How to Reduce Blood Sugar Level: 6 Best Things You Can Do Now

My grandma recently asked me how to reduce blood sugar levels. It was after she was admitted to the hospital for hypoglycemia. That was why I decided to write about it.

Reducing blood sugar levels is not as complicated as it seems, yet difficult for a lot of people. Why? Because every one of us is unique in our own way. Our bodies react differently to the foods we eat and the exercises we involve in.

That is why you need to know how to reduce blood sugar levels in the best way suited for you.

Doing these six things would help you reduce your blood sugar level and keep it close to normal, prevent you from having diabetes complications, and eventually make you live healthier. Okay! Let’s get to it.

1. Choose your food wisely

The first and most important way to reduce blood sugar level is to be careful when choosing your food. The food you eat is one of the main things that affect the rise and fall of your sugar level.

That is why it is important to be very mindful of what you eat. Try hard to avoid greasy, starchy, sodium, sodas, and foods with transfat.

Instead, choose your foods from healthier options such as barley, yogurt, oats, beans, lentils, nonstarch vegetables, legumes, and white pasta.

You should also make it a point never to skip your meals. If possible, eat at the same time and intervals each day. Doing so would help your diabetes pills to work more effectively, reduce blood sugar level, and keep it close to normal.

Another thing you should be mindful of is the portion of food you eat. Eating too much at a go would make your sugar level rise too much. That’s why you should eat small portions at a time.

For those of you who have large appetites, here’s a tip. Instead of eating three large bowls of food a day, you could split it into five to six small portions. Doing this would ensure that your body has a constant supply of energy, thereby preventing your blood sugar from going too high or too low.

2. Keeping a record of everything you eat would help you reduce your blood sugar

According to experts, keeping a food journal would help you to know exactly what you ate and how it affected your blood sugar level.

When you do this carefully and consistently, you’d have the insight to make a well-functioning and customized diet plan for yourself.

You should note that foods are not the only things to keep a record of.

Anything you drink and the exercises you do should be tracked to see how your body responds to it.

3. Keeping track of your sugar level would help you manage it

Another way to reduce your blood sugar level is to keep a record of your daily sugar levels to see what makes them go up and down. You can easily do this by checking your blood sugar level before and after everything you eat and drink, as well as any physical activity that you do.

Best time to check your blood sugar

First thing in the morning when you wake up

Before a meal

At bedtime

Blood sugar normal ranges

Fasting: less than 100mg/dL

Before meal: 80-130 mg/dL

Two hours after meal: less than 180mg/dL

Bedtime: 100-140mg/dL

Even though these are average blood sugar ranges, speak with your doctor to know exactly which ranges relate to you.

Apart from doing these regular tests, it is recommended to take an A1C test regularly.

4. Maintain a healthy weight

Maintaining a healthy weight is very essential when it comes to reducing blood sugar levels. This is because being overweight reduces insulin sensitivity. What this means is that being overweight makes your body resist insulin. That’s why paying attention to your weight is very important especially when you have diabetes.

According to research, even a 7% reduction in your body weight can decrease your risk of developing diabetes by up to 58%, and it seems to even work even better than a common diabetes medication.

In caring for your body weight, focus on your waistline because it’s probably the most crucial weight-related factor for estimating your diabetes risk.

When you measure more than 35 inches for a woman and more than 40 inches for men, then you are at risk of insulin resistance, high blood sugar levels, and T2D

5. Manage your stress levels

Managing your stress level is one of the things you could do to reduce your sugar level. Why? Because when under stress, your body produces hormones that make your blood sugar level rise.

Aside from those blood-sugar-rising hormones that stress produces, it makes you forget your diabetes medicine, overeat which would make your blood sugar rise, and also make your heartbeat irregular patterns.

One way to manage your stress level is through exercise.

Exercising shouldn’t be a neck-breaking activity. Taking a walk, using the stairs instead of the elevator, standing while making a call, jumping rope, or a few jumping jacks could go a long way to improve your circulation and also reduce blood sugar level.

Exercise not only reduces sugar levels but also helps maintain a healthy body weight. Being overweight especially around your midsection makes your body more resistant to insulin, thereby worsening the diabetic situation. That’s why you should take exercise and weight management practices very seriously.

6. Limit alcohol intake

Another subtle but relevant way to reduce blood sugar level is to watch your alcohol intake.

When you have diabetes, drinking alcohol would affect your blood sugar in various ways. Here’s why. Alcohol increases your appetite, making you eat more than you should, and at the end make your sugar level rise.

Besides, high alcohol intake drops your sugar level, interferes with diabetes medications and insulin, and increases your blood pressure.

Therefore, if you must drink alcohol, keep this tip in mind: For each alcoholic beverage, drink down one glass of water—this will help you stay well hydrated and consume less alcohol.

Do not drink alcohol on an empty stomach. Instead, have a snack or meal as you sip or immediately beforehand to reduce your risk of hypoglycemia.

Take away

Maintaining a constant blood sugar level is simple to do and yet difficult for some people. To reduce your blood sugar level or keep it close to the normal range, choose your foods wisely, keep records of everything you eat, track your sugar level, maintain your weight through exercise, manage stress levels, and finally, limit alcohol intake.

Okay! That’s all for now. What else have you been doing to reduce your blood sugar level? Do you have any expert advice you would like to share? Is there anything I forgot to include? Please comment below.

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