Drink Water And Stay Hydrated
Drinking enough water could help you keep your blood sugar levels within healthy ranges.
In addition to preventing dehydration, it helps your kidneys flush out any excess sugar through urine.
One review of observational studies showed that those who drank more water had a lower risk of developing high blood sugar levels (
34 ).
You can do so at home using a portable blood glucose meter, which is known as a glucometer. You can discuss this option with your doctor.
Keeping track allows you to determine whether you need to adjust your meals or medications. It also helps you learn how your body reacts to certain foods .
Try measuring your levels regularly every day and keeping track of the numbers in a log. Also, it may be more helpful to track your blood sugar in pairs for example, before and after exercise or before and 2 hours after a meal.
This can show you whether you need to make small changes to a meal if it spikes your blood sugar, rather than avoiding your favorite meals altogether. Some adjustments include swapping a starchy side for non-starchy veggies or limiting them to a handful.
Summary
Checking your blood glucose and maintaining a daily log enables you to adjust foods and medications when necessary to better manage your blood sugar levels.
How Common Is Low Blood Glucose
Low blood glucose is common among people with type 1 diabetes and among people with type 2 diabetes who take insulin or some other diabetes medicines. In a large global study of people with diabetes who take insulin, 4 in 5 people with type 1 diabetes and nearly half of those with type 2 diabetes reported a low blood sugar event at least once over a 4-week period.2
Severely low blood glucose, defined as when your blood glucose level drops so low you cant treat it yourself, is less common. Among U.S. adults with diabetes who take insulin or some diabetes medicines that help the pancreas release insulin into the blood, 2 in 100 may develop severely low blood glucose each year.3
How To Reduce Blood Sugar Level Immediately: Insulin
The severity of the hyperglycemia determines how to act. In cases of insulin-dependent diabetes, most people will probably use rapid-acting insulin. The name is a giveaway: this is how to reduce blood sugar level immediately.
Hopefully, using insulin will allow you to get back to normal blood sugar levels before it gets too severe. This will also be the best way to be in control you can lower your blood sugar with more accurate numbers.
This is where Hedia comes into play. Getting those numbers isnt always so easy to figure out by yourself, especially not when dealing with the hassle of high blood sugar. Hedia can deal with that instead.
When using Hedias insulin calculator, all Hedia needs is: your blood sugar reading this can even be added wirelessly and automatically with certain NFC or Blueetooth glucose meters what youve eaten recently this can be added swiftly with Hedias food database whether youve exercised recently or are about to exercise and if youve taken insulin in the last 4 hours. Have a go at the App Store or !
After taking insulin, keep testing blood sugar levels to see how your blood sugar decreases. Then, just continue with your day!
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What To Do In An Emergency
A diabetic emergency happens when symptoms relating to diabetes overwhelm the body.
At this point, home treatment is unlikely to help, and delaying medical care could cause permanent damage or death.
Some of the signs that can indicate a serious problem include:
- chest pain that radiates down the arm
- difficulty breathing
- a severe headache and weakness in one side of the body
- loss of consciousness
If there are signs of an emergency, the person should go to the emergency room, or they or someone with them should call 911 immediately.
Without rapid help, some diabetic emergencies can be life-threatening.
It is not always possible to prevent an emergency, but being able to recognize the signs can improve the chances of early treatment and a full recovery.
Strategies that can help to reduce the risk of an emergency include:
Following the treatment plan: Use medications as a doctor prescribes and keep in touch with the healthcare team. If a person cannot remember whether or not they took their last dose of drugs, they should ask a doctor before taking a further dose. This can help to prevent hypoglycemia. Anyone who notices a change in their symptoms should see a doctor.
Eating healthful, balanced, regular meals: People who use insulin or other medications that lower blood glucose should ask their doctor about what foods to eat, how much, and when, in order to maintain stable blood sugar levels. Small, frequent meals are better than fewer larger meals.
People with diabetes should:
Prevent Blood Sugar Spikes After Meals
Post-meal blood sugar is more important than fasted blood sugar because you live mostly in a fed state.
Whole-plant foods such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, and nuts can blunt blood sugar spikes after meals .
If you eat high-glycemic food such as bread, youll get a blood sugar spike within an hour. But if you add almond butter it significantly reduces the blood sugar spike . And If you add half an avocado to your meal it can improve your insulin response .
