How Do I Lower My Sugar Level

Avoid Alcohol The Night Before And Sugar In Anything The Next Morning

Like to enjoy a tipple the night before you go to bed? Its time to cut down or back on that completely. The alcohol dehydrates the body and will mean your blood glucose level will be more saturated. The smaller amounts of glucose will affect you in bigger ways.

But this doesnt help you on a morning, right? Well, look out for drinking anything sugary on a morning. This includes your glass of orange juice. You may even want to avoid plain water!

You want to drink something that is going to keep your sugar levels to a minimum and not spart the release of insulin. That means looking for something that packs plenty of protein. Remember that protein berry smoothie? Consider that as your morning drink/breakfast. You can follow it with a glass of water if youd like.

A green smoothie would be another excellent option. It packs you full of nutrients, and you can add in the protein to get that filling element.

If you really want water, add a slice or two of lemon. You get some sweetness but without the large amounts of sugar hitting your system causing a problem.

Keeping your morning drink routine perfect will also help you reduce the stress hormones. Coffee is a stimulant and will just make your stress levels even worse. Anything with caffeine will do the same and thats usually what youll add sugar to. Opt for lemon water for a refreshing drink and then a smoothie for a no-caffeine, nutrient packed breakfast.

Easy Ways To Lower Blood Sugar Levels Naturally

High blood sugar occurs when your body doesnt make enough or effectively use insulin, a hormone that regulates blood glucose and helps it enter your cells for energy.

High blood sugar is associated with diabetes.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 13% of U.S. adults live with diabetes, and 34.5% have prediabetes (

This means close to 50% of all U.S. adults have diabetes or prediabetes.

Here are 15 easy ways to lower blood sugar levels naturally:

Why Is Managing Blood Sugar Important

Keeping blood sugars at target levels helps people with diabetes avoid serious complications from the disease. High blood sugar can cause many ill effects, which can be sudden, such as acid buildup in the bloodstream, or occur gradually over time.

Over time, keeping blood sugar at unhealthful levels can damage small and large blood vessels in several organs and systems, leading to serious consequences, such as:

• vision impairment and blindness

Also Check: How To Control Sugar Ants

Ensure A Good Nights Sleep

Never underestimate the power of a good nights sleep. A single night of inadequate sleep makes our body react in a manner similar to insulin resistance. It can lead to raised blood sugar levels. A good nights sleep can improve glucose metabolism. It will also keep you motivated to follow through with your diet and exercise routine.

What Causes High Blood Sugar Levels In The Morning

Commonly known reasons why your blood sugar may be high in the morning include high-carb bedtime snacks and not enough diabetes medications.

Yet two lesser-known reasons may be causing your morning blood sugar woes: the dawn phenomenon and the Somogyi effect. These causes of high morning blood sugar levels are a result of body changes and reactions that happen while you are sleeping.

You May Like: How Can I Decrease My Sugar Level

Get More Quality Shuteye

Melissa Ross/Stocksy

Poor or limited sleep affects body chemistry, and getting more slumber helps with blood sugar control, Weisenberger says. Chronic lack of sleep may contribute to the risk of type 2 diabetes, according to a small study published in Diabetologia in February 2015. Healthy volunteers who slept only four hours for three nights in a row had higher levels of fatty acids in their blood, which reduced insulins ability to regulate blood sugar by about 23 percent, the researchers found. Lack of sleep is also linked with other health conditions, including obesity, heart disease, and stroke, according to the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

The National Sleep Foundation recommends aiming for seven to nine hours of uninterrupted sleep per night.

Having sleep troubles? Follow these recommendations from the National Sleep Foundation:

• Sleep in a cool, dark room.
• Avoid consuming alcohol or caffeine in the hours before bed.
• Go to bed and wake up at the same time each day, even on the weekends.
• Dont look at screens for at least a half hour before bedtime, including TV, tablets, cell phones, and computers.

What Happens When You Are Sick

When you are sick, your body reacts by releasing hormones to fight infection. But these hormones raise blood sugar levels and at the same time make it more difficult for insulin to lower blood sugar. When you have diabetes, even a minor illness can lead to dangerously high blood sugar. This may cause life-threatening complications, such as diabetic ketoacidosis or a hyperosmolar hyperglycemic state .

Also Check: How Many Grams Of Sugar In Almond Milk

How Fast Can I Lower My Blood Sugar

It may be faster than you think! Researchers at UCLA tracked over 650 men and women with type 2 diabetes who had attended the Pritikin Longevity Center to determine the effects of the healthy lifestyle change on their health. They found that in you can lower your blood sugar quickly. Of the adults who were new diabetics, their blood sugar levels fell from an average of 164mg/dL to 124 mg/dL within 3 weeks.

Better yet, many cases, adopting a healthy lifestyle is effective at reversing diabetes! The majority of the diabetics taking oral medication lowered their blood sugar to a point in which mediation was no longer needed. Those with advanced stages of diabetes noticed improvements as well. At the Pritikin Center, trained experts, including board certified physicians, registered dieticians and exercise physiologists, work with the adults to help them better understand their health, and how to eat, move, and live healthier.

