What To Eat If Blood Sugar Is High

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.

Choose The Healthiest Carbohydrates

Of the major nutrients found in food carbs, protein, and fat carbs have the biggest effect on your blood sugar. Thats because carbs are the most quickly broken down into glucose for energy. Having too many carbs, or the wrong type of carbs, can lead to spikes in your blood sugar.

The best way to figure out how the carbs you eat affect your blood sugar is to test your levels before and after meals. The American Diabetes Association recommends keeping track of the number of carbs you have per meal. The amount you should eat may vary depending on what it looks like to successfully manage your diabetes. Choose healthy, complex carbs such as whole fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans, and lentils. Because they contain fiber and are less processed, these foods dont lead to as many swings in your blood sugar levels. Stay away from refined carbs such as soda, candy, white pasta, white rice, white bread, and other processed foods they can cause blood sugar to rise quickly.

Get Your Minerals And Vitamins From Foods

Theres no evidence that mineral and vitamin supplements help you manage your diabetes. So, unless youve been told to take something by your healthcare team, like folic acid for pregnancy, you dont need to take supplements.

Its better to get your essential nutrients by eating a mixture of different foods. This is because some supplements can affect your medications or make some diabetes complications worse, like kidney disease.

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How To Fix High Blood Sugars In The Morning

The Dawn Phenomenon

More than half of people with diabetes are thought to experience dawn phenomenon, and it can lead to significant increases in HbA1c.

The dawn phenomenon begins when your body secretes a surge of hormones, including growth hormone, cortisol, adrenaline and glucagon. These hormones start working very early each morning around the same time to prepare your body to wake. Basically, your body is starting the engine, releasing some fuel, and prepping to go for the day.

These hormones trigger the conversion of the livers glycogen stores into glucose which is then dumped into the blood in a process called glycogenolysis.

This general process occurs in all humans regardless of whether they have diabetes. In people without diabetes, the bodys natural insulin response prevents the blood sugars from rising. In people with diabetes, though, the body is unable to produce a healthy insulin response, and therefore blood glucose levels spike up.

The Mayo Clinic suggests several strategies you can try to combat the effects of dawn phenomenon:

• Use an insulin pump to administer extra insulin during early-morning hours.
• Avoid carbohydrates at bedtime.
• Adjust your dose of medication or insulin.
• Switch to a different glucose-lowering medication.
• Adjust the time when you take your medication or insulin from dinnertime to bedtime.

What Works for Some People

High Blood Sugars from the Night Before

Reactive Hypoglycemia

How To Lower Morning Blood Sugar

Whether a morning high is caused by the dawn phenomenon or something else, here are a few things you can try to lower your blood sugar levels:

• Physical activity when you wake up can help bring your glucose level down. Even going for a walk can be helpful.

• To learn about exercise guidelines and glucose management strategies, click here.

• Read Adam Browns take on walking the most underrated diabetes exercise strategy.

This article is part of a series on time in range.

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What Happens When You Are Sick

When you are sick, your body reacts by releasing hormones to fight infection. But these hormones raise blood sugar levels and at the same time make it more difficult for insulin to lower blood sugar. When you have diabetes, even a minor illness can lead to dangerously high blood sugar. This may cause life-threatening complications, such as diabetic ketoacidosis or a hyperosmolar hyperglycemic state .

Think About What’s 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. “I had a cold and had had orange juice yesterday and I normally do not drink orange juice and I thought, ‘I better not do that,'” 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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Add Extra Activity To Your Daily Routine

If you have been inactive or you are trying a new activity, start slowly, with 5 to 10 minutes a day. Then add a little more time each week. Increase daily activity by spending less time in front of a TV or other screen. Try these simple ways to add physical activities in your life each day:

• Walk around while you talk on the phone or during TV commercials.
• Do chores, such as work in the garden, rake leaves, clean the house, or wash the car.
• Park at the far end of the shopping center parking lot and walk to the store.
• Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
• Make your family outings active, such as a family bike ride or a walk in a park.

If you are sitting for a long time, such as working at a desk or watching TV, do some light activity for 3 minutes or more every half hour.5 Light activities include

• leg lifts or extensions

Can Certain Foods Lower Blood Sugar

When it comes to lowering blood sugar that’s already high, eating more food won’t lower it, but here are a few tips to keep in mind. “Foods can’t lower blood sugar once it is high, but you can exercise to help lower blood sugar,” says Shapiro. This is why you might have heard it’s a good idea to take a walk after meals, since walking is one way to help lower your blood sugar.

