Insulin on board (IOB) refers to insulin that is still active in your body from previous bolus doses. All insulin pumps have an IOB feature that allows the pump to calculate any remaining insulin in the body from recent boluses. When this feature is activated, your pump has the ability to subtract IOB when administering bolus insulin in response to carb intake and blood glucose readings to prevent insulin from overlapping or “stacking” that can cause hypoglycaemia. It also allows greater flexibility to give multiple boluses for frequent snacking or corrections without increased risk. IOB varies between individuals but the average timeframe is 3½- 4 hours.

The following is taken into consideration while calculating:

• All boluses (meal and correction) are taken into account when IOB is calculated.
• IOB is only deducted from correction boluses, so the full amount of IOB is not always deducted. IOB is never deducted from meal boluses, only correction boluses.
• For example, if the correction bolus is 3 units and there are 2 units of IOB, the full 2 units are deducted. But if the correction bolus is 1 unit, only 1 of the 2 units of IOB will be deducted
• If the blood sugar is below target, no IOB will be deducted

Prediabetes means that your blood sugar level is higher than normal but not yet high enough to be type 2 diabetes. So ensuring more complex carbohydrate, protein and fibre food sources becomes crucial to manage glycaemic response to food along with regular physical activity A regular fruit smoothie is high in carbs and sugar, which will raise blood sugar and insulin levels. However, you can create a low-carb smoothie, high protein smoothie using green leafy vegetables, yoghurt with whey protein powder, dry-fruits like almonds/walnuts or seeds like flax seeds, chia seeds.

There is a belief or you could say myth that walking just after a meal causes fatigue, stomach ache, and other types of discomfort. However walking just after a meal is more effective for weight loss than waiting one hour after eating before walking. For people who do not experience abdominal pain, fatigue, or other discomfort when walking just after a meal, walking for 30 minutes as soon as possible just after lunch and dinner leads to more weight loss than does walking for 30 minutes beginning one hour after a meal. Depending on how much food you consume, engaging in light or moderate walking is an excellent way to rev up that metabolism and burn off those calories, as well as contribute to muscle and heart health. However, brisk walking is not suggested after consuming a heavy meal because the body is trying to digest a large mass of food while vigorously walking at the same time. This causes the blood supply to overextend itself, which forces the heart to perform at twice its rate. Wait about 30-45 minutes to walk after a very large meal

Only consuming prescribed medicines without following a well-balanced diet, and exercise is not futile to manage blood sugars. The five pillars of diabetes management are weight management, blood sugar monitoring, healthy eating, medication and regular physical activity. So basically every pillar is important to manage blood sugars.

Snacks can come in handy, but many people work jobs where they can't break to eat all the time, so it's important to consume the right foods at breakfast that can help you feel full until lunch. A good breakfast should have a 20-30g of carbohydrate which is complex (high in fibre) with 8-10 g of proteins per serving as this combination delays gastric emptying time, does not cause spike in blood sugars, fuels you with energy and keeps you satiated. You can keep the following in your breakfast menu- eggs (two egg whites+ one whole egg), oats (keep milk or buttermilk as base for porridge), multigrain-muesli, sprouts+ millets chilla with curd. In scenarios where you skip breakfast high protein high fibre snack will help you sustain until lunchtime such as sprouts salad , greek yoghurt (has high protein content) with fruit and dry fruits, multigrain bread sandwich, water based veggies- cucumber, tomatoes.

Firstly all the items listed are edible food ingredients, the only thing varying amongst them on a nutrition scale is their nutrient content.

Coconut sugar (also known as coco sugar, coconut palm sugar, coco sap sugar or coconut blossom sugar) is a palm sugar produced from the sap of the flower bud stem of the coconut palm. This sweetener has become very popular in the past few years.Regular table sugar dose not contain any vital nutrients and therefore supply "empty" calories. However, coconut sugar has the following nutrients retained such as Iron, Zinc, Calcium and Potassium, along with some short chain fatty acids, polyphenols and antioxidants .Then it contains a fibre called inulin which slows glucose absorption and hence has a lower glycaemic index than regular table sugar. The bottom line is coconut sugar is no super food, it is slightly less bad than regular sugar as it retains other nutrients but has the same calories as regular table sugar so if you’re going to use coconut sugar use it sparingly (1 tsp which is 5g per day) Choose your cooking oil wisely.All fats, including cooking oils, are a mixture of saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fatty acids in varying proportions. There is no such thing as a saturated-fat-free oil or one that contains only polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fat.Remember that all cooking oils contain the same number of calories — about 120 calories per tablespoon — and contain notrans-fat or cholesterol. Because cooking oils are 100% fat and are high in calories, use as little as possible. To minimize the amount of oil you use when cooking, try using non-stick pans and an oil mister to spray a thin coating of oil onto the pan. When you need more than a thin coating of oil, use measuring spoons or cups to carefully measure out the desired amount.For heart health, select cooking oils with the lowest levels of saturated fat and the highest levels of monounsaturated and omega-3 fatty acids such as canola oil, olive oil, flaxseed oil, and rice bran oil. If you are looking for an oil to add flavour to your cooked dishes or salad dressing, choose toasted sesame oil, or an unrefined olive oil.

Flour basically is refined and has very less fibre which makes it a high glycaemic food. It is best to avoid refined flour in diet as it is less nutritious and also raises blood sugars quickly. Healthier alternative to refined flour are millet flours- such as jowar, bajra, ragi flour or multi-grain flour or wheat flour with Bran added to it or to increase protein content of the regular wheat flour soyabean flour or chickpeas flour can be added to it.

Carbohydrate is the nutrient which has the greatest effect in terms of raising blood sugar levels and requires the most insulin to be taken or be produced by the body. The benefits of a low-carb diet include: Lower HbA1c, Improved weight loss, Less chance of high sugar levels occurring, Lower risk of severe hypos, More energy through the day, Less cravings for sugary and snack foods, Clearer thinking, Lower risk of developing long-term health complications. The macro-nutrient distribution in a low-carb diet would be as follows- 40% of carbs, 30-40% proteins remaining 20% as fat.

Deep vein thrombosis is the name for blood clots that develop in larger veins such as in the legs. There are a number of risk factors for deep vein thrombosis, including certain inherited clotting disorders, cancer and its treatment, varicose veins, and being overweight. Deep vein thrombosis is most likely to occur in people who are bedridden or otherwise immobile, and in people who have been sitting for long periods of time, such as during a long car or airplane trip.

Deep vein thrombosis in the leg can cause swelling, pain or tenderness, increased warmth, and red or discoloured skin. Anyone experiencing symptoms of deep vein thrombosis should seek medical help immediately. Clots can also potentially travel to the brain, heart, or other organs, causing severe damage to them.

Moving your legs periodically is the best way to prevent deep vein thrombosis from developing. If you’re traveling by plane, get up periodically and walk up and down the aisle. When traveling by car, pull over every few hours and walk around. Following surgery or an illness, get up and move around as soon as you’re able to.