Dark Chocolate For Flavonoids
Limiting sugar is important when managing diabetes, so it may sound surprising to learn that dark chocolate can be part of a diabetes-friendly diet. But consider this: A review looked at studies involving more than 114,000 people and found that those who ate the most chocolate had a 31 percent lower risk of diabetes and a significantly reduced risk for heart disease and stroke compared with people who ate the least. And a that having about 10 g of flavonoid-rich cocoa powder a day could lower LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels in people with diabetes.
Look for dark chocolate ideally with at least 85 percent cacao, Acharya says. One ounce of 85 percent dark chocolate contains 136 calories, 1 g of protein, 14 g of fat, and 12 g of carbs, according to the USDA. Dark chocolate has a GL of 2.76, based on a glycemic index of 23, according to Beyond Type 1.
Be sure to keep in mind that chocolate also contains fat and sugar, so limit yourself to one small square a day, Smithson cautions.
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What Happens If Your Blood Sugar Gets Too High With Diabetes
If you have diabetes and your blood sugar is too high, your cells cant function correctly, and youll start to feel uncomfortably sick.
The cells in your body need glucose, more commonly known as sugar, to survive and function. Our diets contain many sources of glucose, but it cant reach our bodies cells without the help of insulin, a hormone secreted by the pancreas.
Insulin is responsible for transporting glucose to your cells. When your body doesnt have enough insulin or it is not active enough, both symptoms of diabetes, the sugar remains in the blood without reaching cells. Thats why diabetes and high blood sugar often go hand in hand.
What Causes High Blood Sugar?
Sugar accumulates in the blood either when there is not enough insulin to transport it or when the insulin that is available is not active.
Type 1 diabetes patients are incapable of making the insulin necessary to transport glucose to the cells.
Type 2 diabetes patients are insulin resistant. They often, but not always, have the insulin required by the body, but the insulin is ineffective.
Patients with diabetes are more prone to high blood sugar levels if they:
- Miss taking diabetes medication or insulin
- Eat too much food
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If A Person Is Unconscious
If a person loses consciousness because of severe hypoglycaemia, they need to be put into the recovery position and given an injection of the hormone glucagon . The injection will raise their blood glucose level.
The injection should be carried out by a friend or family member who knows what theyre doing, or by a trained healthcare professional.
You should dial 999 to request an ambulance if:
- a glucagon injection kit isnt available
- theres nobody available whos trained to give the injection
- the injection is ineffective after 10 minutes
Never try to put food or drink into the mouth of someone whos unconscious as they could choke.
If youre able to give a glucagon injection and the person regains consciousness, they should eat some longer-acting carbohydrate food, such as a few biscuits, a cereal bar or a sandwich.
You should continue to monitor the person for signs of recurring symptoms in case they need to be treated again.
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High Blood Glucose: Hyperglycemia
Hyperglycemia means that you have too much blood glucose. It happens when your blood glucose level is around 200 mg/dL or higher. Hyperglycemia can happen if you miss taking your diabetes medications, eat too much or do not get enough exercise. Sometimes, the medications you take for other problems cause high blood glucose.
Symptoms of hyperglycemia include:
- Having blurry vision
- Having to urinate often
If you have these symptoms, check your blood glucose right away. If its too high, follow these steps:
- Check your blood glucose every four hours. If your level does not go down after two checks or your symptoms get worse, call a member of your diabetes team.
- Drink water or other sugar-free liquids, such as diet soda or Crystal Light.
- You may need to take an extra dose of insulin. Your diabetes educator talks with you more about this.
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Think About Whats Going On
Irene Dunbar, 73, of Durham, N.C., woke up one morning recently to discover her blood sugar was at 119, which is high for her. âI had a cold and had had orange juice yesterday and I normally do not drink orange juice and I thought, âI better not do that,’â she said. When she gets a high blood sugar reading, she tries to remember if she had anything recentlylike breadthat she knows are triggers, and avoids them next time.
