What Can Bring Blood Sugar Down

Should We Pick Up Plows And Return To The 19th Century

Of course not. But we can learn a lesson from the Amish in the Lancaster area of Pennsylvania, notes Gomer.

They shun all modern conveniences. Theyre physically active throughout the day, growing and producing their own foods in much the same way their ancestors did 150 years ago. While the Amish diet is a lot higher in fatty dairy products than the Pritikin Eating Plan or the U.S. Dietary Guidelines would recommend, only about 3% of the Amish are overweight, and almost none is obese.

When Blood Sugar Is Too Low

Glucose is a sugar that comes from the foods we eat, and it’s also formed and stored inside the body. It’s the main source of energy for the cells of our body, and is carried to each cell through the bloodstream. Our brains depend on glucose to function, even when we’re sleeping.

The is the amount of glucose in the blood. When these levels drop too low, it’s called hypoglycemia . Very low blood sugar levels can cause serious symptoms that need to be treated right away.

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.

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Broccoli And Broccoli Sprouts

Sulforaphane is a type of isothiocyanate that has blood-sugar-reducing properties.

This plant chemical is produced when broccoli is chopped or chewed due to a reaction between a glucosinolate compound called glucoraphanin and the enzyme myrosinase, both of which are concentrated in broccoli .

Test-tube, animal, and human studies have shown that sulforaphane-rich broccoli extract has powerful antidiabetic effects, helping enhance insulin sensitivity and reduce blood sugar and markers of oxidative stress .

Broccoli sprouts are concentrated sources of glucosinolates like glucoraphanin, and theyve been shown to help promote insulin sensitivity and reduce blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes when supplemented as a powder or extract (

11 ).

Keep in mind that the best way to enhance the availability of sulforaphane is to enjoy broccoli and broccoli sprouts raw or lightly steamed, or to add active sources of myrosinase like mustard seed powder to cooked broccoli (

Stick To Your Medication And Insulin Regimen

Skipping a dose of medication or insulin can be harmful to your body and increase your blood sugar levels.

Its important to stick to your treatment plan and follow your doctors instructions for taking your medication.

Summary

Healthful lifestyle habits can help people manage their blood sugar levels over the long term, such as eating a balanced diet, getting regular exercise, staying hydrated, and getting good sleep.

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How To Control Blood Sugar Levels

For the majority of healthy individuals, normal blood sugar levels are as follows: Between 4.0 to 6.0 mmol/L when fasting. Up to 7.8 mmol/L 2 hours after eating.

For people with insulin resistance, their blood sugar levels remain high;long after having finished their meal.

Fortunately, there are many;foods you can eat that;can help you control blood sugar levels naturally.;As youll learn eventually, relying on expensive diabetes drugs in the long-run can have negative side effects on your body.

Below is;a;powerful;remedy that combines three simple ingredients to prevent your blood sugar levels from going rampant.

For this recipe all you will need is apple cider vinegar, water, and a boiled egg.

Option To Discuss With Your Physician

Some doctors that are integrated care practitioners or functional medicine specialists may recommend Type 2 diabetics add 1/8 to ¼ cup of nopal at a meal. This is a recommendation that has been made at some First Nation hospitals for Native American Indians who are diabetic and have exceptionally high blood sugar levels. Cactus leaves are indigenous food for this population.;

If you decide to do this, monitor your blood sugar levels more closely, as cactus is quite effective at lowering blood sugar level.;

One study on the effect of nopal on blood sugar levels tested its effect on those with type 2 diabetes. The addition of the nopal to the meal lowered the need for insulin and also reduced the after-meal peaks of blood sugar at 30 and 45 minutes.;

Korean scientists determined how cactus works in the body. Cactus inhibits glucose absorption from the intestine and enhances glucose uptake from insulin-sensitive muscle cells through the AMPK/p38 MAPK signaling pathway in the body.;

If you add cactus to your meal, donât be overzealous about it.

References

Lopez-Romero, P., et al. The effect of nopal on postprandial blood glucose, incretins, and antioxidant activity in Mexican patients with type 2 diabetes after consumption of two different composition breakfasts. J Acad Nutr Diet 2014 Nov;114:1811-8.

Try Pip Lancets for yourself. Were pretty sure youll never go back to traditional lancets!

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How To Reduce Blood Sugar In Pregnancy

Gestational diabetes is a condition that happens if you did not have diabetes before pregnancy, but you develop high blood sugar while you are pregnant. It becomes more likely during the late second and early third trimesters as insulin resistance increases. While many women are able to meet the higher insulin demands, others develop gestational diabetes.

Gestational diabetes can lead to complications such as high birth weight and low blood sugar for the baby, and pre-eclampsia and high risk for later type 2 diabetes. You are more at risk for the condition if you are obese when you get pregnant, you are black, Hispanic, Asian, or American Indian, or if you are 25 years or older when pregnant. The ways to lower your risk are to lose extra weight if you can with nutritious foods and to exercise regularly.

According to AACE, the goals in gestational diabetes are as follows. Also shown are the ADAs recommendations, which you can see are less strict.

• Fasting upon awakening: 60 to 90 mg/dl .
• Before a meal: 60 to 90 mg/dl.
• 1 hour after a meal: 100 to 120 mg/dl .