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Key Nutrients For Blood Sugar Balance: Protein Fat Fiber

Just because carbohydrates and sugar spike your blood sugar doesn’t mean you have to avoid them all the time. The best way to balance out your blood sugar is to pair your higher-carb foods and sugar with protein, healthy fats and ideally fiber. When you pair carbohydrates with protein or fat, the rate that the sugar or carbs are absorbed is slowed, making it easier on your blood sugar, according to Shapiro. When you look at your plate, the goal is to balance the ratio of carbs with healthy protein and fat so you know that your blood sugar won’t spike too high, which can result in a crash or dramatic dip later.

Can Anyone With High Blood Sugar Take Oranges

Oranges help in the fight against high blood sugar. But be careful not to exceed the quantity. Oranges are full of fiber which takes longer to break down and digest. This allows for a slow release of sugar and ensures that blood glucose levels are stable over a long period of time. Beware of drinking the juice. It can be harmful because it contains less fiber. The American Diabetes Association recommends eating no more than 45-60 grams of carbohydrates per meal. An average orange contains around 15 grams of carbohydrates, while a large one can provide up to double this amount.

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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.

What Causes High Morning Blood Sugars

Two main culprits prompt morning highs: the dawn phenomenon and waning insulin. A third, much rarer cause, known as the Somogyi effect, may also be to blame.

The occasional morning high will have little impact on your A1C, a measure of your average blood sugar levels over time that indicates how well managed your diabetes is. But if those highs become consistent, they could push your A1C up into dangerous territory.

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Offset Carbs With Fat And Protein

When carbs are consumed as part of a meal that includes protein and fat, they affect blood sugar more slowly. For this reason, planning ahead for healthy, balanced meals is fundamental to good diabetes management, says Jenny Champion, RD, a diabetes educator, personal trainer, and editor of Posh Paleo Magazine.

To make sure your meals are well-balanced, the ADA suggests this method of filling your plate:

• Half your plate: non-starchy vegetables, such as spinach, carrots, tomatoes, or greens
• A quarter of your plate: grains and starchy foods, such as whole grain noodles, rice, or potatoes
• A quarter of your plate: lean protein, such as beef, fish, chicken, or tofu
• Add an 8-ounce glass of low-fat milk and a piece of fruit or half a cup of fruit salad on the side.

Remember that even if you eat the right foods, eating too much can cause your blood sugar to rise. Keeping track of what youre eating and how much youre eating and then how it affects blood sugar is the best way to stay on top of your diabetes, Champion says.

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!

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The 10 Best Foods To Control Diabetes And Lower Blood Sugar

If you have diabetes, you know how difficult it can be to manage your diet and control your blood sugar levels. Certain foods cause massive spikes while others actually lower blood sugar, but many people go through years of trial and error before they find out what works for them. Luckily, thanks to years of scientific findings, weve been able to determine what foods are better than others. In this article, well discuss the 10 best foods to control diabetes and lower blood sugar.

To get the most out of your food, consider diabetic meal planning. Planning and preparing meals ahead of time will reduce the likelihood of snacking or unhealthy eating and will help you save time and energy throughout the week.

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

Remember, a bedtime snack is only helpful for some people. To see if it works for you, youll have to carefully monitor your glucose before bed, during the night, and when you wake up.

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Asprosin The White Lady

Asprosin is a new hormone, it was first described in 2016.

Her existence only came to light when researchers began studying a genetic condition, known as neonatal progeroid syndrome.

Folks with this condition, dont make asprosin.

And this impacts their glucose metabolism.

In a good waysort of.

Consider Talking To Your Doctor

If you think you’ve been doing all you can to keep blood sugar in control, but still have high blood sugar readings, it might be time to switch medication. Diabetes is a progressive disease, and over time, the beta cells in the pancreas that produce insulin can stop making the hormone. “So, even if your numbers have held steady for years, that could change if the beta cells change, which is usually a gradual change but can be sudden,” says Rice. “That change doesn’t mean you’ve done anything wrong, it’s just the nature of the disease. The beta cells can only put out so much insulin, and over time they start to put out less.” Your doctor will look at the big picture and do additional testing to find out if there is a bigger problem.

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What Is High Blood Sugar

High blood sugar occurs when theres a buildup of excess glucose in the bloodstream. This is more often a concern for someone with diabetes than it is for someone without it. Our bodies are typically pretty great at keeping our blood sugar in perfect balance, Deena Adimoolam, M.D., assistant professor of endocrinology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, tells SELF. But in some situations, like when a person has diabetes, high blood sugar can happen.

Blood sugar is measured in milligrams per deciliter , and a fasting blood sugar of greater than 125 mg/dL is considered hyperglycemic, the Cleveland Clinic says. A person can also be considered to have hyperglycemia if their blood glucose level is higher than 180 mg/dL one to two hours after eating, the Cleveland Clinic says.