Choose The Right Medication
Two classes of injectable hormones, GLP-1 agonists , semaglutide ) and amylin mimetics , have powerful effects on post-meal blood sugar. Both GLP-1s and Symlin slow gastric emptying and keep carbohydrates from raising the blood sugar too quickly after meals. Symlin, which is a replacement for the amylin hormone , also helps to diminish appetite and blunt post-meal glucagon secretion. GLP-1s blunt appetite and promote the growth of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas of those with type 2 diabetes. So both can contribute to better post-meal high blood glucose control.
Your choice of oral medication can also impact your after-meal control. Sulfonylureas stimulate the pancreas to secrete a little extra insulin throughout the day, without regard to meal timing. Because these medications fail to concentrate the insulin secretion at times when it is needed most, after-meal blood sugars can run very high. There are alternative medications called meglitinides which also stimulate the pancreas but do so in a much faster and shorter manner. When taken at mealtimes, meglitinides produce better after-meal high blood glucose control than sulfonylureas.
Another class of oral diabetes medications improve after-meal control by partially blocking the transport of sugars across the intestines and into the bloodstream. However, these medications can sometimes cause gas, bloating and stomach upset, so the pros dont always outweigh the cons.
Fruits That Raise Blood Sugar
Fact Checked
Fruits, like most foods, contain carbohydrates that can raise your blood sugar. However, fruit also carries with it an abundance of healthy vitamins and minerals as well as fiber, which are part of a well-balanced diet. Understanding the benefits of fruit, as well as which fruits can drastically increase your blood sugar, is all part of ensuring blood-glucose control.
How To Manage A Blood Sugar Spike
The best way to manage high blood sugar is to check your blood sugar and take your medication as instructed. If you frequently experience blood sugar spikes, your doctor may change your medication routine.
You can also lower your blood sugar by exercising. However, if your blood sugar level is repeatedly above 240 mg/dL , check your urine for ketones using a test kit.
If you do have ketones, do not exercise. In this case, exercising may make your blood sugar levels go even higher.
If you think you may have DKA, you can test your urine for ketones using a test kit. If ketones are high, call a doctor and seek emergency medical attention immediately.
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Artificial Sweeteners May Alter Blood Sugar Response
Many people with diabetes reach for diet drinks as a substitute for regular soda or juice because they assume that sugar-free beverages wonât raise their blood sugar. But a review published in January 2021 in Frontiers in Nutrition suggested that artificial sweeteners may not be completely neutral after all, and may contribute to impaired glucose homeostasis.
But the research isnât definitive most government and medical institutions maintain that most artificial sweeteners have no effect on blood sugar. So what could be going on? Mayo Clinic suggests that people can experience a rebound effect when consuming artificial sugars. They consider the sugar-free food healthy, so end up consuming excessive amounts or eating other carb-filled foods because they think the diet drink lets them afford it. The clinic also notes that some noncaloric sweeteners can cause diarrhea, which can contribute to dehydration.
âIf you drink a lot of diet soda then you might want to cut back and see if it has an impact on your blood glucose,â says Patty Bonsignore, RN, CDCES, a nurse educator at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston. Keep things sugar-free by turning to water or seltzer as opposed to regular soda or juice.
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Whats A Spike And Why Do They Happen
After-meal, or postprandial, spikes are temporary high blood glucose levels that occur soon after eating. It is normal for the level of glucose in the blood to rise a small amount after eating, even in people who do not have diabetes. However, if the rise is too high, it can affect your quality of life today and contribute to serious health problems down the road.
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Benefits Of Plant Extracts
Higher intake of polyphenols, health-promoting compounds found in plants, is associated with protection from disease. Low polyphenol intake is associated with increased risk of chronic disease, including type II diabetes.4
Two specific polyphenol-rich plant extracts have been found to have beneficial effects on the control of glucose levels, particularly following a meal: maqui berry extract and clove extract.
Stress Increases Cortisol Which Affects Insulin Sensitivity
Youre overextended at work, theres a family crisis, and suddenly your blood sugar level is through the roof. Sound familiar? Stress definitely raises blood sugar levels, Dodell says. It increases cortisol, our fight-or-flight hormone. When cortisol goes up, it makes us less sensitive either to our bodys own insulin or to insulin injections.