The same approaches that help with regular diabetes management of blood glucose in type 2 diabetes are used to help reduce blood sugar in pregnancy. To control blood sugar:

How Are Ketones Tested

Testing your blood or urine to measure your ketone levels can all be done at home. At-home testing kits are available for both types of tests, although urine testing continues to be more common. Urine tests are available without a prescription at most drugstores, or you can buy them online.

You should test your urine or blood for ketones when any of the following occurs:

• Your blood sugar is higher than 240 mg/dL.
• You have symptoms of DKA.
• You feel sick or nauseated, regardless of your blood sugar reading.

To perform a urine test, you urinate into a clean container and dip the test strip into the urine. For a child who isnt potty-trained, a parent can usually press the stick to their childs wet diaper to test for ketones.

Urine testing strips contain special chemicals that change colors when they react with ketones. You can interpret the test results by comparing the test strip to the color chart on the package. When you have ketones present in your urine, its called ketonuria.

An at-home meter is available to test for blood ketones. This is performed in a similar way to a finger-stick glucose test. You prick your finger with a needle and place a small drop of blood onto the testing area.

Doctors often recommend that people whove just received a diabetes diagnosis test their ketones twice daily.

While individual testing may vary, in general, results for ketone testing are labeled in the following way:

• swelling in your brain
• diabetic coma
• death

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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.

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:

Read Also: What Is A Normal A1c For A Non Diabetic

What Are Clinical Trials For Low Blood Glucose

Clinical trialsand other types of clinical studiesare part of medical research and involve people like you. When you volunteer to take part in a clinical study, you help doctors and researchers learn more about disease and improve health care for people in the future.

Researchers are studying many aspects of low blood glucose levels in diabetes, such as

• how to diagnose and treat low blood glucose among people with diabetes
• medicines that can treat symptoms of low blood glucose in people with hypoglycemia unawareness
• educational approaches to reduce fear of low blood glucose, which can make it harder for you to control your diabetes

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.

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Drink Water And Stay Hydrated

Drinking enough water may help you keep your blood sugar levels within healthy limits.

In addition to preventing dehydration, it helps your kidneys flush out the excess sugar through urine.

One observational study showed that those who drank more water had a lower risk for developing high blood sugar levels (

90 ).

Its important to monitor your waistline, as its perhaps the most crucial weight-related factor for estimating your diabetes risk.

A measurement of more than 35 inches for women and more than 40 inches for men is associated with an increased risk of developing insulin resistance, high blood sugar levels, and type 2 diabetes .

Having a healthy waist measurement may even be more important than your overall weight .

Summary

Keeping a moderate weight and waistline will help you maintain normal blood sugar levels and decrease your risk for developing diabetes.

Have A Protein/fat Snack

This is something to try the night before, but you can do it first thing in a morning if youre not going to eat your breakfast right away. Protein and healthy fats break down slowly in the body. This means the length of time you will fast is technically shorter: since it takes more time to get rid of the food and create the empty space.

Youll hear that cheese before bed is bad for you. It gives you nightmares because your digestive system is still working while you sleep. Well, sometimes its worth putting up with the initial nightmares to keep your glucose levels to a minimum on a morning.

So, what can you do on a morning instead? Start your day with a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and eat a slice of cheese. The two working together will help to balance out the hormones and get your digestive system working sooner than if you waited for breakfast.

Cheese is the protein/fat element, but the apple cider vinegar will have a direct effect on the blood sugar levels. Scientists havent worked out why it is so effective, but it has been proven. Check out more info on what kind of cheese can a diabetic eat here

You can also have a handful of nuts to get the same benefit. The nuts will also give you the selenium that your body needs to help balance out some of your hormones. You can keep nuts in your draw beside your bed to grab a handful before you get up!

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Keep An Eye On Portion Sizes

Eating a large meal puts a sugar load on your already struggling body. Overeating causes further damage to diabetics. An easy way to lower blood sugar levels naturally is to eat smaller portions. Dont worry; we are not going to ask you to starve yourself! In fact, portion control comes naturally when you choose the right grains, proteins and fats. Strive to eat in moderation. To achieve satiety, eat slowly and chew your food, so your brain has a chance to let you know when youre full. If you wolf down your food mindlessly, you eat a lot more than you need which stresses out the body.

Does Everyone Have Symptoms From Hypoglycemia

Some people dont have symptoms or dont notice them. Healthcare providers call that situation hypoglycemia unawareness. People with such a challenge arent aware when they need to do something about their blood sugar. Theyre then more likely to have severe episodes and need medical help. People with hypoglycemia unawareness should check their blood sugar more often.

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Take The Medication Unless Your Doctor Tells You Otherwise

Your doctor isnt medicating you for the sake of it. There are certain health problems that will require medication to help you control your levels. This is the case with diabetes.

Its important to visit your doctor regularly. Arranged for morning appointments when you have your checks to get your morning levels recorded on a regular basis. This way your doctor can see if your medication is still needed and whether there are other things you can do instead.

Only stop taking your medication if your doctor tells you so. Youll get a good idea by your glucose levels. Track them yourself to see if theyre getting lower one week to the next. If you see a significant drop, talk to your doctor about your options for cutting back or out your medication and trying more holistic options.

If you believe you need a second opinion, dont be afraid to get one from someone reputable. Just follow the advice from those who have the degrees!