What is a dangerous level of blood sugar?

Pre-diabetes is defined as having a fasting glucose between 100 and 125. Diabetes is a fasting glucose of 126 or higher. There is significant scientific evidence showing that a healthy lifestyle, such as the Pritikin Plan, can prevent pre-diabetes from developing into full-blown diabetes.

Tips To Lower Blood Sugar Naturally

Experts agree that individuals living with type 2 diabetes can improve their symptoms with a few simple lifestyle tweaks.

Its the Holy Grail for people with diabetes: Checking your blood sugar and seeing the numbers right in line. Can lifestyle changes help? Yes, says Jill Weisenberger, RDN, a diabetes nutrition expert based in Newport News, Virginia.

If you have diabetes, lowering blood sugar isnt just a short-term goal according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , it helps prevent or delay diabetes complications, including heart, kidney, eye, and nerve diseases. It can change the course of the disease entirely.

It’s 100 percent important that try and lower their blood sugars through dietary approaches first, says Jessica Crandall Snyder, RD, CDCES, with Vital RD in Denver. For some people, it not only can be preventive, but it can also help with reversal of the actual disease.

Crandall Snyder says making a few key lifestyle changes can sometimes eliminate the need for medication. Poking yourself with insulin isn’t fun, she says. Diabetes is a progressive disease, and you really have to figure out how to take control.

Here are 10 ways to do it, no prescriptions required.

You May Like: What Are The Effects Of High Sugar Levels

Ways To Lower Your Blood Sugar Naturally

• To lower your blood sugar, it’s important to exercise regularly and lose weight.
• You should make sure to drink lots of water, eat less unhealthy carbohydrates, and increase your fiber intake.
• It’s also important to manage stress if you want to lower blood sugar and keep it under control.
• This article was medically reviewed by Jason R. McKnight, MD, MS, a family medicine physician and clinical assistant professor at Texas A& M College of Medicine.
• This story is part of Insider’s guide to Diabetes.

High blood sugar occurs when your body cannot convert sugar in the blood to energy for cells. This is a common issue for those with diabetes, or those at risk. If you don’t lower your blood sugar, you will be at an increased risk for serious health complications such as heart disease, kidney disease, and vision loss.

That’s why, if you already have diabetes, it’s important to frequently check your blood sugar to make sure your levels stay in a normal, healthy range.

Plus, about one-third of Americans have prediabetes or elevated blood-sugar levels and 84% of them don’t know they have it. If you have prediabetes, it’s also important to lower your blood-sugar levels to reduce your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.

Here are six ways you can lower your blood sugar over time:

Ramp Up Your Movement Each Day

Exercise helps improve blood glucose in people with type 2 diabetes by increasing insulin sensitivity and the bodys ability to use glucose as energy, according to the American Diabetes Association. In type 2, exercise helps improve insulin resistance, says James G. Beckerman, MD, a cardiologist in Portland, Oregon. The end result is lower blood sugars.

Crandall Snyder tells patients that exercise is like spring cleaning for the body. It takes the stored form of glucose and uses it for energy so the next time you eat carbohydrates there’s a place to put it, she says.

Because exercise can immediately reduce blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes, work with your healthcare team to determine the right amount of activity and timing for you. A study published in September 2017 in Frontiers in Endocrinology found exercising 30 minutes after the start of a meal is usually best for maintaining blood sugar controls.

Learn more about managing your blood sugar in Diabetes Daily’s article “HbA1C: Everything You Need to Know.”

Recommended Reading: Can Hormones Affect Blood Sugar

How Do You Treat Hypoglycemia

Treatment for hypoglycemia involves both the immediate steps needed to raise your blood sugar level in addition with the later treatment or medication dose adjustment to prevent recurrence.

To immediately raise your blood sugar level, Dr. Shah advocates the rule of 15eating 15 grams of carbohydrates and then checking your blood sugar level 15 minutes later. Fast-acting carbohydrates include:

• 4 glucose tablets
• 4 ounces of fruit juices

Keep repeating these steps every 15 minutes until your blood sugar reaches above 70 mg/dL, he explains. Once your level has stabilized, its important to then eat a snack or even a full meal to maintain that balance, Dr. Shah adds.

If your symptoms are more severe and/or a person is unable to swallow, you may need an injection of glucagon, he says.

To prevent episodes of hypoglycemia in the future, Dr. Shah says that treatment may involve the changing of prescribed regimens and dosages or adjusting your meal plans.

Eat More Protein And Fat

Lean sources of protein like eggs, egg whites, chicken breast, turkey breast, extra-lean ground beef, bison, etc. are all filling food options that have no sugar. These lean options will not cause a spike in blood sugar, and they provide high satiety so you wont snack on sugary options later in the day.

If you elect to have these high-protein options in a sandwich form, pick a whole-grain bun, because it wont elicit the same metabolic response that white bread will, keeping blood sugar levels from spiking too high. Including some dietary fat with your meal or as a snack can also improve insulin response. Instead of reaching for a sugary snack or plate of fries as a side, opt for nuts and fruit or a salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Also Check: How Can I Quit Sugar

What Is A Normal Blood Sugar Reading

A normal blood sugar reading for the A1C test is 5.7%. Your doctor will diagnose you with prediabetes if your A1C is between 5.7% and 6.4%, or with diabetes if your A1C is 6.5% or higher.

