Peripatetic or diabetic

The jury is still out on whether I am diabetic, but even if, as now seems to be the case, I am not, I have learned some interesting things about blood sugar, diet and physical movement. As everyone knows, too much sugar in the blood is bad for the eyes and for small blood vessels, and can lead to nerve death in the extremities, leading to injury and amputation. Diabetes is bad. Less well-known is that indolence impairs the body's ability to regulate insulin, which deals with that sugar. Many fat people may become diabetic, not because they're heavy, but because they don't walk enough. This is important because it is hard to keep weight off but easy to walk more. There is a great deal of evidence that any big person who hopes to get away with it needs to become more peripatetic -- move around more. And other studies have shown that just walking provides most of the benefits of more strenuous exercise. I could probably significantly improve my health just by getting off on the wrong floor and walking up a flight or two of stairs when I go home. In this, my second encounter in seven years with a serious leg infection, my blood sugar shot up while I was feverish -- the body raises blood sugar to fight physical trauma -- and both times I was assured I was diabetic, only to have the blood sugar return to normal range after the fever ended. However, I'm at the high end of normal. They didn't used to get worried until it hit 200. These days if it regularly tops 120 they want you to do something about it. This week past, sedentary and suffering physical trauma but also avoiding all sweetened foods, I tested 121 to 137 depending on the morning. At this stage it doesn't matter whether I am diabetic or not -- either way it makes sense to avoid sugared foods and cheat rarely, and do more walking. Diabetics also watch carbohydrates because they are readily converted to sugar. If you are watching your blood sugar it helps to like meat.