1-REP MAX: One-repetition maximum, or absolute muscular strength on a resistance training exercise determined as the maximal weight you can handle just one time before becoming fatigued.
ABDOMINAL OBESITY: Excess weight gain around the waist leading to an “apple” body shape, known for its negative metabolic effects.
ACE INHIBITORS: A class of prescribed medications used to treat high blood pressure and early signs of kidney disease.
ADDED SUGARS: Any simple carbohydrates (particularly sucrose or dextrose, which are two names for table sugar) added to foods rather than occurring naturally.
ADENOSINETRIPHOSPHATE (ATP): The most basic energy compound found in the body; it is used to directly fuel muscle contractions, cellular work, and other metabolic processes.
ADIPONECTIN: A hormone released by adipose cells that influences insulin action in the body, as well as the metabolism of lipids and glucose.
ADIPOSE: Body tissues comprised of fat cells that act to store excess calories in the form of triglycerides.
ADRENALINE: A hormone released by the body in response to physical or mental stress and involved in the “flight or fight” syndrome; aka epinephrine.
AEROBIC: Refers to any process in the body that utilizes the oxygen system to provide energy.
ALPHA-GLUCOSIDASE INHIBITORS: A class of oral diabetic medications taken with meals to slow the absorption of carbohydrates from the gut, thus reducing the postmeal BG peak.
ALPHA LIPOIC ACID (ALA): A compound found naturally in foods that can also be synthesized by your body and that works with glutathione as part of an important antioxidant enzyme system to squelch free radicals and prevent damage to DNA in cells.
ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE: A progressive disease in which nerve cells in your brain become damaged and brain matter shrinks, resulting in impaired thinking, behavior, and memory.
AMERICAN COLLEGE OF SPORTS MEDICINE (ACSM): The largest American organization dealing with physical activity and medical issues that certifies exercise professionals (e.g., exercise physiologists) and makes exercise recommendations to the public.
AMERICAN DIABETES ASSOCIATION (ADA): The largest American medical organization for professionals and the public alike that deals with diabetes and related health issues.
AMYLIN: A hormone released by the beta cells of the pancreas along with insulin that serves to lower post-meal BG levels by slowing the digestion of glucose and causing satiety.
ANAEROBIC: Refers to any process in the body that does not use oxygen to provide energy, instead relying on the phosphagens or lactic acid system.
ANGINA: Chest pain related to reduced coronary artery blood flow to the heart due to partial or total blockage from plaque or a blood clot.
ANGIOTENSIN II RECEPTOR BLOCKERS (ARBS): A class of prescribed medications used primarily to treat high blood pressure.
ANOREXIA NERVOSA: An eating disorder characterized by self-starvation, abnormally low body weight, and poor self-esteem that usually requires medical intervention to treat.
ANTIOXIDANT: A substance in the body capable of removing free radicals that can cause damage.
ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS: Synthetically altered compounds that taste sweet like sugar, but that have few or no calories or carbohydrates. You can use them in place of other sweeteners to reduce your calorie and/or carbohydrate intake and lower the GI value of your foods.
AUTOIMMUNITY: Any disease caused by your body s misguided destruction of its own tissues with your own immune system, such as type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, myasthenia gravis, and other serious chronic diseases.
AUTONOMIC NEUROPATHY: Nerve damage resulting in loss of central nerve function that can cause an abnormally high resting heart rate, a blunted heart rate response to exercise, orthostatic hypotension, gastroparesis, and other conditions.
BETA-CAROTENE: A precursor of vitamin A that your body can convert to the active vitamin as needed from food sources such as yellow-orange vegetables.
BETA CELLS: Specialized cells in the pancreas that contain the islets of Langerhans—capable of producing both insulin and amylin.
BIGUANIDES: A class of oral diabetic medications that lower fasting BG levels and improve insulin action in both the liver and muscles.
BLOOD GLUCOSE (BG): The main simple carbohydrate found in your circulation, usually expressed in mg/dl (United States) or mM (everywhere outside the United States). Normal fasting levels are 70 to 100 mg/dl.
BODY MASS INDEX (BMI): A metric ratio of your weight in kilograms divided by your height in meters squared. To use pounds and inches instead, insert your values and multiply the number you get by 703 to determine if you are of normal weight, overweight, or obese.