If you take the random blood sugar test, you will be diagnosed with diabetes if your blood sugar level is 200 milligrams per deciliter or higher.

Dr. Raja says, A normal fasting blood sugar reading should be < 200 mg/dL.

A normal blood sugar reading for the fasting test is less than 100 mg/dL. A reading between 100 and 125 mg/dL may be diagnosed as prediabetes, and a reading of 126 mg/dL or higher may be diagnosed as diabetes.

If you take the oral glucose tolerance test, a normal reading is anything lower than 140 mg/dL. A reading between 140 and 199 mg/dL is prediabetes, and a reading of 200 mg/dL or higher is diabetes.

What If I Have Severe Low Blood Glucose And Cant Treat Myself

Glucagona hormone that raises blood glucose levelsis the best way to treat severely low blood glucose. Available as an injection or a nasal spray, glucagon will quickly raise your blood glucose level. Your doctor can prescribe you a glucagon kit for use in case of an emergency.

If your blood glucose level drops very low, you wont be able to treat it by yourself. Be prepared to address severely low blood glucose by

• talking with your doctor or health care team about when and how to use a glucagon emergency kit. If you have an emergency kit, regularly check the date on the package to make sure it hasnt expired.
• teaching your family, friends, and coworkers when and how to give you glucagon. Tell them to call 911 right away after giving you glucagon or if you dont have a glucagon emergency kit with you.
• wearing a medical alert identification bracelet or pendant. A medical alert ID tells other people that you have diabetes and need care right away. Getting prompt care can help prevent the serious problems that low blood glucose levels can cause.

Recommended Reading: Can High Blood Sugar Cause Chest Pain

Simple Tips To Prevent Blood Sugar Spikes

Blood sugar spikes occur when your blood sugar rises and then falls sharply after you eat.

In the short term, they can cause lethargy and hunger. Over time, your body may not be able to lower blood sugar effectively, which can lead to type 2 diabetes.

Diabetes is a rising health problem. In fact, 29 million Americans have diabetes, and 25% of them dont even know they have it .

Blood sugar spikes can also cause your blood vessels to harden and narrow, which can lead to a heart attack or stroke.

This article looks at 12 simple things you can do to prevent blood sugar spikes.

Is It Safe To Sleep With High Blood Sugar

Glucose levels that are occasionally a little high at night generally dont pose serious, immediate health concerns. Most people with diabetes cannot avoid some high glucose levels. However, frequent or long-term highs particularly extremely high levels can be dangerous. It is important for people with diabetes to reduce high blood sugar as much as possible for two key reasons:

Don’t Miss: How To Counter Low Blood Sugar

General Tips On How To Keep You Blood Sugar Levels In Control

• Foods to eat

You should eat foods that are high in protein, fiber, and lower in carbohydrates. You should aim at having around 45 to 60 carbs for each meal. Consistency throughout the day is key to keeping blood sugar levels in control. Foods low in fat and high in nutrients should be picked to maximize your nutrition.

Vegetables and fruits are great as well as eggs, fish, beans, and oatmeal. There is also research that shows cinnamon and apple cider vinegar can help lower your sugar.

• Foods to avoid

Avoiding foods like soda, juice, pasta, candy, and other desserts can help keep your sugar from climbing too high. These foods are high in sugars and fat but low in other nutrients.

Avoiding excess alcohol is also better for you. Read the following article that I wrote about drinking alcohol when you have diabetes to learn more about this topic:

• Signs and symptoms

Signs of high blood sugar include: increased thirst and hunger, blurred vision, irritability, dry mouth, tired, and urinating a lot.

• Look for patterns

Patterns can be great because they help you figure out what is causing undesirable blood sugar values. A good way to track of it is to keep a journal of all of the food you eat, activities you do and your blood sugar levels for 1 week. During this week, check your sugar before and after you eat, as well as in between meals. Also document any insulin that you give yourself.

• Test sugar levels regularly

Reduce Your Sugar Intake

The average American consumes 22 teaspoons of added sugar per day. That translates to around 350 calories .

While some of this is added as table sugar, most of it comes from processed and prepared foods, such as candy, cookies and sodas.

You have no nutritional need for added sugar like sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup. They are, in effect, just empty calories.

Your body breaks these simple sugars down very easily, causing an almost immediate spike in blood sugar.

Studies show that consuming sugars is associated with developing insulin resistance.

This is when the cells fail to respond as they should to the release of insulin, resulting in the body not being able to control blood sugar effectively .

In 2016, the US Food and Drug Administration changed the way foods have to be labeled in the US. Foods now have to display the amount of added sugars they contain in grams and as a percentage of the recommended daily maximum intake.

An alternative option to giving up sugar entirely is to replace it with sugar substitutes.

Summary:

Sugar is effectively empty calories. It causes an immediate blood sugar spike and high intake is associated with insulin resistance.

You May Like: Can Stress Raise Your Blood Sugar Levels