What Can Reduce High Blood Sugar

Manage Your Stress Better

Stress, whether physical, mental or emotional, has been proven to contribute towards changes in blood sugar levels. Dont let work stress follow you home. Similarly, dont let a stressful relationship worsen your diabetes symptoms. One of the best ways to manage stress is to practice yoga and meditation regularly.

How Do Carbs Affect Blood Sugar

Carbs in food make your blood sugar levels go higher after you eat them than when you eat proteins or fats. You can still eat carbs if you have diabetes. The amount you can have and stay in your target blood sugar range depends on your age, weight, activity level, and other factors. Counting carbs in foods and drinks is an important tool for managing blood sugar levels. Make sure to talk to your health care team about the best carb goals for you.

Why Is High Blood Sugar Dangerous

Sometimes, people with diabetes can experience unusually high blood glucose levels. This is extremely dangerous as it can lead to serious conditions like diabetic ketoacidosis .

DKA is possible at blood sugar levels as low as 240 mg/dL, but it is far more likely to occur at much higher levels. Nausea or vomiting, fruity-smelling breath, severe thirst, and frequent urine are all symptoms of DKA.

High blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes can induce hyperglycemic hyperosmolar syndrome . HHS is potentially lethal and can develop over several days or weeks of persistently high blood sugar levels.

Hence, it is important to keep your blood sugar in check. You should always opt for foods that are less likely to cause sugar spikes.

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Diabetes And High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure is twice as likely to strike a person with diabetes than a person without diabetes. Left untreated, high blood pressure can lead to heart disease and stroke. In fact, a person with diabetes and high blood pressure is four times as likely to develop heart disease than someone who does not have either of the conditions. About two-thirds of adults with diabetes have blood pressure greater than 130/80 mm Hg or use prescription medications for hypertension.

What Are Blood Sugar Levels

Blood sugar levels, also known as blood glucose level, is the level of sugar/glucose present in the blood. Glucose is a simple version of sugar which comes from the food we eat. Therefore, the more food you consume with high sugar levels over a period of time, will typically increase your blood sugar level.

Glucose comes from the foods we eat and its sugar content. When a person consumes a food with high sugar content, that is turned into glucose. The glucose is then absorbed into the bloodstream with the support of insulin. This is then distributed between the bodys cells and used as energy.

Foods high in glucose include most carbohydrates and a handful of proteins and fats. Most foods contain glucose as it is simply a natural sugar that occurs in most dietary forms. However, it is carbohydrates that contain the most sugar and 100% of it turns into glucose, through the process mentioned above, once consumed. The concentration of glucose present in the blood will determine your blood sugar level.

Here is a quick video explaining Blood sugar levels chart :

Your blood sugar level can either be low, normal or high. Depending on what you eat and health conditions, it will vary from person to person. Here is a breakdown of how your blood sugar works and how low or high blood sugar levels happens:

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Look Out For Unhealthy Fats

Sometimes, people try to eliminate fats from their diet, thinking they are all bad. However, fat is an essential part of a healthy diet. It helps absorb the fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, K and E. Fats also contains fatty acid important to control diabetes. Healthy sources of fat include avocados, almonds, and olives. Reduce intake of trans fats and saturated fats as they are unhealthy and increase the risk of diabetes. However, do not give up on all fats as that can increase your risk of hypoglycemia .

Complications Of High A1c Levels

What happens when a1c is too high? A very high HbA1c value can be worrying. For people without diabetes, it means that without proper intervention, they could develop this metabolic syndrome. For people already diagnosed with diabetes, it predisposes them to greater odds of diabetes complications.

If youve tried to manage your condition, having high A1c levels means you have uncontrolled diabetes. Your current treatment plan is not as efficient as it should be. And you should talk to a specialist.

Probable complications from high blood glucose can include:

So, at what a1c level does damage start? Blood vessel damage often starts when the HbA1c value is over 7%. The odds of complications drastically skyrocket when the readings are over 9%.

When the side effects of high a1c levels are left unmanaged over time, unstable glucose can cause diabetic retinopathy, kidney failure, cardiac disease, and gum disease. The eye changes could lead to vision loss or poor vision. Classic diabetic eye diseases include glaucoma, cataracts, diabetic macular edema, and retinopathy.