Stress can be physical sustaining an injury, for example or mental, such as being beset with financial woes or marriage problems. Even positive changes to your daily routine a promotion at work or going on vacation can cause a sudden increase in blood sugar, he says.
The best ways to de-stress and get the hormones back under control? People often turn to food, which doesnt help, Grieger says. But we can learn new ways to manage stress. There are things you can do when youre right in the moment when tension at work suddenly makes you want to pull your hair out. Go for a five-minute walk or take 10 deep breaths to slow your breathing, she says. And there are regular habits you can develop, like establishing a daily exercise or meditation routine.
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What Are The Symptoms Of A Crash
If your blood sugar is within normal ranges, what you’re more likely to feel are the symptoms of a blood sugar crash, which is the drop in blood sugar that follows a blood sugar spike.
When your body detects a rise in blood sugar, it sends out insulin, which helps glucose enter your cells so your body can use it as energy. Insulin also signals the liver to convert any remaining glucose into glycogen and store it for later.
The result of this insulin response is a subsequent blood sugar crash, which, according to Cardito, can cause:
- Rapid heart rate
Blood sugar crashes can also make you feel hangryaka irritable and angry due to hunger .
Exercise And Blood Glucose Takeaway
Physical activity is important for everyone with diabetes. Most forms of aerobic/cardiovascular exercise will lower your glucose levels, while activities such as high-intensity training and weightlifting can raise it. Managing glucose levels with any form of exercise is possible once you understand your personal patterns and making adjustments that make sense to you and your lifestyle.
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Not Brushing And Flossing
If you have diabetes, youâre more likely to get gum disease . And serious gum disease can make it harder to keep your blood sugar under control. Like all infections, it may cause your glucose to rise. That, in turn, can make other infections more likely. Inflamed or infected gums can also cause your bodyâs defense system to go into overdrive. That makes it harder for your body to keep insulin and blood sugar in check.
Make sure you not only brush and floss your teeth but also rinse with an antiseptic mouthwash daily.
Keep up with your dentist visits, work on managing your blood sugar, and, if you have gum disease, treat it — and any other infection in any part of your body — ASAP.
What Is High Blood Sugar
Most of the food you eat is broken down into glucose. Your body needs glucose because its the primary fuel that makes your muscles, organs, and brain work properly. But glucose cant be used as fuel until it enters your cells.
Insulin, a hormone produced by your pancreas, unlocks cells so glucose can enter them. Without insulin, that glucose keeps floating around in your bloodstream with nowhere to go. It can become increasingly more concentrated over time.
When glucose builds up in your bloodstream, your blood glucose levels rise. Over time, this can cause damage to organs, nerves, and blood vessels.
Blood sugar spikes occur in people with diabetes because their bodies are unable to use insulin effectively.
Keep reading to learn about the symptoms, causes, and treatment of blood sugar spikes.
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Tips To Avoid Sugar Spikes
Your body works hard to keep the sugar in your blood at a safe level. As soon as you eat that cookie or bowl of pasta, your pancreas starts putting out the hormone insulin to process the sugar youve taken in.
Too much sugar in your blood makes it thick and syrupy, which is not good. Imagine how much extra work that is for your heart as it tries to pump goopy blood around your body.
In the short term, a spike in your blood sugar will cause a sugar rush, followed by a sugar crash, with all the cravings and lethargy that go along with that.
In the long term, repeated spikes in your blood sugar can cause heart problems, kidney problems, problems with eyesight, and nerve issues like neuropathy, where you lose feeling in fingers and toes.
When we work our pancreas too much by consuming simple sugars that cause sugar spikes, its going to tell us, Im tired, and I need a break, says dietitian Kendall Stelwagen. It cant keep up with the amount of insulin needed to deal with the sugar, and thats when were going to see insulin resistance, prediabetes, Type 2 diabetes and related heart problems.
Here are four things Stelwagen and dietitian Sheila Vo want you to know about keeping your blood sugar in check.
The insulin your body releases to control the sugar actually makes us hungry, so after your sugar spike, youre going to be reaching for more things to eat, says Stelwagen.
Lack of sleep will also affect your bodys ability to use insulin to keep blood sugar down.