BULIMIA NERVOSA: An eating disorder characterized by periods of binge-purge behavior, with purging accomplished through vomiting, diuretic use, and excessive exercise.
CALCITRIOL: The active form of vitamin D, which can be formed in your skin with adequate exposure to the UV rays in sunlight.
CARBOHYDRATE: A nutrient found in foods composed of sugar units, including simple carbohydrates (monosaccharides glucose and fructose), disaccharides (such as sucrose), or polysaccharides (glucose polymers and starches, such as those found in potatoes). Carbohydrates also exist in your body primarily as glucose or glycogen.
CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE: A buildup of plaque in arteries that supply blood to your heart, brain, lower limbs, and other areas of your body that can result in heart attacks, stroke, peripheral vascular disease, and more.
CHOLESTEROL: A fatty compound essential to your body, but which can, in excessive amounts, contribute to arterial plaque formation and cardiovascular disease.
COMBINATION THERAPY: Use of two or more oral diabetic medications simultaneously in an attempt to achieve glycemic control when single therapies are failing to do so.
CONCENTRIC: A muscular contraction that usually occurs during the “lifting” phase of a specific exercise, such as when a weight is moved against the force of gravity (for example, by pushing, pulling, or pressing) and muscles are actively shortening.
COOL-DOWN: A five- to ten-minute period of easier exercise done at the end of more intense physical activity that serves to ease your body’s transition to a resting state.
CORONARY: Related to the heart muscle, as in the coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle itself. Sometimes people refer to a heart attack as a “coronary.”
CORTISOL: A hormone released in response to stress (physical or mental) that mobilizes fats and proteins, increases insulin resistance, and spares BG, as during overnight fasting.
CROSS TRAINING: Training by doing a wide variety of different sports and physical activities with the purpose of increasing your overall fitness level and preventing overuse injuries.
DEHYDRATION: A reduction in normal levels of body fluids due to inadequate fluid intake, excessive sweating, polyuria (excessive urination due to hyperglycemia), or a combination of these. Dehydration of just 1 to 2 percent can negatively affect your exercise.
DELAYED-ONSET MUSCLE SORENESS (DOMS): Mild to severe muscle soreness 24 to 48 hours after exercise due to excessive eccentric contractions, resulting in local damage to contractile proteins in muscle, inflammation, swelling, and localized pain.
DEMENTIA: Loss of mental functions, such as thinking, memory, and reasoning, severe enough to interfere with your daily functioning; may be reversible when caused by drugs, alcohol, hormone or vitamin imbalances, or depression.
DEPRESSION: A mood disorder that causes you to feel sad or hopeless for an extended period of time and that can have a significant impact on your enjoyment of life and your health.
DEXTROSE: Another name for white table sugar.
DIABETES: A metabolic disorder affecting insulin release and/or use and levels of BG (and often blood fats) that can cause serious long-term health complications and early mortality.
DIABETIC COMPLICATIONS: Long-term damage to body tissues due to hyperglycemia and oxidative stress and resulting in health conditions such as neuropathy, retinopathy, nephropathy, erectile dysfunction, and cardiovascular disease.
DIALYSIS: A medical procedure used to cleanse waste from your blood by filtering it manually when your kidneys stop working properly (i.e., end-stage renal disease or nephropathy).
DISORDERED EATING: Abnormal eating patterns characterized by starving, purging, bingeing, and/or other behaviors.
DISACCHARIDE: A double-unit sugar composed of two simple sugars, such as sucrose (glucose and fructose), maltose (two glucose units), and lactose (glucose and galactose).
EATING DISORDERS: Any type of disordered eating that has an official classification and name, such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa.
ECCENTRIC: The part of a muscle contraction with force development during the muscle-lengthening phase that is primarily responsible for DOMS.
ENDORPHINS: Brain hormones released in response to exercise, certain foods, and other external stimuli that positively alter mood. In exercisers, a “runners high” caused by endorphin release results in feelings of euphoria and/or a “second wind”
ENDOTHELIAL DYSFUNCTION: Disturbed or altered blood flow through your blood vessels due to changes in the function of the endothelial (inner) layer of cells lining the vessels. It can result from intake of unhealthy foods, hyperglycemia, and other factors.
EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGIST: An exercise professional trained to understand the metabolic and other processes that occur in your body during exercise in health and disease.
