Stay Hydrated With Water
Up to 60% of the human body is water, so it makes sense that drinking plenty of h-two-oh remains necessary for good health. Water lubricates the joints, forms saliva and mucus, helps keep skin elastic, cushions the brain and spinal cord, regulates body temperature, flushes toxins, and helps maintain blood pressure.
Calorie-free and exactly what your body needs, water prevents dehydration and helps your kidneys flush out excess glucose. One study showed that those who drank more water were less likely to develop hyperglycemia20 .
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 there’s 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 Daily’s article “HbA1C: Everything You Need to Know.”
Three Steps That Will Help
Step 1: drink water, not any other beverages that are made with water, like coffee, tea, or diet soda. Im speaking of water, plain or iced. This will help with rehydration because when your blood sugar is running on the high side, it can be from being dehydrated and can dehydrate you. We also eliminate excess blood sugar through urine.lots of water, of course, speed that process along.
Be Sure To Check Out Can Drinking Water Help My Blood Sugar?
Step 2: Stick to a very low-carb diet if your reading is running on the higher side. Choose foods that are protein like cheese, chicken, beef, pork, or eggs. These are straight protein foods that do not contain any carbohydrates. Once your blood sugar starts coming back to the target range, you can include carb-containing foods. This will just be a short period of time that you will need to go very low carb.
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Michael Menna, DO, is a board-certified, active attending emergency medicine physician at White Plains Hospital in White Plains, New York.
If you have high blood sugar, a condition also known as hyperglycemia, theres too much sugar in your blood and not enough insulin in your body to lower it. In people with diabetes, hyperglycemia can be caused by things like eating too many carbohydrates, lack of physical activity, stress from an illness or infection, nondiabetes medications , or skipping or not taking enough glucose-lowering medication.
Hyperglycemia requires immediate treatment to prevent serious complications, including nerve, tissue, and organ damage diabetic ketoacidosis and hyperglycemic hyperosmolar syndrome . While taking rapid-acting insulin is the quickest way to lower your blood sugar, there are other ways like exercising and staying hydrated that can help. In cases of an emergency, contact your doctor immediately.
What Is Blood Sugar
As it sounds, blood sugar refers to the amount of glucose circulating in the blood. Glucose enters the blood after ingesting food or when the liver breaks down glycogen, the stored form of glucose, to raise blood sugar. The hormone, insulin, then helps shuttle glucose into cells and organs for them to use as fuel.
Healthy Blood Sugar Levels
Hyperglycemia refers to elevated blood sugar levels while hypoglycemia indicates low blood sugar. Standard blood sugar levels depend on how long it has been since last eating, and thus tend to be lowest after prolonged periods of fasting and highest after eating carbohydrate-rich meals.
Generally speaking, fasting blood glucose levels under 100 milligrams per deciliter are considered healthy. Values under 140 mg/dL are normal if one has eaten within the past two hours. However, healthy blood glucose ranges will differ for people with diabetes.
A long-term measurement of blood glucose is known as the hemoglobin A1c , and is typically used to diagnose diabetes. HbA1c measures the amount of sugar attached to hemoglobin, the part of red blood cells that carry oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body, over a three-month period.
Basically, this value represents an average of how much blood glucose was remaining in the blood at any given time and is a great indicator of overall health. Results are provided in percentages with the following implications:
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Unique Foods That Lower Or Regulate Blood Sugar
The following foods include specific compounds or properties that are scientifically associated with reducing blood sugar levels or slowing the breakdown of carbohydrates into glucose and are indicated next to the food.
In general, plant compounds, antioxidants, polyphenols, and specific vitamins or minerals directly reduce blood glucose levels while both kinds of fiber, protein, and fat slow the release of glucose into the bloodstream.
1. Lean meats : protein
2. Beans and lentils: magnesium, soluble fiber, protein, resistant starch
3. Raw broccoli/ broccoli sprouts: plant compounds
4. Okra: polysaccharide flavonoid antioxidants (isoquercitrin and quercetin 3-O-gentiobioside
5. Kale: fiber and flavonoid antioxidants
6. Avocado: soluble and insoluble fiber and monounsaturated fats
7. Pumpkin and pumpkin seeds: fiber, antioxidants, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats
8. Nuts and nut butters: monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and saturated fats
9. Flax and chia seeds: fiber and monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats
10. Fermented foods: probiotics, antioxidants, and minerals
11. Berries: soluble fiber, antioxidants , vitamins and minerals
12. Citrus fruits with skin: soluble and insoluble fiber and polyphenols
13. Apples: soluble fiber and plant compounds
14. Oats and oat bran: soluble fiber
15. Whole grains: soluble fiber
What Causes Low Blood Glucose In People With Diabetes
Low blood glucose levels can be a side effect of insulin or some other medicines that help your pancreas release insulin into your blood. Taking these can lower your blood glucose level.
