Wisdom dictates that ‘prevention is better than cure’. Gone are the days where unsuspecting individuals will fall prey to diseases and suddenly find themselves in a predicament. With the advent of technology, preventive measures are the bio-hack that gives you the power to stay healthy without having to worry about falling sick unannounced or blowing up that medical insurance. Tight glycemic control is one such preventive measure that is essential for maintaining a healthy weight and preventing disease.

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What is Tight Glycemic Control (TGC)?

Individuals who are suffering from different forms of diabetes require their carbohydrate metabolism to attain a steady state. Tight glycemic control is the practice of limiting blood glucose in the range of 4.4–6.1 mmol/L for healthy adults. Essentially tight glycemic control boils down to being able to manage an acceptable range of blood sugar level in an individual. The acceptable range, however, is dependent upon the duration of diabetes, age, sex, hypoglycemic tendencies and history of cardiovascular (or any other) diseases.

Benefits of Tight Glycemic Control Include Weight Management

The primary objective of having a diabetes management program is to effectively control the blood glucose, blood pressure and the lipid profile of the body. Failure to do so may result in long-term ailments like kidney diseases, pancreatic and liver problems along with diseases that affect the eye. Short-term problems like hypoglycemia (too little blood sugar) or hyperglycemia (too much blood sugar) can be dangerous and potentially fatal.

An added benefit of TGC is weight management. TGC dictates that one is careful with his diet and cut down on fast foods that contain excessive sugar, salt, trans-fat, excess carbohydrates and harmful chemicals. This restriction limits the calorific intake and actively helps an individual with shedding excessive weight. It is easy to track your food and nutrition intake through medical apps for patients.

How to Ensure Tight Glycemic Control to Prevent Disease

Maintaining glucose levels in the blood is the key to ensure prevention of diseases and excess weight gain here.

Maintaining a diet that is low in carbohydrates is the call of the hour. Any food item that is heavy on salt, sugar and trans-fat must be omitted from the daily diet. Including leafy vegetables like spinach and kale, fruits with low glycemic values like bananas, pears, pomegranates, and whole grain bread are recommended. Such dieting also reduces the bad weight the body carries by inducing the body to use up stored calories.

Applying insulin directly into the body is one of the last ditch efforts under TGC if one is already suffering from high levels of diabetes. Insulin administration, if done properly, regularizes the body’s absorption of proteins, carbohydrates, nutrients, and hormones. This also helps to regularize the body weight.

The Emergence of Health Care Technologies for Tight Glycemic Control

One of the more modern approaches to TGC is having portable devices that are able to identify glucose levels before and after meals. These on-the-go glucose monitors are excellent aids for TGC and help an individual to keep a constant check on their sugar levels. These devices are now even inching towards virtual management, with weight and glycemic monitoring devices that provide 24-hour real-time metrics. Medical apps for patients and preventive measures like 24-hour monitoring through digital healthcare technologies can help undiagnosed individuals who plan to be prepared against diabetic threats.

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