FASTING: Going without eating overnight (for usually at least eight hours) or abstaining from food for an extended period at other times.
FAT: A nutrient found in foods primarily in the form of triglycerides, also refers to adipose tissue. The fat traveling in your circulation may also be called lipids and includes triglycerides, free fatty acids, and cholesterol.
FIBER: A collective term used to describe the indigestible polysaccha-rides that you get in your diet, both naturally from foods and from synthetic sources (e.g., fiber supplements).
FOOD GUIDE PYRAMID: A guide to supposedly balanced, healthy eating created by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to educate the public on proper nutritional habits.
FREE FATTY ACIDS: The breakdown products of fat that travel around your circulation bound to a blood protein called albumin. When delivered to muscles, free fatty acids can be picked up and used for energy or restored as triglycerides in your muscles, adipose, or liver.
FREE RADICALS: Compounds formed in cells during oxygen use that, if not controlled by antioxidant enzymes, can cause permanent (aging-related) damage to DNA in your cells and contribute to the formation of many diabetic complications.
FRUCTOSE: A simple sugar (monosaccharide) naturally occurring in fruit that has a relatively low GI value compared with most refined sugars or glucose.
CASTROPARESIS: A form of autonomic neuropathy that causes delayed emptying and absorption of ingested foods and fluids from the gut.
GLUCACON: A hormone released by the alpha cells of the pancreas in response to exercise or hypoglycemia that acts by directly stimulating your liver to release more glucose.
GLUCOSE: One of the three simple carbohydrates classified as mono-saccharides. Glucose is the primary carbohydrate available to all cells in your body via blood circulation and removed primarily either by insulin’s actions or by muscle contractions.
GLUTATHIONE: A compound found in foods or made by your body that is the main antioxidant enzyme found in all cells.
GLYCATED HEMOGLOBIN: A blood test that estimates your average BG level over the previous two to three months (also called “hemoglobin Alc“ or “HbAlc“). To be in good control, your reading should be no higher than 7 percent and optimally less than 6.5 percent.
GLYCEMIA: The relative level of glucose in your circulation at any given time.
GLYCEMIC INDEX (GI): The system measuring the immediate effect that consumption of a particular food has on your BG levels. The more rapidly that carbohydrates are absorbed and show up as glucose in your bloodstream, the higher the glycemic spike and GI value a food has. On a scale from 1 to 100, glucose itself ranks 100.
GLYCEMIC LOAD (GL): A means of taking into account both the GI value and the quantity of carbohydrates that you eat using a scale of 0 (no carbohydrate) to 20 (high quantity and glycemic effect).
GLYCOGEN: The storage form of glucose in your body, whereby long chains of linked glucose molecules can be stored in your muscles and liver for later use.
HEART ATTACK: Permanent damage to the heart muscle resulting from a period of reduced blood flow (ischemia). It is usually the result of coronary artery blockage from plaque or a blood clot.
HEART DISEASE: Thickening of the inner walls of the coronary arteries caused by plaque formation that can reduce or block blood flow to the heart muscle.
HBA1C: Abbreviation for glycated hemoglobin.
HDL: High-density lipoprotein, a subfraction of blood cholesterol (considered the “good” cholesterol) that works to remove excess cholesterol from your circulation.
HORMONE: A protein- or lipid-based compound made by the body and released by a gland into the circulation to affect another gland or tissue, such as when the pancreas releases insulin that causes BG to be taken up into cells to lower circulating levels of glucose.
HYPERCLYCEMIA: Any elevation in BG above what is normal for non-diabetic individuals after eating; usually 140 mg/dl.
HYPERINSULINEMIA: Abnormally high levels of circulating insulin secreted by your pancreas in an attempt to overcome your body’s heightened state of insulin resistance.
HYPERTENSION: High blood pressure, defined as elevations in blood pressure readings above 140 and/or 90 for your higher and lower readings, respectively.
HYPOGLYCEMIA: A metabolic state clinically defined as any BG level at or lower than 65 mg/dl.
HYPOGLYCEMIC UNAWARENESS: A diabetic complication that results in an inability to sense when your BG level is too low, which can lead to dangerously low BG levels and unconsciousness. It is more common in individuals with type 1 diabetes than type 2.
