8 Tips to Help Lower your Blood Sugar Today
Have Diabetes?
Here’s 8 Tips for Lowering Blood Sugar Levels today for a Healthier Tomorrow!
If you have diabetes you are not alone. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the latest statistic is there are 30.3 million people in the United States, or 9.4% of the population has diabetes.
Why is good blood sugar control important? Uncontrolled blood sugar levels can damage the blood vessels that supply blood and nutrients to important organs such as; the heart, kidneys and the eyes. High Blood Glucose (high sugar in the blood) can also damage the nerves to arms and legs and to organs. The very positive aspect is you have so much control as to what happens. The first step is in controlling blood sugar.
Below are 8 tips on ways to control blood sugar.
1. Eat a Balanced Breakfast. A usual breakfast for most is cold cereal, banana on top of cereal, toast and a glass of orange juice or a bagel with cream cheese. This is a prescription for a very high after-meal blood sugar. The majority of the calories are carbohydrates. Make sure you have protein at each meal. An example of a hearty breakfast to keep blood sugar from spiking is; a 2 egg omelet with vegetables, side of fruit or a single serving of hot oatmeal (not oatmeal in the packages) topped with any kind of berries and a handful of nuts.
2. Fit Fitness In. It does not mean you have to go to the gym! Walking will do it. Studies have shown walking, as little as 10 minutes after a meal, can help your body cells become more sensitized (more responsive) to the insulin you make or that you take. Post meal blood sugars can decrease. Check it out! Check blood sugar before and after your walk and discover wonderful results through walking. (With any activity make sure you bring glucose tablets with you if on diabetes medication in case blood sugar goes too low.)
3. Do Not Over Treat a Low Blood Sugar Reaction. Many times I have seen clients over treat a low blood sugar. The person when blood sugar was low ate way too many carbohydrates. I know this is a terrible feeling. If a blood sugar is less than 70 mg/dl treat with 15 grams of carbohydrate. If blood sugar is less than 50 mg/dl treat with 30 grams of carbohydrate. Make sure to retest in 15 minutes. If blood sugar is over 70 mg/dl and with symptoms, recheck BG. If BG is still over 70 mg/dl do not treat, just eat a snack. Sometimes if your body is use to high blood sugars, when blood sugar dips to normal some may have symptoms of a low blood sugar. Over treating has caused blood sugar to spike high.
4. Practice stress management. Stress can increase blood sugar. Stress to the body is either emotional or physical such as, injury, illness or pain. There are numerous excellent books on ways to mange stress. Make stress management a daily priority. Stress management helps you become more resilient so if you do encounter stress you will be better able to handle it. Some ideas to reduce stress are: meditation, yoga, walking, listening to relaxing music or watching a funny movie, to name a few.
5. Eliminate sweetened drinks, even fruit juice. Michael Pollen, author of Food Rules, said, “do not drink your calories.” I agree with this statement. I have seen many people’s blood sugar rise when they drink their calories. What I hear is, “fruit juice is good for you.” Fruit is good because of the fiber but juice is basically liquid sugar. According to www.fatsecret.com, a 12 oz. can of regular soda=36-41 grams of carbohydrate (average meal carbohydrate=30-60 grams, depending on your weight.) The calories of a regular soda=140-165. Drink water instead. If you like the fizz and flavoring, try seltzer water or sparkling water.
6. Fiber is Fabulous. Especially in Diabetes, fiber is important because it helps slow the absorption of sugar (glucose) in to the bloodstream. This helps control blood sugar spikes. Most people get less than 10 grams/fiber a day. The Institute of Medicine recommends women get 25 grams of fiber/day and men get 38 grams of fiber/day. On the food label, an excellent source of fiber is 5 grams or more a serving. Sources of fiber are beans (all kinds), fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
7. Take your diabetes medication as prescribed. I know this sounds self explanatory but being a Diabetes Educator and Diabetes Coach for over 20 years; I have identified this as one of the leading causes of high blood sugar. A person may unconsciously forget their diabetes medication or consciously decide they want to reduce or eliminate DM medication. For forgetting medications, one of my patients decided to set his smart phone with an alarm so he would not forget the medication. If you do not take the medication because you cannot afford it, talk to your MD. There may be a program for you to assist with paying for medications.
8. Lose 5-10% of your body weight. My clients will look at me strange. Most often time’s people are thinking about the ideal weight to be lost. Not so according to www.obesityaction.org. I have noticed this also. Since 80% of people with Type 2 Diabetes are overweight, weight loss is an important treatment for most. An example of 5-10% body weight, if you are 200 lbs., losing 10-20 lbs. will make a difference controlling blood sugar levels along with other health markers such as high blood pressure.
By diligently checking blood sugar levels, that is one sure way to stay healthy and prevent health problems. With your physician’s permission, for 2 weeks monitor your blood sugar at different times of the day. This will help you see the “big picture” on how your life affects your blood sugar. Track the results and write notes such as; had stress, ate too much, ate too little, had pain, or exercised, etc.
Choose a few tips and incorporate them. See if they help control blood sugar. All it takes is little steps to make a big difference!