Why Is Blood Sugar High In The Morning

Not Taking Enough Meal Time Insulin

This is the first thing to look into. Make sure that you correctly determine the number of carbohydrates in your last meal of the day and take the insulin to suit. Be sure to also look out for sources of hidden carbs as well. Our bodies react to food and insulin differently at different times of the day. Many individuals including myself have a different carb to insulin ratio at night. I normally have to take a bit more insulin at night especially if the meal is high in carbohydrates.

Try eating your last meal at least 2 hours before bed so that you can check the 2 hour post dinner blood sugar reading. This will indicate if you are indeed giving the correct amount of insulin. If you have a good reading before bed but its much higher in the morning, then there is definitely another issue.

Choose A High Protein Breakfast

One thing that above should have taught you is that protein on a morning is good for you. That is certainly the case for your diabetes.

Choose a high protein breakfast to lowerthe amount of sugars you add to your system. If you have a carb filled breakfast especially simple carbs youll just add to the glucose that is already in your system!

Look out for high protein ingredients that you can add to your food, even if it is as well as the carbs. For example, you could opt for peanut butter on your toast instead of jam! You get away from the sugars and focus more on the healthy fats and high protein toppings that will balance out some of the carbs that you eat on the toast.

All-protein breakfasts that have no carbs at all will be better, though. Think about vegetable omelets or protein berry smoothies to start your morning just right. Youll find that your blood sugar levels start to drop as your body gets the energy that it needs.

Delayed Effects Of Fatty Foods

Blood sugar levels typically peak within an hour or so after eating. However, a high-fat dinner containing fried foods, pizza, or cheesy casseroles might delay this normal jump in blood sugar until the morning. Why? Large amounts of dietary fat can make it harder for insulin to do its job, explains Scheiner. Plus, fat slows down digestion and absorption, which could cause blood sugar to peak later than usual.

Possible solutions: Opt for fish, skinless poultry, beans, and vegetables sautéed in olive oil over foods high in saturated fat like fried foods and those covered in cheese. Filling up half your plate with vegetables can also help cut portion sizes of other foodsand your fat intake from those foods.

You May Like: Does Beer Have A Lot Of Sugar In It

Wait Why Is Your Blood Sugar Up In The Morning

Why is it that your blood sugar levels will rise overnight? You dont eat anything, so how can you possibly add any glucose to your system?

Well, those who suffer from type II diabetes will find this is most problematic. The body still creates glucose throughout the night. It needs to, whether youve eaten something or not. This natural process is called gluconeogenesis, and there is nothing you can do to stop it nor would you want to. In a healthy person, this process doesnt cause a major problem.

Those with diabetes will find the gluconeogenesis process is increased. That means your body produces more glucose naturally than it would if you were healthy.

Lets not forget that the stress hormone cortisol also plays a part. This increases slowly on a morning until it reaches a peak early in the morning. The cortisol will elevate the blood sugar levels, so you end up with naturally higher levels on a morning.

To keep your blood sugar levels down, you need to keep your cortisol and gluconeogenesis levels down. Theres no need for extra medication when you follow the seven tips that will follow.

Treatment With High Blood Sugar

To do this, you must:

Prevention of high blood sugar

Also Check: High Sugar Symptoms Treatment

Why Your Blood Sugar Is High In The Morning And How To Lower It

• Your blood sugar levels might be high in the morning if you are experiencing the dawn phenomenon or the Somogyi effect.
• The dawn phenomenon is most common in people with type 2 diabetes, while the Somogyi effect is more common for people with type 1 diabetes.
• To lower your morning blood sugars, you can try light exercise before bed, limit carbohydrates in the evening, and put more time in between your last meal and bedtime.
• This article was 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.

People with diabetes have a more difficult time regulating their blood sugar. Those with type 1 diabetes are not able to produce insulin, the hormone that helps the body convert blood sugar into energy. And those with type 2 diabetes cannot use insulin effectively.

As a result, blood sugar levels are often much higher for people with diabetes, especially in the morning. Here’s why.