HYPONATREMIA: Dangerously low levels of sodium in your bloodstream usually caused by excessive fluid intake during extended exercise, causing a range of symptoms from mild nausea to death; also called “water intoxication.”
IMPAIRED GLUCOSE TOLERANCE (IGT): The inability of your body to respond with an adequate release of insulin following a large intake of carbohydrate. IGT is usually diagnosed with an oral glucose tolerance test in which you have to consume 75 grams of glucose and your BG levels are monitored for two or more hours afterward.
INCRETINS: The newest class of diabetic medications, derivatives of the venom of the Gila monster. They increase your insulin release, protect beta cell function, decrease your liver’s production of glucose, and increase feelings of fullness after eating when injected.
INFLAMMATION: A process in which your body’s white blood cells and other released chemicals attempt to protect you from infection and foreign substances, such as bacteria and viruses. Low-level, body-wide inflammation that may contribute to health complications, however, occurs in association with weight gain, hypertension, and diabetes.
INHALED INSULIN: A form of rapid-acting insulin that is inhaled into the lungs and absorbed through the walls of the lungs rather than injected under the skin.
INSULIN: A hormone produced by the beta cells of the pancreas that circulates in the bloodstream after its release in response to rising BG levels and causes insulin-sensitive tissues (muscles and adipose) to take up glucose into those cells for use.
INSULIN ANALOG: A slightly altered form of human insulin that has undergone synthetic substitution of a different amino acid or two somewhere in the normal insulin protein chain, causing it to be absorbed more rapidly (or more evenly, in the case of the basal analogs) from skin injection sites than normal synthetic human insulin.
INSULIN PUMPS: External devices about the size of a pager that you can utilize to dispense basal and bolus doses of insulin through tubing connected to a subcutaneous infusion site that must be rotated every two to three days; you control the dosing in response to your BG levels.
INSULIN RESISTANCE: A metabolic state whereby the insulin that your pancreas produces is less effective than it should be at stimulating your cells to take up BG, resulting in chronic hyperinsulinemia and/or hyperglycemia.
INSULIN SENSITIVITY: The relative ability of a given amount of circulating insulin to promote glucose uptake into cells around your body. Insulin action is increased by physical activity, low-GI diets, loss of visceral fat, reduced mental stress, certain medications, adequate sleep, and other factors.
INSULIN SENSITIZERS: Compounds, medications, or activities that have the capacity to increase the action of circulating insulin and increase its effectiveness at lowering BG levels.
INTERMEDIATE-ACTING INSULIN: Any type of injected insulin that provides coverage over a period of 8 to 12 hours, with a peak of insulin action at 3 to 4 hours, such as NPH.
INTERVAL TRAINING: Any form of exercise training that employs interspersed faster and slower periods of activity during training sessions.
ISCHEMIA: Reduced blood flow through the coronary arteries that supply the heart muscle due to blockage or constriction.
KETONES: Compounds derived from free fatty acids that circulate in the bloodstream when hyperglycemia is present and insulin is deficient.
KETOSIS: A potentially life-threatening metabolic acidosis caused by excessive ketones in the blood and dehydration; aka diabetic ketoaci-dosis or DKA.
LACTIC ACID SYSTEM: The body’s second energy system, which provides energy from 30 seconds to two minutes into exercise by partially breaking down carbohydrates through anaerobic processes and forming lactic acid.
LDL: Low-density lipoproteins, the more damaging subfraction of cholesterol that circulates in your bloodstream and contributes to plaque formation.
LEPTIN: A hormone released by adipose cells that helps regulate food intake and body weight.
LIFESTYLE CHANCES: Permanent alterations in your normal behavior patterns with the intent of improving your health, primarily through increased physical activity, healthier food choices, stress reduction, cessation of smoking, and other healthy changes.
LIPID: Any fatty substance in your circulation, including triglycerides, free fatty acids, cholesterol, and more.
LONG-ACTING INSULIN: A synthetic insulin or insulin analog designed to be absorbed slowly and evenly over an extended time period (12 to 24 hours) to provide for your baseline (basal) insulin needs (e.g., Lantus or Levemir).
LSD TRAINING: Long, Slow Distance training: exercise training that is done for extended periods to build up your endurance base.
MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER: Major depression that leads to feelings of a profound and constant sense of hopelessness and despair and that can interfere with your ability to work, study, sleep, eat, and enjoy once-pleasurable activities.
