“NATURE has a way of distracting you from the daily grind of diabetes, but food and blood sugar levels are often on my mind while out tramping,” says Rebecca Ryan. She was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes 13 years ago, but this hasn't curtailed her love for the great outdoors. “I love day trips, but the best adventures are always the longer ones. When I'm out walking long distances, days at a time, I've got to keep a close eye on my blood sugar levels and adjust my insulin. But I know my body pretty well and mostly how it will respond to walking long distances.”
More than 250,000 people in New Zealand have diabetes. This chronic disease affects blood glucose levels and occurs when the pancreas is unable to produce insulin or when the body can't use the insulin it makes. Insulin is the molecule that enables glucose (from carbohydrate-based foods) to enter body cells to provide energy.
Sports dietitian Conrad Goodhew describes insulin as being like a key. “In Type 1 diabetes, sufferers