Two types of diabetes pills can cause low blood glucose
- sulfonylureas, usually taken once or twice per day, which increase insulin over several hours
- meglitinides, taken before meals to promote a short-term increase in insulin
The following may also lower your blood glucose level
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Ensure A Good Nights Sleep
Never underestimate the power of a good nights sleep. A single night of inadequate sleep makes our body react in a manner similar to insulin resistance. It can lead to raised blood sugar levels. A good nights sleep can improve glucose metabolism. It will also keep you motivated to follow through with your diet and exercise routine.
Thoughts On How To Lower High Blood Sugar Quickly 7 Ways To Reduce Blood Sugar
Come-on Lower High Blood Sugar Quickly and you state Cut out the sugar LOL ya think, to lower blood sugar FAST
1. Peanuts I always keep a bag or two on hand when we go on trips.2. Peanut butter works fantastic3. Eggs 2 eggs works good3. Low fat Milk not as good as the above.
Dang
Pressure is too high and cant get doctor appt for 3 months earliest. please help thanks.
Go to the emergency room, or get a new doctor. Look into a cardiologist. Cant play with high blood pressure. Last piece of advice, you can walk-in to your current doctors office and tell them you have an emergency and need to see the doctor today because you believe the medications arent working. Let them know how youre feeling. After a doctors opinion heres an article on diet:
thanks for the info. i have type two and some times the suger reading can be 400. and facingdiffecultiy in lowering it and i do take the following medications:-
Moring before breakfast 1 tablet gluoogphage 500 mgafter breakfast 1 table doanil 5mg
Lunch 2 tablet gluoogphage 500 mg
Dinner as breakfast
When do you test? And what are you eating? Are you testing often enough? My guess is that these readings are after meals. It sounds like you might be a candidate for insulin therapy as your current medications may not be getting it done.
This is good information. Thanks.
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How Do I Lower My Blood Sugar Level If I Have Gestational Pregnancy
A little more than 9.2% of pregnant women have gestational diabetes. It is very common that all women are tested during their pregnancy. If you havent yet, bring it up to your physicians attention. The cause is really unknown, but doctors believe that it is because the extra hormones that are released during pregnancy hinder the insulin sensitivity and increase the need for more insulin. It is very important to keep blood sugar levels under control because high blood sugars can lead to complications such as:
- Premature labor
- Pre-eclampsia which can lead to seizures
- Increased risk of the mother to develop type 2 diabetes later in life
Lowering blood sugar with gestational diabetes is a lot like the other ways mentioned above.
They include:
Breastfeeding after the baby is born is a great way to lower your risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life as well as providing many benefits for the baby. Read this article / that I wrote about all of the benefits of breastfeeding.
How Are Low Blood Sugar Levels Treated
Your diabetes health care team will give you guidelines for treating low blood sugar levels, depending on your symptoms. If you can, try to test your blood sugar levels to make sure that your symptoms are because of hypoglycemia. If you can’t test blood sugar immediately, don’t delay in treating your symptoms you can always check your blood sugar after you’ve taken steps to get your blood sugar back up into the normal range.
When blood sugar levels are low, the goal is to get them back up quickly. To do that, you should take in sugar or sugary foods, which raise the blood sugar level quickly. Your health care team might suggest that you:
- Eat, drink, or take something that contains sugar that can get into the blood quickly. Your doctor may tell you to have really sugary foods or drinks or might give you glucose tablets or gel to take all of these can help to raise your blood sugar level fast, which is what you need to do when it’s low.
- Wait about 10 minutes to let the sugar work.
- Recheck your blood sugar level with a glucose meter to see if blood sugar levels are back to normal.
- Get a glucagon shot , if your symptoms are severe or get worse after you eat, drink, or take glucose.
Sometimes, blood sugar levels can get so low that you may not be awake enough to eat or drink something to get them back up. When this happens, you may need a glucagon shot.