MEGLITINIDES: A class of oral diabetic medications that are taken with meals specifically to promote additional insulin release to cover glycemic spikes.
METABOLIC: Related to your metabolism, which is the sum total of all processes occurring in your body that produce and use energy, create and break down tissues, and more.
METABOLISM: The sum total of all processes occurring in your body that produce and use energy, create and break down tissues, and more. It can be increased by gains in muscle mass.
METFORMIN: The generic name for the only currently FDA-approved oral diabetic medication in the biguanide class.
mg/dl: Milligrams per deciliter (of blood), the units designated for BG in the United States; other countries use mM, which is the equivalent of BG in mg/dl divided by 18 (e.g., 180 mg/dl equals 10 mM).
MIND-BODY CONNECTION: The special connection that appears to exist between your emotional health (thoughts and attitudes) and your physical well-being.
mM: millimolar, or millimoles per liter; units for the concentration of BG in most of the world with the notable exception of the United States (which uses mg/dl).
MONOSACCHARIDES: The simplest type of carbohydrates, including glucose, fructose, and galactose.
MONOUNSATURATED FAT: A type of fat in foods that is the most heart-healthy and least likely to cause insulin resistance, found in abundance in olive and canola oils.
MUSCLE FIBERS: Protein-based structures in muscle that interact to cause contraction and relaxation of muscles to accomplish any type of muscular work.
MUSCULAR ENDURANCE: The ability of your muscles to do a particular exercise for a given amount of time. In resistance work, how many sit-ups or pull-ups you can do in one minute is a measure of muscular endurance rather than muscular strength.
MUSCULAR STRENGTH: The maximal weight or resistance that your muscles can handle during one repetition of a task (i.e., 1-rep max).
NEPHROPATHY: Damage to the kidneys due to chronic hyperglycemia that ultimately results in failure of the kidneys to filter blood properly and the need for a kidney transplant.
NEUROPATHY: Damage to nerves that can result in loss of feeling in your feet and hands, burning sensations in your extremities, orthostatic hypotension, gastroparesis, and more.
NON-WEIGHT-BEARING EXERCISES: Any physical activities that do not require you to carry the full brunt of your body weight on your legs or lower body, such as swimming, aqua aerobics, stationary cycling, and seated or arm-crank exercises.
NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS: Any dietary supplement taken with the intent of adding a nutrient to or supplementing the quantity of a nutrient in your diet, including carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and other compounds.
OBESE: A clinical definition of your level of overweight; having a BMI of 30.0 or higher or being 120 percent or more of your ideal body weight.
OMECA-3 FATTY ACIDS: One of two essential types of fatty acids in your diet. Omega-3s, including alpha-linolenic acid, EPA, and DHA, are anti-inflammatory and found mainly in fish.
OMECA-6 FATTY ACIDS: Linoleic acid, the second essential fatty acid, which is found more in nuts and meats. This fatty acid can be pro-inflammatory when not balanced by omega-3s.
ORAL DIABETIC MEDICATIONS: Any of the prescription medications taken by mouth at least once daily that are utilized for the control of BG, such as biguanides, sulfonylureas, and meglitinides.
ORAL INSULIN: A form of insulin currently in clinical trials (awaiting FDA approval) that has been designed to withstand stomach acids and be absorbed by your body after you ingest it without being degraded like other proteins.
ORTHOSTATIC HYPOTENSION: Dizziness or fainting that occurs when you change bodily positions, such as going from sitting to standing, caused by autonomic neuropathy.
OSTEOPOROSIS: Thinning of your bones that can result in fractures and breaks.
OVERLOAD: An excessive workload placed on muscles during physical activity with the intent of causing gains in muscular strength and/or muscular endurance.
OVERUSE INJURIES: Joint and muscular injuries resulting from inflammation due to excessive repetition of a particular exercise or joint movement, such as rotator cuff tendonitis.
OVERUSE SYNDROME: Overstressing your body with repeated heavy workouts or extended exercise sessions to the point of causing more frequent colds, chronic tiredness, and overuse injuries.
OVERWEIGHT: A clinical definition of your level of excess body fat; normal lean adult BMI values range from 18.5 to less than 25.0 for adults, while overweight is characterized by a ratio of 25.0 to 29.9.