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Late Dinner Or Bedtime Snack With Carbs
Carbohydrates raise blood glucose levels. A high amount of carbohydrates, especially eaten late at night, can lead to morning hyperglycemia. Carbohydrates are in bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, sweets, fruit, and many other foods, as Harvard School of Public Health explains. Having multiple servings at a meal or late-night snack can lead to sustained high blood glucose through the night and into the morning, especially if digestion is slow.
High blood sugar may be linked to a late dinner or a bedtime snack with carbs if you check your blood sugar between 2 and 3 a.m. for a few nights and it is within range, but a little higher than normal, or if it is high and out of range.
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Dos And Donts To Follow For A Healthy Lifestyle
- Never skip meals as it can result in obesity. Whenever you remain without eating anything for longer hours, your body uses the glucose already stored in the liver in the form of glycogen. This provokes the liver to release more glucose into the bloodstream.
- Dont cut off necessary sleep. The appropriate time you should allow for sleeping is 7 to 8 hours to prevent unnecessary blood sugar spikes.
- Be cautious with your sleeping hours, even sleeping more than required makes you overweight and cause more problems.
- Eat more foods with low glycemic index and must involve apples, pineapple, citrus fruits, strawberries for high fiber intake
- Regular exercise is the key to maintaining normal blood sugar levels. Weightlifting, walking, running, cycling, dancing or even short term intense workouts, all can help you to fight high blood sugar.
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How To Bring High Blood Sugar Down Fast
Everyone with diabetes is bound to experience high blood sugars. There are simply too many variables out of our control to prevent high blood sugars from ever happening.
But the best thing we can do when they do happen is to help them come down as quickly as possible.
Here are four things you can do to bring a high blood sugar level down quickly.
Problems Caused By High Blood Sugar
It’s not usually a serious problem if your blood sugar is sometimes slightly high for a short time.
But high blood sugar can cause serious problems if it stays high for a long time or gets to a very high level.
It can lead to:
- life-threatening conditions such as diabetic ketoacidosis
If you have high blood sugar, your doctor or care team may ask you to test your blood or pee to check for ketones. A high level of ketones is a sign of diabetic ketoacidosis.
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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.
Your Legs And Feet Are Swollen
When there’s too much sugar in the system, it can pull water into cells, which will swell up over time if you don’t get these fluids moving through your body regularly.
The American Diabetes Association claims that people who have diabetes tend to have legs and feet up to five times larger than they should be, which can lead to complications within the circulatory system, including infections and reduced blood flow.
If you notice your feet and ankles begin to swell up, make sure to keep them elevated when possible. It’s important to treat swelling as soon as possible by elevating your legs higher.
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Blood Sugar Spike Causes
Blood sugar levels fluctuate all day long. When you eat food, particularly foods high in carbohydrates like bread, potatoes, or pasta, your blood sugar will immediately begin to rise.
If your blood sugar is consistently high, you need to talk with a doctor about improving your diabetes management. Blood sugar rises when:
- youre not taking enough insulin
- your insulin isnt lasting as long as you think it is
- youre not taking your oral diabetes medication
- your medication dosage needs to be adjusted
- youre using expired insulin
- youre not following your nutritional plan
- you have an illness or infection
- youre taking certain medications, like steroids
- youre under physical stress, such as an injury or surgery
- youre under emotional stress, such as trouble at work or home, or with money problems
If your blood sugar is usually well managed but youre still experiencing unexplained blood sugar spikes, there might be an acute, or more recent, cause.
Try keeping a record of all the food and drinks you consume. Then check your blood sugar levels according to your doctors recommendations.
Its common to record your blood sugar reading first thing in the morning, before youve eaten, and then again 2 hours after eating.
Even a few days of recorded information can help you and your doctor learn whats causing your blood sugar spikes.
Common reasons for blood sugar spikes include:
Talk With Your Healthcare Provider
If you think you’ve been doing all you can to keep your blood sugar in control, but your readings are still high, it may be time to switch medications, if you are taking them. Diabetes is a progressive disease, and over time, the beta cells in the pancreas that produce insulin can stop making the hormone altogether.
Ultimately, your healthcare provider will look at the full picture and do additional testing to find out if there is a bigger problem.