Adding plants to a meal minimizes blood sugar spikes and calms insulin levels, but adding low-carb animal foods makes blood sugar spikes worse. For example, adding chicken to mashed potatoes causes a higher insulin spike .
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Maintain Regular Meals & Healthy Snacks
Eating regular meals at the same time each day will help you maintain consistent energy throughout the day and avoid highs from skipping or overeating between meals. Plus, healthy snacks are vital in preventing high blood sugar since they also keep you fuller longer than sugary snacks would, so its less likely that youll indulge again soon after eating them.
What Is Low Blood Glucose
Low blood glucose, also called low blood sugar or hypoglycemia, occurs when the level of glucose in your blood drops below what is healthy for you. For many people with diabetes, this means a blood glucose reading lower than 70 milligrams per deciliter .1 Your number might be different, so check with your doctor or health care team to find out what blood glucose level is low for you.
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What Else Can I Do To Help Manage My Blood Sugar Levels
Eating a healthy diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables, maintaining a healthy weight, and getting regular physical activity can all help. Other tips include:
- Keep track of your blood sugar levels to see what makes them go up or down.
- Eat at regular times, and dont skip meals.
- Choose foods lower in calories, saturated fat, trans fat, sugar, and salt.
- Track your food, drink, and physical activity.
- Drink water instead of juice or soda.
- Limit alcoholic drinks.
Grapes Blueberries And Apples
One of the biggest myths that still exists about blood sugar management, is that people looking to balance blood sugar shouldnt eat fruit. But, the truth is we have so much data to show that a diet that includes fruit is not only protective against developing pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes, but it can also help manage existing diabetes. Specifically, research has shown higher consumption of grapes, blueberries, and/or apples is associated with a reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
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Learn First Aid For Someone Who Is Having A Diabetic Emergency
1. Give them something sweet to eat or a non-diet drink.
If someone has a diabetic emergency, their blood sugar levels can become too low. This can make them collapse.Giving them something sugary will help raise their blood sugar levels and improve their bodily function. Avoid giving them a diet drink, as it wont have any sugar in it and will not help them.
2. Reassure the person. Most people will gradually improve, but if in doubt, call 999.
If you cant call 999, get someone else to do it.
What Is High Blood Sugar
Your blood sugar level can be determined by taking a blood sample, either in a fasted state, or two hours after eating.
- If your blood sugar is less than 100 mg/dL after an eight-hour fast or less than 140 mg/dL two hours after eating, youre in the normal range.
- If you conduct a test in the morning, after sleeping for eight hours, and your blood sugar is at 126 mg/dL or higher, youve got high blood sugar.
An estimated 29 million people in the U.S. have type 2 diabetes, which is the result of blood sugar levels being consistently high. Another 86 million have prediabetes, which can lead to type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Prediabetes, however, can be reversed by finding ways to naturally lower blood sugar.
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When To Avoid Exercise
People with blood sugar levels above 240 mg/dL should check their urine for ketones before engaging in physical activity. If ketones are present, do not exercise. Ketones are the result of stored fat being broken down for energy. Your liver starts breaking down fat when theres not enough insulin in your bloodstream to absorb blood sugar into cells. When too many ketones are quickly produced, they can cause DKA. In this state, ketones may actually make your blood sugar level go even higher and you may need intravenous fluids to rebalance.
How Is It Determined If The Dawn Phenomenon Or Somogyi Effect Is Causing The High Blood Sugar Levels
Your doctor will likely ask you to check your blood sugar levels between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. for several nights in a row. If your blood sugar is consistently low during this time, the Somogyi effect is suspected. If the blood sugar is normal during this time period, the dawn phenomenon is more likely to be the cause.
Some additional clues that the Somogyi effect may be the cause include nightmares, restless sleep and overnight sweating as these are all signs of low blood sugar levels.
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Healthy Ways To Lower Your Blood Sugar
Whether you have diabetes or prediabetesor just generally suffer ill effects from crazy blood sugar swingsyou want to know what really works to control your blood sugar levels. It can make all the difference in living well and staying off the blood sugar roller coaster that can drag down your mood and energy and skew your hunger levels. Here are a dozen tips that will help your blood sugar and your overall health.
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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 theres 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 Dailys article HbA1C: Everything You Need to Know.
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Absorb Less Sugar By Eating More Fiber
If you increase your fiber intake you also decrease your sugar intake even eating the same amount of sugar. Fiber adds bulk without sugar or calories.