OXIDATIVE STRESS: Damage to your body’s cells and tissues resulting from unchecked free radicals and one of the primary causes of diabetic complications and aging.
OXYGEN SYSTEM: Your body’s third energy system, which utilizes oxygen to make ATP during rest and any physical activity lasting longer than two minutes.
PANCREAS: An organ located in the abdominal cavity behind the stomach that contains the beta cells that produce insulin, alpha cells that produce glucagon, and other cells that secrete digestive enzymes.
PEDOMETER: A small device about the size of a pager that counts the number of steps you take.
PERIPHERAL NEUROPATHY: Nerve damage affecting peripheral areas of your body, such as your hands and feet, resulting in shooting pains, burning sensations, and/or loss of feeling.
PERIPHERAL VASCULAR DISEASE (PVD): Plaqueformation in arteries in your lower limbs, leading to restricted blood flow to legs and feet and commonly pain with exertion.
PHOSPHACENS: A group of energy-releasing compounds (ATP and cre-atine phosphate) that act as your body’s first energy system when exercise begins, up to 10 seconds of all-out effort.
PHYTONUTRIENTS: A class of phytochemicals with special functions in the body. Many of them have antioxidant properties and work syner-gistically with other such nutrients found with them in natural foods. Two examples are flavanols and procyanidins in dark chocolate.
PLAQUE: A deposit of fatty and other substances (including LDL cholesterol) in the inner wall of an artery as the result of an initial injury and inflammation, resulting in a narrowing of the artery at that point.
POLYMEAL: An alternate to the polypill, or taking multiple medications for all of your chronic health problems. The polymeal consists of heart-healthy and anti-inflammatory foods (like fish, wine, whole grains, and dark chocolate) that can improve your health and alleviate your chronic conditions naturally and without unpleasant side effects.
POLYSACCHARIDE: A carbohydrate containing a large number of glucose units bound together.
POLYUNSATURATED FAT: A type of dietary fat that is liquid at room temperature, found in most vegetable oils, nuts, and fish, and considered relatively heart healthy.
PREDIABETES: A health condition diagnosed with a fasting BG level of 100 to 125 mg/dl characterized by insulin resistance and hyper-insulinemia, with otherwise normal or nearly normal BG levels. Pre-diabetes can easily progress into type 2 diabetes once your body cant supply enough insulin to keep up with demand for it.
PROTEIN: The main nutrient found in meat and soy products, which, when consumed, your body breaks down into its constituent amino acids, which it then uses to build and repair muscles, hormones, enzymes, and other protein structures throughout your body.
QT INTERVAL: The point in your heart’s contraction cycle when an abnormal beat that could be fatal is most likely to begin. A normal interval is 0.39 seconds in men and 0.41 seconds in women, but it is often prolonged in diabetic people in association with high BG levels, elevated insulin levels, and reduced insulin sensitivity.
RAPID-ACTING INSULIN ANALOG: Any of the synthetic insulin analogs, such as Humalog, Novolog, and Apidra, which exert their main glucose-lowering effects within 30 minutes to three hours after a bolus injection and are used to provide insulin for meals and snacks.
REFINED CARBOHYDRATES: Any carbohydrate-based foods that have been highly processed, thereby stripping them of most or all of their essential nutrients, including white rice, white flour, white sugar, and more.
REFINED SUGARS: Simple carbohydrates that have been highly processed to the point of removing all nutrients, such as white table sugar, brown sugar, and corn syrup.
REPETITIONS (REPS): The number of times a resistance exercise (such as biceps curls) is repeated during each set (e.g., 8 to 12 reps per set).
RESISTANCE TRAINING: Muscular strength training done using resistance machines, free weights, dumbbells, or resistance bands to enhance the maximal power of the worked muscle(s). It is considered “progressive” if the resistances you use are periodically increased whenever you can complete more than the required number of reps per set.
RETINOL: The active form of vitamin A found in organ meats and fortified dairy products.
RETINOPATHY: A form of diabetic eye disease that results in the growth of abnormal vessels in the back of the eye (retina) that can break and bleed into the eye and block your vision.
RIB PRINCIPLE: An exercise-associated relaxation technique that stands for relaxation, imagination, and breathing.
