The symptoms

What's the alternative?

If you’ve been newly diagnosed with diabetes, it’s easy to worry about your sugar intake and forget everything else. “It’s important to be aware of the bigger picture,” says Diabetes UK dietician Natasha Marsland. “You need to limit sugar and sugary foods, but equally important is monitoring your fat intake and being aware of your overall diet.”

Try these alternatives:

• Avoid sugar with your tea and coffee. Sugar in liquid form raises blood glucose levels very fast, so if you can’t do without sugary drinks, try using intense sweeteners or experiment with herbal teas and diet drinks.
• Skip the chocolate biscuits when you’re peckish. Try oat-based biscuits as these take longer to be absorbed by the body. Some sweet biscuits, such as Garibaldi or rich tea are lower in fat than others.
• Instead of eating sweet puddings, try low-fat fruit-based yoghurts or eat fresh fruit salad with low-fat crème fraîche.
• Having diabetes doesn’t mean that you can’t eat crisps and dips. Try eating Quavers and Twiglets as they're lower in fat. Alternatively, home-popped corn (available from most supermarkets) can be sprinkled with a little sweetener, a small amount of salt, or paprika or celery salt. For dips, try salsa and reduced-fat dips.
• Don’t automatically reach for a chocolate bar to perk you up. Whizz up a smoothie using semi-skimmed milk, low-fat yoghurt and fruit.
• If a recipe calls for a large amount of cheese, use a stronger variety and you'll need less.

Losing weight
There are many benefits to losing weight. If you reach the ideal weight for your height, this will help to control your cholesterol level, blood pressure and blood glucose. You'll dramatically lower your risk of health problems, such as developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease, as well as increase your life expectancy. Being overweight can also make it harder to control your diabetes.

If you want or need to lose weight you should do it slowly and carefully, rather than crash dieting. You should never skip meals, as this can cause your sugar levels to fall quickly.

• Aim to do 30 minutes of activity (broken up if you prefer) at least five days a week.
• Swap your shoes for trainers on your way to work so you can walk up escalators and stairs, get off public transport a few stops earlier than you need to, or park your car a few blocks from the office and walk for 10 minutes.
• Leave your desk at lunchtime and take a stroll outside.
• Leave the car at home if your journey is less than a mile, always walk.