High blood sugar, often known as hyperglycemia, is connected with diabetes and prediabetes. Prediabetes is defined as having high blood sugar levels but not being diabetic. Normally, your body maintains blood sugar levels by making insulin, a hormone that helps your cells to utilize the sugar in your blood. As a result, insulin is the most significant blood sugar regulator.
To avoid numerous health issues, keep your blood sugar levels near to normal. The American Diabetes Association recommends blood sugar levels of 70 to 130 mg/dL before meals and fewer than 180 mg/dL after meals for diabetics.
Blood sugar control is especially crucial for diabetics since chronically high blood sugar levels can cause limb and life-threatening consequences. Here are top 5 simple and scientifically proven strategies to naturally reduce your blood sugar levels.
Exercise regularly
Regular exercise can help you achieve and maintain a healthy weight while also increasing insulin sensitivity. Increased insulin sensitivity implies that your cells can utilise the available sugar in your circulation more efficiently. Exercise also aids in the use of blood sugar for energy and muscular contraction.
If you struggle with blood sugar control, consider testing your levels before and after exercising on a regular basis. This will assist you in learning how you respond to various activities and will keep your blood sugar levels from becoming too high or low.
Furthermore, if you have difficulty allocating longer lengths of time to exercise throughout the week, you may still get many advantages by undertaking shorter sessions. Try aiming for 10-minute exercise sessions three times a day for five days, with a weekly target of 150 minutes.
Manage your food intake
Control your carbohydrate consumption
Your carbohydrate consumption has a big impact on your blood sugar levels. Carbohydrates are broken down by the body into sugars, mostly glucose. Then, insulin helps your body consume and store it for energy. When you eat too many carbohydrates or have insulin-function issues, this process fails and blood glucose levels rise. That is why the American Diabetes Association (ADA) suggests that persons with diabetes regulate their carb consumption by counting carbohydrates and understanding how much they require.
Consume more fiber
Fiber promotes a more gradual rise in blood sugar levels by slowing food breakdown and sugar absorption. Fiber is classified into two types: insoluble and soluble. Soluble fiber has been specifically demonstrated to help blood sugar control, however insoluble fiber has not. A high fiber diet can help your body balance blood sugar and prevent blood sugar lows. This might help you control type 1 diabetes better. Fiber consumption should be around 25 grams for women and 35 grams for males per day. That works out to around 14 grams per 1,000 calories.
Choose low glycemic index foods
The glycemic index (GI) assesses how fast carbohydrates are broken down during digestion and absorbed by your body. This influences the rate at which your blood sugar levels rise.
The GI classifies foods as low, medium, or high GI and grades them from 0 to 100. Low GI foods have a GI score of 55 or lower.
The number and kind of carbohydrates you consume both influence how a food impacts your blood sugar levels. Eating low GI foods, in particular, has been demonstrated to lower blood sugar levels in diabetics. Adding protein or healthy fats also helps to reduce blood sugar increases after meals.
Eat foods high in chromium and magnesium
Micronutrient deficiencies have been related to high blood sugar levels and diabetes. Deficits in the minerals chromium and magnesium are two examples.
Chromium has a role in carbohydrate and fat metabolism. It may enhance the action of insulin, so assisting in blood sugar management.
Magnesium has also been demonstrated to improve blood glucose levels. In fact, magnesium-rich diets are connected with a much lower incidence of diabetes.
Drink plenty of water to keep hydrated
Drinking adequate water may assist you in maintaining appropriate blood sugar levels. It not only keeps you hydrated, but it also helps your kidneys flush away extra sugar through urine.
According to one assessment of observational studies, those who drank more water had a decreased chance of acquiring high blood sugar levels. Drinking water on a daily basis may help to rehydrate the blood, lower blood sugar levels, and minimize the risk of diabetes.
Keep in mind that water and other zero-calorie beverages are ideal. Avoid sugar-sweetened alternatives, which can elevate blood glucose levels, cause weight gain, and increase the risk of diabetes.
Get plenty good sleep
A good night's sleep helps to keep your blood sugar levels stable and encourages a healthy weight. Poor sleep, on the other hand, can disrupt critical metabolic hormones. In reality, poor sleeping patterns and a lack of rest can have an impact on blood sugar levels and insulin sensitivity, raising the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. They can also stimulate hunger and cause weight gain.
Furthermore, sleep loss elevates levels of the hormone cortisol, which, as previously stated, plays an important role in blood sugar regulation. Adequate sleep is concerned with both amount and quality. Adults should receive at least 7-8 hours of high-quality sleep every night, according to the National Sleep Foundation.
Try to control your stress levels
Blood sugar levels can be affected by stress. When you are stressed, your body produces chemicals called glucagon and cortisol, which raise blood sugar levels. One research of students found that exercise, relaxation, and meditation dramatically decreased stress and blood sugar levels. Yoga and mindfulness-based stress reduction may also aid in the correction of insulin secretion abnormalities in persons with chronic diabetes.
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