While there are no foods that bring down blood sugar levels quickly, adding the following to your diet can help keep your diabetes under control.
Although diet plays a major role in regulating your bloodsugar levels, there are no specific foods that can bring down yourblood sugar quickly. You can, however, include foods in your diet that will help to keep your blood sugar at healthy levels and prevent episodes ofblood sugar spikes.
A healthy diabetes meal plan contains various nutrients in healthy proportions.
Some of the foods that help keep your bloodsugar levels in the healthy range include vegetables, fruits, and whole grains.
What is the best thing to eat when your blood sugar is high?
Including the following foods in healthy proportions along with regular physical activity can help you manage your blood sugar levels. You can seek your doctor’s or nutritionist’s help to design a healthy meal plan.
- Vegetables:
- Green peas
- Onions
- Lettuce
- Cabbage
- Leafy greens such as spinach, collards, and kale
- Green beans
- Tomatoes
- Cucumbers
- Bok choy
- Artichokes
- Brussels sprouts
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Celery
- Eggplant
- Peppers
- Zucchini
- Crookneck squash
- Snow peas
- Certain fruits:
- Apples
- Pears
- Plum
- Avocado
- Olives
- Dried apricots
- Unripe banana
- Peaches
- Strawberries
- Oranges
- Cherries
- Coconut
- Grapefruit
- Cranberries
- Blueberries
- Whole or minimally processed grains:
- Barley
- Whole wheat
- Oat bran and rice bran cereals
- Whole grain pasta
- Whole-grain pumpernickel bread
- Sourdough bread
- Wheat tortilla
- Nuts and seeds, which can be eaten as snacks
- Poultry such as chicken and turkey
- Eggs and egg whites
- Fish and shellfish
- Meat such as beef and pork
- Oils such as extra virgin olive oil and canola oil
- Spices such as cinnamon and supplements like apple cider vinegar
- Dairy and dairy-substitute products:
- Plain yogurt
- Cheese
- Cottage cheese
- Milk
- Soy milk and yogurt
How can I lower my blood sugar quickly? 7 easy ways
Here are seven easy ways to lower blood sugar levels naturally.
Natural remedies can help reduce blood sugar levels. However, medical treatment may also be required if blood sugar levels remain consistently high. Hence, you must consult a doctor.
Some natural ways to control blood sugar levels include:
- Exercise: Regular exercise can help maintain a moderate weightand increase insulin sensitivity. Increased insulin sensitivity makes the cells use the available sugar in the bloodstream. Moreover, exercise helps your muscles use blood sugar for energy and muscle contraction. Useful forms of exercise include weightlifting, brisk walking, running, biking, dancing, hiking, swimming, etc.
- Low-carb diet: The body breaks down carbohydrates into sugars (mostly glucose), and then insulin helps the body use and store sugar for energy. Having too many carbs can cause insulin levels to fluctuate and may reduce insulin sensitivity. A low-carb diet is beneficial in controlling blood sugar in the long run.
- Fiber intake: Fiber slows carb digestion, regulates appetite, absorbs sugar, and promotes a more gradual increase in blood sugar levels. Soluble fiber explicitly improves blood sugar management. A high-fiber dietcontaining vegetables, fruits, legumes, and whole grains can help better manage type 1 diabetes by improving the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar and reducing blood sugar lows.
- Implement portion control: Portion control helps regulate calorie intake and can help maintain a moderate weight. Consequently, weight management promotes healthy blood sugar levels and reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes.
- Low glycemic index (GI) foods: Eating low-GI foods reduces blood sugar levels in people with diabetes. GI measures how the body absorbs or digests foods, which affects the rate at which blood sugar levels increase. Foods with low (up to 55) to moderate (56-69) GI includes barley, yogurt, oats, burglar, beans, legumes, etc.
- Stress management: Stress can affect blood sugar levels. Hormones such as glucagon and cortisol are secreted during stress. Exercise, relaxation, and meditation significantly reduce stress and lower blood sugar levels.
- Hydration: Drinking enough water may help keep blood sugar levels within healthy limits. In addition to preventing dehydration, it helps the kidneys flush out excess sugar through urine.
*REMOVED_2*
Diabetesordiabetes mellitusis a long-term health condition that is characterized by high blood glucose levels. The disease affects the ability of the body to convert food into energy inside the body.
- The food you eat is converted to simpler forms, most commonly glucose, inside the body.
- When the glucose in the blood increases, the body releases a hormone calledinsulinin the blood.
- Insulin brings high blood glucose levels back to normal levels.
Indiabetes, either there is a deficiency of insulin or the body is unable to respond to insulin (insulin resistance). In either of the cases, there is an increased concentration of glucose in the blood known ashyperglycemia.
If you havediabetes, you must check your bloodsugarlevels regularly to make sure the levels are not too low (less than 70 mg/dL calledhypoglycemia) or too high (more than 180 mg/dL). Depending on your age and any other health conditions, your doctor may advise you to keep your bloodsugarlevel in a range that they consider will be safe and healthy for you.
Whenever your blood sugar level is over 240 mg/dL, you must check the presence of ketones in the urine by using an over-the-counter (OTC) ketone test kit. High levels of ketones can be a sign of a serious medical emergency called diabeticketoacidosis.
Seek urgent medical help if your urine shows the presence of ketones or you have any signs of ketoacidosis, such as fastbreathing,nausea, vomiting,stomachache,headache, or fruity smell from the mouth.
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What causes blood sugar levels to spike?
To know how you can manage blood sugarlevels at home, you need to know what can cause a sudden spike.
Some of the reasons include:
- Missing a dose ofdiabetes medications
- Not following the diabetes meal plan
- Lack of physical activity
- Presence of some infection
- The wrong technique of taking insulin injections (your doctor will teach you how to inject insulin properly)
- Wrong dosage or timing (concerning a meal) of diabetes medications
- Anystressor injury including surgery
Managing diabetesby making lifestyle changes such as eating healthy, staying physically active, managingstress, and taking your drugs as prescribed is particularly important. Diabetes is often linked to high blood pressure and heart disease, so keeping your condition under control is crucial.
A high blood sugar level can be quickly brought down by injecting rapidly acting insulin. You can ask your doctor about the dosage to be injected to prevent bringing down your blood sugar to dangerously low levels. If your blood sugar levels are very high, exercising may help to bring them down.
Frequent or persistently high blood sugar levels require medical attention to identify the cause of hyperglycemia. Talk to your healthcare provider for more information.
Medically Reviewed on 12/22/2022
References
Harvard Health Publishing. Healthy Eating for Blood Sugar Control. October 2015. https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/healthy-eating-for-blood-sugar-control
https://www.stamfordhealth.org/healthflash-blog/integrative-medicine/type-2-diabetes-natural-remedies/
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/Diabetes-herbal.html
