Mission: Possible - 21 Day Challenge to help end diabetes
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to start a healthy habit over the next 21 days to raise awareness on diabetes, live healthier, and to help end diabetes.
Mission Data:
November is Diabetes Awareness Month!
11 million Canadians are living with diabetes or prediabetes. And that’s not even counting the family members whose lives are changed by supporting those living with diabetes. So many lives are touched by this chronic disease, yet so few Canadians know they are at risk for developing diabetes. Each November, the Canadian Diabetes Association runs a campaign to raise awareness on the risks of diabetes, and what you can do to lower your chances of developing diabetes. This year, the CDA is promoting a 21 day health habit challenge. All that’s involved is a commitment to making a healthy lifestyle change and raise funds to support diabetes research to find a cure! More information on this challenge at the Canadian Diabetes Association website.
What is Diabetes?
It’s a chronic disease where the body cannot make enough insulin or cannot use insulin properly. Insulin is a hormone that helps to control blood sugars. A high amount of sugar in the blood over a long period of time can damage organs, blood vessels, and nerves.
Find out more about diabetes at our PCN Diabetes 101 class:
Are you at risk?
Not much is known about definite risk factors for Type 1 Diabetes. But there are quite a few risk factors for developing Type 2 Diabetes. Some we can have some control over, but some we cannot.
Here’s a list of risk factors for developing Type 2 Diabetes:
• Have a parent, brother, or sister living with diabetes.
• Member of high-risk group (Aboriginal, Hispanic, South Asian, Asian, African descent)
• Have given birth to a baby weighing more than 4kg or 9lb
• Have had gestational diabetes (diabetes during pregnancy)
• Prediabetes diagnosis
• Have high blood pressure
• Have high cholesterol or high blood fats
• Have extra weight around abdomen, overweight
• Have polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) diagnosis
• Have acanthosis nigricans diagnosis
• Have obstructive sleep apnea diagnosis
• Have diagnosed psychiatric disorders: schizophrenia, depression
Ask your doctor to test if you have diabetes if you are over 40 years old or if you have several risk factors after taking this risk test: http://www.diabetes.ca/take-the-test/
Fight the Risk. Accept the Mission Challenge.
Here are some healthy habit ideas you can try over the next 21 days.
• Eat a high fibre breakfast everyday. For example, you can have oatmeal with fruit.
• Eat 1 cup of vegetables at each of your meals.
• Eat 2-3 servings of fruit each day (1 serving =0.5 cup or tennis ball size piece of fruit)
• Go for a 10-15 minute walk at lunch everyday.
• Try deep breathing or visualization technique to manage your stress. Or check out other stress management techniques at https://myhealth.alberta.ca/Health/tests-treatments/pages/conditions.aspx?hwid=rlxsk&
Your Team
You have a team of Registered Dietitians, Exercise Specialist, Registered Nurse, Registered Pharmacist, and Registered Psychologist through the SMILE program at the PCN. You can access this team for support by asking for a referral from your family doctor.