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Emergency Treatments To Lower Blood Sugar Levels

If you have diabetes or a history of hyperglycemia, it’s essential to know how to instantly manage high blood sugar levels. For example, if you notice symptoms of high blood sugar levels, you might have to go to the emergency room.

The physicians may use different emergency treatments to bring your sugar levels back to optimal.

Fluid replacement

You might receive fluids intravenously . It will help hydrate you. Since one of the symptoms of high blood sugar levels is excessive urination, you lose a lot of water in hyperglycemia.

Intravenous fluid administration will replace the fluids you lost. It will also dilute the excessive sugar volume in your body.

Insulin therapy

Depending on your condition, you may also get insulin therapy. It will replace fluids and electrolytes in your blood.

Electrolyte replacement

If your body does not have enough insulin, that can also lower the levels of electrolytes. These minerals are essential for proper tissue functioning. Therefore, when you go to the emergency room, the physicians may also give you Intravenous electrolytes.

Electrolyte replacement ensures that your nerves, muscles, and heart function optimally.

Ketoacidosis: When Hyperglycemia Becomes Severe For People With Type 1 Diabetes

If you have type 1 diabetes, it is important to recognize and treat hyperglycemia because if left untreated it can lead to a dangerous condition called .

This happens because without glucose, the body’s cells must use ketones as a source of energy. Ketoacidosis develops when ketones build up in the blood. It can become serious and lead to diabetic coma or even death.

According to the American Diabetes Association, ketoacidosis affects people with type 1 diabetes, but it rarely affects people with type 2 diabetes.

Many symptoms of ketoacidosis are similar to hyperglycemia. The hallmarks of ketoacidosis are:

• High level of ketones in the urine

• Shortness of breath

• Fruit-smelling breath

Additionally, stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, and confusion may accompany ketoacidosis. Immediate medical attention is highly recommended if you have any of these symptoms.

Some people with diabetes are instructed by their doctor to regularly test ketone levels. Ketone testing is performed two ways: using urine or using blood.

For a urine test, you dip a special type of test strip into your urine. For testing blood ketones, a special meter and test strips are used. The test is performed exactly like a blood glucose test.

If ketone testing is part of your self-monitoring of diabetes, your health care professional will provide you with other information including prevention.

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What Is High Blood Pressure

Blood pressure is the force of the blood pushing against the artery walls. Each time the heart beats, it is pumping blood into these arteries, resulting in the highest blood pressure when the heart contracts and is pumping the blood. High blood pressure, or hypertension, directly increases the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke . With high blood pressure, the arteries may have an increased resistance against the flow of blood, causing the heart to pump harder to circulate the blood.

Two numbers are used to measure blood pressure. The number on the top, the systolic pressure, refers to the pressure inside the artery when the heart contracts and is pumping the blood through the body. The number on the bottom, the diastolic pressure, refers to the pressure inside the artery when the heart is at rest and is filling with blood. Both the systolic and diastolic pressures are recorded as “mm Hg” .According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health , high blood pressure for adults is defined as:

• 140 mm Hg or greater systolic pressure and

• 90 mm Hg or greater diastolic pressure

NHLBI guidelines for prehypertension are:

• 120 mm Hg 139 mm Hg systolic pressure and

• 80 mm Hg 89 mm Hg diastolic pressure

NHLBI guidelines define normal blood pressure as follows:

• Less than 120 mm Hg systolic pressure and

• Less than 80 mm Hg diastolic pressure

How To Lower Morning Blood Sugar Without Medication

• Work With Your Doctor

Diabetes causes high blood sugar levels . Even if you have good control of your levels most of the time, morning blood sugars can be a problem.

But you have options for lowering your morning blood glucose levels. And they don’t involve more medications or insulin.

This article looks at why mornings are a problem and several strategies for starting your day off better.

Verywell / Julie Bang

High morning blood glucose is common. It’s called the dawn phenomenon or dawn effect.

It happens because:

• Your body releases a surge of hormones as it prepares to wake up.
• Those hormones can counter the effects of insulin.
• Insulin regulates blood sugars, so this can make levels rise.
• In people without diabetes, the body naturally releases more insulin to maintain things.
• When you have diabetes, your body may not be able to compensate this way.

You can improve your morning readings despite this. It just takes some work and forethought.

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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.

Managing Blood Sugar When Youre Ill

When you get sick, your blood sugar levels may fluctuate and become unpredictable.