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.

Read Also: What Fruit Has The Highest Sugar

How Can High Blood Sugar Levels In The Morning Be Treated

There are a few different ways that high blood sugar levels in the morning may be treated, and it is important to consult your doctor in order to decide which method of treatment may be best for you.

If the dawn phenomenon is the cause, the following strategies might work, under the guidance of your healthcare provider:

• Changing the timing of, or type of, your diabetes medications

• Eating a lighter breakfast

• Increasing the dose of your diabetes medications in the morning

For the Somogyi effect, the following may be effective, under the guidance of your healthcare provider:

• Adding a carb-heavy snack before bedtime

• Getting some evening exercise a little earlier than usual

Certain supplements may also help maintain healthy blood sugar levels, but these should not be used in place of professional treatment methods.

Before taking any vitamins or supplements, it is important for you to consult with your doctor.

It is especially important to talk to your doctor if you have underlying health conditions or are taking any other medications, as some medications may interact when combined, or may not be recommended for use by people with certain health conditions.

Your doctor can also advise you regarding what the best dose of a supplement may be, or they can work with you to come up with a plan about dosing if you have specific questions or concerns of your own.

What Is The Dawn Phenomenon

Your body uses glucose for energy and it is important to have enough extra energy to be able to wake up in the morning. So for a period of time in the early morning hours, usually between 3 a.m. and 8 a.m., your body starts churning out stored glucose to prepare for the upcoming day.

At the same time, your body releases hormones that reduce your sensitivity to insulin. In addition, these events may be happening while your diabetes medication doses taken the day before are wearing off.

These events cause your body’s blood sugar levels to rise in the morning .

Recommended Reading: Pedialyte For Diabetics

Great Bedtime Snacks For People Living With Diabetes

For some people, a healthy bedtime snack helps to prevent glucose swings during the night. By eating a small snack that is full of protein and healthy fats , your body may be better able to avoid an overnight high but if you take insulin, be sure to cover the carbohydrates in your snack even if it only requires a small dose of insulin.

Here are some snack ideas:

• Plain nuts or seeds try eating a small handful

• Raw vegetables, such as carrots, celery, cucumbers, or tomatoes, with a small amount of hummus or peanut butter

• Plain yogurt, and you can add berries or cinnamon

Poor Overall Glucose Control

If your daily averages are coming in well above the normal healthy range for blood sugar levels, chances are your fasting levels are going to be high as well.

Good blood sugar control means keeping your blood sugar levels as close to normal as possible. And if you can keep them within the healthy range, thats even better.

You need to know your numbers

Aim for fasting levels:

• Between 70-100 mg/dL or 4-5.6 mmol/l
• 70-110 mg/dL or 4-6 mmol/l
• 70-130 mg/dL or 4-7.2 mmol/l

• 2 hrs post meal the ideal is under 140 mg/dl or 7.8 mmol/l the lower your postprandial blood glucose is post meal , the better.

There is some variation in numbers worldwide and your physician may also set you more stringent goals, or more lenient goals.

The point is: keep an eye on your numbers. If youve constantly got numbers that are running high during the day, chances are they are going to be even higher in the mornings.

Your goal is to bring your blood sugar levels within a healthy range, then naturally the morning levels do come down as well.

Still, even when you have good control of your daily levels, those morning numbers may still be a little high.

So what can you do? Lets look at some proven strategies.

Read Also: Smirnoff Ice Nutrition Sugar

Why Does Blood Sugar Go Up At Night

There are many factors that can cause your blood sugar to increase at night. For example: what food you ate during the day, how much and when you exercised, whether you ate snacks before bed, the timing of your insulin doses, and your stress level. You can experience different patterns of high blood sugar at night. You may start with high glucose when you go to bed, start the night in range but go high several hours later, or spend most of the night in range until the hours just before you wake up. By identifying your bodys patterns, you can figure out what is causing your high blood sugar and how to address it.

