood sugar levels to soar really quickly, and when something goes up - it must come down. Also, the quicker your blood sugar level goes up - the quicker it will come crashing down and the more at risk of having a hypo you are.
So, by eating a healthy and balanced meal an hour before driving, you are helping to keep your blood sugar levels within a normal range. The foods will be digested slowly and therefore energy will be released into your bloodstream at a manageable rate.
Finally, if you feel your blood sugar levels are starting to drop and know the warning signs - then test them to be sure. If after testing you confirm they are starting to drop, ensure you follow the above step and wait an hour until your blood sugar levels have normalised before driving. You may wish to test again just to be on the safe side.
It is a good idea to keep glucose tablets on you at all times, just incase you need something fast acting to stop your blood sugar levels dropping so low you may pass out. Many car accidents can be prevented this way, and diabetics can carry on driving successfully if all the above steps are taken.
Type 2 diabetes is not a condition you must just live with. By making simple changes to your daily routine, its possible to protect your heart, kidneys, eyes and limbs from the damage often caused by diabetes, and eliminate many of the complications you may already experience.
For nearly 25 years Beverleigh Piepers has searched for and found a number of secrets to help you build a healthy body. Go to http://DrugFreeType2Diabetes.com to learn about some of those secrets.
The answer isn't in the endless volumes of available information but in yourself.
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