If youre sick, its very important that you:

• drink plenty of water or sugar-free fluids
• check your blood sugar levels more often than usual
• take 15 grams of carbohydrate every hour if you are not able to follow your usual meal plan
• replace food with fluids that contain sugar if you cant eat solid food
• continue to take your insulin or other diabetes medication

If you have a cold or flu and want to use a cold remedy or cough syrup, ask your pharmacist to help you make a good choice. Many cold remedies and cough syrups contain sugar, so try to pick sugar-free products.

As an extra precaution, you should always check with your health-care team about guidelines for insulin adjustment or medication changes during an illness.

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Go For Whole Fruit Over Juice

A glass of orange juice is not the same as eating a whole orange. “People generally drink more juice and therefore consume more calories and sugar than they would by just eating fruit,” says Wylie-Rosett. Plus, you get more fiber from the whole fruit. For instance, there’s about 4 grams in a large orange, compared to less than 1 gram in 8 ounces of juice. A small amount of juice is OK, but it shouldn’t be your go-to beverage, she says. When you do drink it, make sure you’re serving it up in an actual juice glass rather than a large cup.

How To Lower Blood Sugar Immediately Without Medication

Several of these options can work to get blood sugar immediately without medication in the short-term without additional medication. These solutions are meant to be implemented on days when life just doesnt go as planned, maybe you eat something you werent supposed to or forget to take your medicine. But, if you are correctly managing your blood sugar you should not need to be constantly chasing highs and lows. With the correct combination of healthy lifestyle choices and medication, you can maintain a stable blood sugar level most of the time. Additionally, checking your levels frequently and keeping a log of your numbers, can help you learn how your body reacts to stress, food, exercise, and whatever life throws your way.

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High Blood Sugar Levels

If you have diabetes, you can find out if your blood sugar level is high by having a blood sugar test.

You may have regular tests by your care team or GP surgery, or you may have tests you can do at home.

How To Reduce Blood Sugar Level Immediately

If you have diabetes of either kind, your doctor has likely discussed your blood sugar level with you. In non-medical terms, your blood sugar level is the amount of glucose present in your blood at any given time.

Blood glucose levels should normally remain within the optimum range for your body to function effectively. If your blood sugar rises too much or falls too low, it could lead to medical complications. A steadily high blood sugar level can result in diabetes.

A typical “fasting” blood glucose level is 99 mg/dL or below when measured first thing in the morning after waking up. A random blood glucose test conducted at any time of day, regardless of when you last ate, should be less than 200 mg/dL.

If you have diabetes, your doctor will go over particular blood glucose targets with you. These objectives can differ depending on a number of things such as your age, the amount of physical work you do, and other factors.

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8. Not worth the weight

Losing weight can be another way to control your blood sugar levels. Being overweight has been linked to an increased incidence of diabetes as well as increased insulin resistance. Studies show that reducing weight by only 57 per cent can reduce the chances of chronically elevated blood sugar levels. In such cases, you dont need to achieve your ideal body weighteven a reduction of 510 kilograms can have similar benefits.

Losing weight and maintaining a consistent moderate weight is important for healthy blood sugar levels. It also improves levels of cholesterol and can be beneficial to ones overall well-being.

9. Keep your eye on GI

The glycemic index is a measure of how quickly carbs break down during digestion, and how quickly your body is able to absorb them. This affects the rate at which your blood sugar levels rise. The GI divides foods into low, medium and high GI, ranking them on a scale from 0 to 100. Low-GI foods are generally considered those that have a GI lower than 55.

10. Make sure you measure up:

Monitoring your blood glucose levels is another good step to ensure they do not spike. This will help you to determine the impact meals have on your blood sugar and learn how your body reacts to different foods.

11. Know your food groups:

12. You are when you eat:

References:

Sweet Potatoes And Yams

Regular potatoes have a high GI score, but sweet potatoes and yams have low scores and are very nutritious.

Some research indicates that the flesh of the sweet potato contains more fiber than the skin, indicating that the whole vegetable could be beneficial for those with diabetes.

Reporting the findings of an animal study, the researchers also note that sweet potato consumption may lower some markers of diabetes.

Although there is still no conclusive evidence to suggest that sweet potatoes can help stabilize or lower blood sugar levels in humans, they are undoubtedly a nutritious food with a low GI score.

People can substitute sweet potatoes or yams for potatoes in a variety of dishes, from fries to casseroles.

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