Living With Type 2 Diabetes: Taking The Heat

Having diabetes can bring on an entirely new set of health issues–as if diabetes itself isn’t enough. I believe that a lot of these conditions, such as the inability to deal with the heat, are more attributed to medications or age than the disease itself.

 

For the most part, I have remained unphased by weather conditions since becoming a diabetic. This could be because I do not take any medications or because I’m still fairly young, but I attribute it to sheer perseverance and ensuring that I stay acclimated to the weather. From what I understand about diabetes, the disease affects your body’s ability to metabolize and process glucose. This has nothing to do with Vitamin D absorption or melanin. The usual suspects affect a person’s ability to deal with the sun; skin cancer, sunburn, lack of acclimation to the heat, and age.

 

To use the military’s adage of “train as you fight,” I believe that it is important to expose yourself to as much of the elements and real world conditions as possible. Unless someone is allergic to the sun or severely affected by the sun, I see no reason to avoid it. It’s nearly impossible to avoid the sun here in Georgia, so I just deal with it. Fortunately, my diabetes doesn’t seem to mind.

 

I believe that the heat actually helps me fight diabetes as exercising or working outdoors in warmer temperatures gets your heart rate up faster and causes you to burn more calories. It is important to know your limits though as heat stroke, and heat exhaustion are real concerns. As I’ve said before, most people don’t know that I have diabetes. I plan to stay incognito by making sure that I can take the heat while dealing with diabetes.