For example:
Cold-pressed apple juice is basically apples minus fiber. In seconds, you can drink enough juice to get the same amount of sugar in five cups of apple slices.
Without the fiber, apple juice is absorbed as soon as it hits your intestines and spikes your blood sugar. Meanwhile, the trapped sugar in the apple slices is absorbed slowly. Nutrients are absorbed when they have contact with the side of your intestines.
Because fiber never absorbs, it can carry or eliminate calories, fats, or sugars through digestion.
What diabetes diet makes the problem worse?
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When To See A Healthcare Provider
If you don’t feel like your usual self and have any symptoms of high blood sugar, test it to confirm.
If your blood sugar happens to be elevated and it’s an isolated event, odds are that you can probably get it back to normal on your own. Go for a walk or do some light exercise, drink extra water, and take your medicine as prescribed.
On the other hand, if you are experiencing elevated blood sugars for several consecutive days, give your medical team a call, as you may need to tweak your treatment plan.
If you don’t have diabetes and notice any of these signs or symptoms, are overweight or obese, or have a family history of diabetes, you should schedule an appointment with your healthcare provider to be screened. Both macro and microvascular complications of diabetes can occur before diagnosis, so the sooner you receive treatment, the better.
If you’ve noticed that your child is drinking, eating, and urinating more often than usual, a trip to the healthcare provider is a good idea, especially if you’ve seen a quick change in their weight. If the symptoms appear to be more severe and resemble those of DKA, go to the emergency room right away.
If your child has symptoms of hyperglycemia and their blood sugar is greater than 240 mg/dL, they should be tested for ketones. In the event of a positive test, depending on the severity of the ketones, you may be advised to go to the emergency room.
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Eat At The Same Time Every Day
Even if you eat the same healthy foods, eating at irregular times can raise blood sugar and decrease insulin sensitivity.
For example, in one study subjects were randomized to eat their regular diets through six regular meals a day, or three to nine meals at irregular times. Researchers found that eating irregular meals every day can decrease insulin sensitivity
In another study, subjects were randomized to eat identical meals at regular or irregular times. During the irregular eating period, subjects had higher blood sugar responses to eating the same food .
How can you prevent blood sugar spikes if you cant eat at the same time every day?
Eat At The Best Time For Blood Sugar Control
Eating at 8 pm can cause twice the blood sugar response as eating the same meal at 8 am . This is because your glucose tolerance peaks in the morning and declines the rest of the day.
Because of circadian rhymes in glucose tolerance, a low-glycemic food at night can cause a higher blood sugar spike than a high-glycemic meal in the morning . The worst combination is eating high-glycemic foods at night.
Eating as late as 11 pm can disrupt your circadian rhythm enough to disturb your glucose tolerance the next morning . This means youll have higher blood sugar levels after breakfast than after eating an identical meal at 6 pm.
Your muscles are most sensitive to insulin in the morning. In the morning, your muscles pull blood sugar from your bloodstream to boost glycogen reserves. Your muscles are the least sensitive to insulin at night. At night, your muscles pull less blood sugar from your bloodstream.
Skipping breakfast worsens blood sugar control in both diabetics and non-diabetics . And breakfast-skippers appear to have a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes . If youre going to practice intermittent fasting, it may be safer to skip dinner over breakfast.
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Manage Your Carb Intake
Your carb intake strongly influences your blood sugar levels .
Your body breaks carbs down into sugars, mainly glucose. Then, insulin helps your body use and store it for energy.
When you eat too many carbs or have insulin-function problems, this process fails, and blood glucose levels can rise.
Thats why the American Diabetes Association recommends that people with diabetes manage their carb intake by counting carbs and being aware of how many they need .
Some studies find that this can help you plan your meals appropriately, further improving blood sugar management (
Foods that are high in fiber include:
The recommended daily intake of fiber is about 25 grams for women and 35 grams for men. Thats about 14 grams for every 1,000 calories .
Summary
Eating plenty of fiber can aid blood sugar management. Soluble dietary fiber appears to be more effective than insoluble fiber for this purpose.
Apples Grapes And Blueberries
The idea that persons trying to regulate their blood sugar shouldn’t consume fruit is one of the major blood sugar control myths that persist. However, the truth is that a diet rich in fruit can assist in managing diabetes that already exists and protect against the onset of type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetes. According to a study, increased consumption of grapes, blueberries, and apples is specifically linked to a lower risk of type 2 diabetes.
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