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Make Physical Activity Part Of Your Daily Routine
Set a goal to be more physically active. Try to work up to 30 minutes or more of physical activity on most days of the week.
Brisk walking and swimming are good ways to move more. If you are not active now, ask your health care team about the types and amounts of physical activity that are right for you. Learn more about being physically active with diabetes.
Following your meal plan and being more active can help you stay at or get to a healthy weight. If you are overweight or obese, work with your health care team to create a weight-loss plan that is right for you.
How Long Can You Live With High A1c
Predicting how long you will live with a high hemoglobin A1C is difficult. The good news is that you can lower your A1C levels and be healthy again.
Luckily, there are plenty of ways to increase your blood sugar control and get that number back where it should be!
According to Medical News Today, a 55-year-old male with type 2 diabetes is expected to live for another 13.2â21.1 years, while the general expectancy would be 24.7 more years of life without any disease or condition at all! A 75-year-old man who also suffers from this illness might expect 4.3 â 9.6 more years of living compared with 10 additional healthy and happy ones if he didnt have it
The good news is that people with diabetes live longer thanks to medical advancements and better care.
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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.
Causes Of High Blood Sugar
Common causes of high blood sugar in people with diabetes include:
- eating too much sugary or starchy food
- being less active than usual
- missing doses of diabetes medicine
You can also get high blood sugar if your diabetes medicine is not working well, you’re taking certain medicines or you recently had an operation.
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What Are The Symptoms Of Eating Too Much Sugar
So how do you know youre eating too much sugar? What are the symptoms? Here are 16 signs youre eating too much sugar and exactly what to do if you think you are overdosing on the sweet stuff. And if youre looking to make more changes, be sure to check out these 21 Best Healthy Cooking Hacks of All Time.
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Youre Developing Blisters Dryness Or Other Skin Changes
Small pieces of extra skin, called skin tags, may form in the creases of skin, especially if you have diabetes and youre trying to find ways to manage your weight, notes the ADA. Dark, thick areas of soft skin may form on the back of the neck or hands, armpits, face, or other areas. These can be a sign of insulin resistance, Zanini says. Blisters, infections, dryness, itchiness, discolorations, and abnormalities of the skin can all be warning signs of high blood sugar. Check with your doctor if these skin changes develop.
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Preventing High Blood Sugars
Everyone with diabetes experiences high blood sugars sometimes there are simply too many variables in the human body out of your control to prevent them altogether.
That being said, there are a few guidelines we can all follow to minimize the frequency of high blood sugars:
- Avoid full-sugar beverages including soda, juice, coffee drinks, iced tea, etc.
- Choose your carbohydrates carefully starchy carbs from pasta, candy, bread, desserts, etc. will spike your blood sugar the most
- Take your medications as prescribed and contact your healthcare team if you miss a dose to determine if you can take it late
- Exercise daily even a 20-minute walk makes a big difference on a daily basis
- Drink plenty of water to prevent dehydration
And of course, if youre experiencing high blood sugars are a daily basis and youre unsure of the cause, talk to your healthcare team about making adjustments in your diabetes management regimen. A slight increase in your medications can have a big impact!
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How Can I Treat Low Blood Sugar
If youve had low blood sugar without feeling or noticing symptoms , you may need to check your blood sugar more often to see if its low and treat it. Driving with low blood sugar can be dangerous, so be sure to check your blood sugar before you get behind the wheel.
Carry supplies for treating low blood sugar with you. If you feel shaky, sweaty, or very hungry or have other symptoms, check your blood sugar. Even if you dont have symptoms but think you may have low blood sugar, check it. If your blood sugar is lower than 70 mg/dL, do one of the following immediately:
- Take four glucose tablets.
- Drink four ounces of fruit juice.
- Drink four ounces of regular soda, not diet soda.
- Eat four pieces of hard candy.
Wait for 15 minutes and then check your blood sugar again. Do one of the above treatments again until your blood sugar is 70 mg/dL or above and eat a snack if your next meal is an hour or more away. If you have problems with low blood sugar, ask your doctor if your treatment plan needs to be changed.
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