SATURATED FAT: An unhealthy form of fat that is solid at room temperature, found mainly in meat, dairy products, and tropical oils (coconut, palm, and palm kernel), and contributes heavily to plaque formation and heart disease.
SELF-ESTEEM: A psychological term relating to the level of confidence and satisfaction you have in yourself, which can potentially be negatively affected by diabetes and excess weight.
SETS: The number of times a weight or resistance is lifted consecutively without stopping. Most resistance training workouts include one to three sets of 8 to 12 reps per set.
SILENT ISCHEMIA: A reduction in blood flow to the heart muscle that is painless and symptom-free due to diabetic neuropathy and that can result in an undetected or “silent” heart attack.
STATINS: A group of medications given to lower blood cholesterol or blood fat levels that may have negative effects on your ability to exercise without experiencing pain or fatigue.
STRESS HORMONES: Collectively, these are all of the hormones released by your body to prevent hypoglycemia and raise BG levels at rest and during exercise. They include glucagon, adrenaline (epinephrine), norepinephrine, growth hormone, and cortisol.
STROKE: Death of part of your brain caused by reduced blood flow through the carotid arteries (a stroke due to ischemia) or leakage from a brain blood vessel (a hemorrhagic stroke).
SUBCUTANEOUS: Refers to the tissue layer immediately under the surface of the skin, such as subcutaneous fat.
SUCROSE: White table sugar, a disaccharide comprised of glucose and fructose.
SUGAR ALCOHOLS: Derivatives of sugar, such as sorbitol, that are put in foods to make them “sugar free,” but that contain almost as many calories. Some may be absorbed more slowly than sugar or may not be completely absorbed at all, and many can cause diarrhea if eaten in excess.
SULFONYLUREAS: The first developed class of oral diabetic medications, which act by stimulating your beta cells to make and release more insulin to lower BG levels.
TALK TEST: An informal test used to determine if you are exercising too intensely. You should be able to carry on a conversation with someone else during an activity; if you can’t talk freely due to heavy breathing, slow down, as you are working harder than needed.
TARGET HEART RATES: Calculated heart-rate ranges used to monitor exercise intensity based on age and aerobic conditioning goals. These rates are most commonly a percentage (e.g., 70 to 85 percent) of your maximum heart-rate increase above resting levels.
TNF-ALPHA: Tumor necrosis.factor-alpha, a compound believed to be involved in the development of the low-level system inflammation present in diabetes and insulin-resistant states and in the progression of other immune functions.
TRACE MINERALS: Minerals needed by your body in minute quantities, such as iron, fluoride, and iodine. Other minerals, such as calcium, sodium, and potassium, are more abundant in your body and in the foods that you eat and do not qualify as “trace” minerals.
TRANS FAT: A form of dietary fat usually created by food manufacturing practices that cause the fat to become more saturated, thus more potentially damaging to arteries. You should try to consume as little of this fat as possible to limit your heart disease risk.
TRIGLYCERIDES: The main type of fat in foods that you eat, as well as the main storage form for fat in your muscles and adipose tissues.
TYPE 1 DIABETES: An autoimmune disease in which the body’s own immune cells attack and destroy the beta cells of the pancreas, rendering them unable to make much or any insulin. Individuals with type 1 diabetes must inject insulin for the rest of their lives.
TYPE 1.5 DIABETES: A new term being used to describe “double diabetes/’ or a form of diabetes that has characteristics of both type 1 (autoimmunity) and type 2 (insulin resistance).
TYPE 2 DIABETES: A disease characterized by a heightened state of insulin resistance in combination with the loss of at least some of beta cell insulin production, resulting in hyperglycemia and abnormal blood fat (i.e., cholesterol and triglyceride) levels.
VISCERAL FAT: Body fat stored deep within the abdominal region that is more metabolically active than most adipose tissue and is associated with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.
WAIST CIRCUMFERENCE: The measurement around your waist at the level of your umbilicus (belly button). Elevated waist circumferences are closely associated with metabolic abnormalities, including hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
WAIST-TO-HIP RATIO (WHR): The relative measurements of your waist circumference and your hip circumference at its widest point. A high WHR has been associated with abdominal obesity and other metabolic disorders.
WARMUP: A five- to ten-minute period of easier exercise done at the start of more intense physical activity that serves to increase circulation to muscles and warm up joints.