Common causes of a glucose increase at night include:

Expired Or Defective Insulin

There are specific requirements for storing and using insulin. Two things that render insulin ineffective are temperature and expiration. I once had an insulin pen that was exposed to way too much heat and it resulted in my blood sugar levels being high. As soon as started dosing with the new pen my blood sugar went back to normal.

Recommended Reading: How Much Sugar Does Vanilla Ice Cream Have

What You Can Do About High Morning Blood Sugar

Exercise, Fitness & Nutrition Expert | Lark Health

Blood sugar control is the name of the game when it comes to managing diabetes, but what happens when you start getting unexpectedly high blood glucose values in the morning? High morning blood sugar can be an indication that something is not quite right with your blood glucose management program. Once you figure out the cause, you and your doctor can work together to figure out what to do about it to get your blood glucose numbers right back on track.

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:

Recommended Reading: How Long Does It Take To Lower Blood Sugar

Decreased Insulin Production Or Utilization Of Insulin

Because most people with type 2 diabetes and prediabetes have either decreased insulin levels or decreased utilization of insulin, there is either not enough insulin being produced to bring the rising blood sugar levels down, even during the night when you are sleeping.

In this scenario, your body is still producing glucose, your hormones are still doing their thing, but insulin production is low so your body is unable to couteract the effects of the glucose and hormone change.

The other scenario is that your levels of insulin resistance are preventing effective utilization of insulin, which results in high levels. You may be producing sufficient insulin, even during the night, but your cells are not opening in response to insulin, therefore glucose remains in the bloodstream.

No More High Blood Sugar In The Morning

Its important to recognise that morning hyperglycemia is fairly normal: its usually your body trying to get you ready for the day .But you can help your body help itself by trying out some changes in your routine or medication. And Hedia wants to help you to help your body to help itself! Give yourself a good morning by visiting the App Store and

Don’t Miss: How To Drop Sugar Level

How Many Carbs Should A Type 2 Diabetic Have In A Day

The Basics of Counting Carbs

You can use these basic tips to help manage your carb consumption: Foods that contain carbohydrates include starches, fruits, vegetables, dairy products, beans, and sweets. Most people with type 2 diabetes should stick to eating around 45 to 60 grams of carbohydrates per meal.2 2016 .

Hormones Raise Blood Glucose

Around 3-4 am each morning, there are a collection of counter regulatory hormones that are signaled in the body: glucagon, epinephrine, growth hormone, and cortisol, which result in a rise in blood sugar.

This change in hormones occurs to stimulate our awakening, to get us moving and to give us energy. This is referred to as the Dawn Phenomenon or Dawn Effect.

This is in fact a normal response. This occurs in everyone, diabetic or not.

However, if you have diabetes or prediabetes there is one additional factor that impacts both the overnight glucose production and the rise in glucose with cortisol, and that is decreased insulin production or decreased utilization of insulin.

You May Like: Increase Blood Sugar Symptoms

Do Lemons Lower Blood Sugar

Lemons also have a low glycemic index , and a meal with a low GI promotes lower blood sugar and insulin levels after eating. Citrus fruits like lemons also contain flavonoids, naringin, and naringenin all of which can have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant effects, according to a 2014 study in Advances in Nutrition.

How To Stabilize Your Blood Sugar Overnight

The most important thing you can do to stabilize your blood sugar is monitor your glucose levels at bedtime, during the night, and when you wake up to look for patterns. This will help you determine whats going on in your body and how you can fix it. While there are many strategies people use to stabilize blood sugar at night, every person is different youll have to look for trends in your body, experiment with ways to lower glucose levels over a period of time, and learn what works best for your body.

• Check your blood sugar before bed. If its already high, your blood sugar levels may remain high throughout the night. To address this, youll want to start by adjusting when you eat your evening meal and what it consists of, and how much mealtime insulin you take to cover it.

• Avoid eating lots of food close to bedtime. For diaTribe writer Adam Brown, the key to staying in range overnight is low-carb, early dinners, with no snacking after dinner.

• Consider eating less food at night and taking more basal insulin to cover your evening meal.

Also Check: What To Do To Bring Sugar Level Down