Bananas Contain Carbs Which Raise Blood Sugar
If you have diabetes, being aware of the amount and type of carbs in your diet is important.
This is because carbs raise your blood sugar level more than other nutrients, which means they can greatly affect your blood sugar management.
When blood sugar levels rise in people without diabetes, their bodies produce insulin. This helps move sugar out of the blood and into cells, where its used or stored.
However, this process doesnt work as it should in people with diabetes. Instead, either the body doesnt produce enough insulin or the cells are resistant to the insulin that is made.
Without proper diabetes management, you may experience blood sugar spikes after eating high carb foods or have constantly high blood sugar levels, both of which are unhealthy.
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Foods And Drinks High In Refined Carbs Can Throw Blood Sugar Levels Soaring
If you have type 2 diabetes, you know the importance of counting carbohydrates for blood-sugar control. But its not just the number of carbs in a given food that determines how that food will affect your blood sugar levels.
While all carb-rich foods convert to sugar in our body, a foods fiber, protein, and fat content all influence the impact of that food on blood-sugar levels, says Vandana Sheth, RDN, CDCES, whos based in Los Angeles. All these are factors play a role in setting a foods glycemic index, a ranking of how drastically it raises blood sugar levels compared to straight glucose, which has a GI of 100. Low GI-foods score 55 or lower while anything 70 and up is considered a high GI food, per the Mayo Clinic.
While GI offers an idea of how a food impacts the body, its not the whole story, which is where glycemic load comes in, says Sara Thomas, PhD, RDN, a research scientist and dietitian specializing in diabetes at the healthcare company Abbott. GL is an equation that considers the portion size of a food, as well as the GI. A foods GL equals its GI value divided by 100 and multiplied by the total grams of carbohydrate, a definition supported by researchers at the University of Sydney, who pioneered research on GL.
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Fortunately, if you have type 2 diabetes, you dont need to whip out a calculator or start searching the internet for the glycemic load of every food out there.
How To Bring Blood Sugar Down Type 2
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Surprising Things That Can Spike Your Blood Sugar
When you first found out you had diabetes, you tested your blood sugar often. Doing so helped you understand how food, activity, stress, and illness could affect your blood sugar levels. By now, youve got it figured out for the most part. But thenbam! Something makes your blood sugar zoom up. You try to adjust it with food or activity or insulin, and it dips really low. Youre on a roller coaster no one with diabetes wants to ride.
Do you know all these blood sugar triggers?
Knowledge is power! Look out for these surprising triggers that can send your blood sugar soaring:
Surprising Things That Can Spike Your Blood Sugar Besides Food
A lot of attention is given to a healthy dietand for good reasonwhen you have diabetes or prediabetes. A few basic dietary principles, like the ones below, can make a big difference in managing blood sugar levels.
But it surprises many to hear its not just food that can increase your blood sugar levels. Each of our Texas seasons, in fact, brings non-food-related challenges to keeping blood sugars under control. Consequently, it can be useful to think about your diabetes self-care as seasonal.
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Healing Steroids And Diabetes
Common steroids, such as prednisone and cortisone, help to reduce inflammation and swelling and are used to treat a variety of ailments ranging from arthritis, allergic reactions, respiratory issues and sinus infections, lupus, some cancers, to muscle spasms.
These steroids, known as glucocorticoids, are different from testosterone-based anabolic steroids that some people use to build muscle. The name is derived from glucose + cortex + steroid and refers to the fact that they play a role in the regulation of glucose metabolism.
These steroids are found in oral pill or tablet form, a liquid or cream solution, nasal inhaler, injections, or even intravenous therapy , depending on the medical treatment in question.
For PWDs who may be experiencing complications like trigger finger or frozen shoulder, these oral and injected steroid medications are often a common treatment option. But they come with serious side effects to your blood glucose control.
Per Scheiner, injections tend to have the most significant impact on BGs, while topical creams are less likely to have a glucose effect, though you can find some scattered anecdotes of that happening around the online community.
We see it all the time. Often, people dont realize theres cortisone or another type of steroid in . Or, healthcare professionals believe there isnt enough to affect blood sugars, says Dr. David S. Bell, a longtime endocrinologist practicing outside of Birmingham, Alabama.