Q: I am a 63 years old man suffering from diabetes for the past 20 years. I am taking human mixtard insulin 25 u in the morning and 20 u in the evening. Is eating of bagel with cheese spread in the morning and pizza at night advisable? I am in the US and in winter season was unable to take regular walks, which resulted in uncontrolled sugar level. At times, I do feel that the blood sugar is low (hypoglycemia) especially early in the morning. What kind of diet is advisable to control diabetes? I am a vegetarian.

A:Diet and exercise are essential part of treatment and have immense benefits. As you have noted with change in diet and lack of exercise your blood glucose has gone up. The diet you are taking now (pizza etc.) is not good. This type of fast food is OK once in a while but not daily. I would suggest you to get back to Indian vegetarian diet as far as possible. If it is not possible to go out then you can do exercise at home. To avoid early morning hypos you should take bedtime snacks (a glass of milk and few sugar free biscuits). Continue same dose of insulin.