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Can You Raise Blood Sugar Without Food
Two products glucose gel and chewable glucose tablets are also effective at quickly raising blood sugar. Theyre available without a prescription and are recommended for people who experience frequent episodes of low blood sugar.
If youve had severe low blood sugar symptoms in the past, speak with your doctor about whether a glucagon kit is right for you. Glucagon is a hormone that triggers your liver to release glucose into the bloodstream.
These kits are only available by prescription. Theyre used to raise your blood sugar when youre not able to eat or drink, such as in a state of unconsciousness. Therefore, someone else, like a friend or family member, typically administers this medication for you.
An episode of low blood sugar that necessitates assistance from another person is by definition severe hypoglycemia. The kits come with a syringe and needle that can be used to inject glucagon into your arm, thigh, or buttocks.
Be sure to ask your doctor when and how to use a glucagon kit. Also, let your family and friends know how to use it and how to recognize a hypoglycemic emergency.
There are many different factors that can cause a dip in your blood sugar levels. Here are some of the most common causes.
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 To Know About Diabetic Macular Edema
Fiber plays a preventative role, too. Studies have found that high-fiber diets can reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes by 15 to 19 percent compared to low-fiber diets, according to a March 2018 study published in the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine.
Youll find fiber in plant foods such as raspberries, peas, and whole grains, according to the Mayo Clinic. Beans are another good source of fiber. People with type 2 diabetes who ate at least a cup of legumes daily for three months had lower blood glucose levels as measured by the A1C test, according to a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Beans also are an excellent source of folate, which is linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, a common diabetes complication, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Men should aim for 30 to 38 g of fiber per day, and women should eat 21 to 25 g per day, according to the Mayo Clinic.
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How To Lower Your Blood Sugar Naturally
Nearly 10% of the U.S. population has diabetes, and globally rates are expected to double by 2030. Significant evidence shows you can lower your blood sugar quickly, and even reverse diabetes by adopting a healthy lifestyle:
- In the United Kingdom, researchers successfully lowered blood sugar and reverse diabetes by implementing a combination of a lifestyle change and weight loss.
- In urban locations in Africa, scientists have found educational programs help prediabetic adults alter their lifestyle to effectively lower blood sugar levels.
- The most extensive study was completed in the United States and was called the Diabetes Prevention Program Randomized Trail. The study observed 3,234 men and women with pre-diabetes over a three-year period. The researchers found a healthy lifestyle was more effective than medication in preventing the onset of type 2 diabetes. One third of the adults took a placebo, another took metformin , while the final third of the adults adopted lifestyle changes that were similar to the Pritikin Program . Adults who adopted a lifestyle change were twice as likely to reduce the progression of their pre-diabetes into type 2 diabetes than the control group.
Adopting a healthy lifestyle, such as the Pritikin lifestyle, is twice as effective as medication in preventing the onset of type 2 diabetes.
Beware Of Low Blood Sugars
Remember, above all else, its very easy to over-treat a high blood sugar and wind up low. Then youll be tempted to binge-eat and wind up high again. This blood sugar roller coaster is exhausting and dangerous, too.
Frequently finding yourself on the blood sugar roller coaster means your approach to taking insulin and/or how you treat low blood sugars isnt working and needs some fine-tuning. Work with your healthcare team to reduce and prevent these wild swings to ensure your overall safety and quality of life!
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What If I Have Severe Low Blood Glucose And Cant Treat Myself
Glucagona hormone that raises blood glucose levelsis the best way to treat severely low blood glucose. Available as an injection or a nasal spray, glucagon will quickly raise your blood glucose level. Your doctor can prescribe you a glucagon kit for use in case of an emergency.
If your blood glucose level drops very low, you wont be able to treat it by yourself. Be prepared to address severely low blood glucose by
- talking with your doctor or health care team about when and how to use a glucagon emergency kit. If you have an emergency kit, regularly check the date on the package to make sure it hasnt expired.
- teaching your family, friends, and coworkers when and how to give you glucagon. Tell them to call 911 right away after giving you glucagon or if you dont have a glucagon emergency kit with you.
- wearing a medical alert identification bracelet or pendant. A medical alert ID tells other people that you have diabetes and need care right away. Getting prompt care can help prevent the serious problems that low blood glucose levels can cause.