How to Reduce Blood Sugar Naturally

How to Reduce Blood Sugar Naturally

Lots have been said and written on the topic “How to reduce blood sugar“, and yet millions are struggling to keep their blood sugar in check. Reason? Failure to understand and modify the underlying lifestyle problems that lead to diabetes. Hence, it is crucial to realize that no magical herb or diet can help everybody in a short period. On the other hand, fortunately, diabetes is preventable in almost 80% of cases through appropriate changes in the lifestyle, by tweaking your routine and dietary habits.

When trying to reduce blood sugar naturally, it is vital to understand that diabetes is a chronic health disease that is the result of decades of health neglection. It does not occur overnight. Thus efforts to control blood sugar naturally must be persistent, and prolonged. With right kind of planning, diabetes is preventable.

What lifestyle issues cause my blood sugar to fluctuate?

Top two culprits that lead to diabetes are sedentary lifestyle and consumption of an excess of calories. People develop diabetes because either they are not physically active enough, or they consume more calories than they burn. Further, they get more calories from the fast absorbing sugars or carbs.

How to reduce blood sugar

Hence, two things two begin with are exercise and dietary analysis. Various epidemiological studies have demonstrated that 30 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise, kind of physical activity that makes you sweat a bit and makes your heart run faster, done at least five times a week may reduce the risk of diabetes by half. Large-scale diabetes prevention studies have also shown that lowering 7% or more of body weight may decrease the risk of diabetes by as much as 70%. What is fantastic that exercise and weight loss program are more effective than any known drug or herb. Majority of the people can expect to get excellent results within three months of exercise, weight and dietary correction.

Remember that there is a reason why researchers are calling sedentary lifestyle as “a new form of smoking,” lack of physical activity and obesity have emerged as significant causes of all the diseases.

How to reduce blood sugar through diet

Once you starts the exercise program, next step is dietary planning. Eating to control sugar does not mean compromising. It is somewhat about optimization and avoiding an excess of certain things. Perhaps the only thing to avoid with high sugar is the sugary food and drinks, better minimize their consumption. Do not confuse sweet with sugars. Thus eating fruits in moderation is good. They are a source of dietary fiber, vitamins, and have fructose (not sucrose).

When trying to control blood sugar, it is better to eat more often but in smaller portions. It is the sudden upsurge in blood sugar causing due to heavy diet, that finally causes insulin resistance and other health problems. So cut down on portions, and eat more often.

Next step is to invest your time in understanding the glycemic load and glycemic index. A person living with diabetes must eat more food items that are low in glycemic index and glycemic load. Glycemic index tells about how quickly the particular food would raise the blood sugar level. While glycemic load would determine “how much”.  Thus food items with high glycemic index and load are harmful (e.g., corn flakes, instant oatmeal). It is also important to understand that some food items are high in the glycemic index but low in load and thus can be consumed in moderation (e.g., watermelon), as these items do not have much of sugar (though fast absorbing, but low in quantity).

Many fruits are high on the glycemic index, but they are low in glycemic load. Further fruits are rich in other nutrients. Thus eating fruits in moderation is never a bad idea, even in those living with diabetes.

How to reduce blood sugar through other things

So once you have done your planning of physical activity and diet, there are few other things to include in lifestyle for optimal health and sugar control.

Practice mindfulness– engage in meditation, yoga, or tai chi to reduce the daily stress. Stress causes widespread hormonal disbalances. It results in the sustained rise of cortisol. This is often the reason for unexplained high blood sugar and high blood pressure.

Have enough of sleep– that is sleep for 7-9 hours a day and if that is not possible for you on the working days, try to catch up at the weekend by having a couple of hours of extra sleep. Sleep disorders are emerging as a significant health hazard in last few decades, that is both lack of enough sleep and poor quality of sleep.

Have more of dietary fiber and drink plenty of water. Modern diet, that is rich in food items by processing, is low in dietary fiber. Dietary fibers decrease blood sugar and also help to reduce blood pressure. While water help to stimulate metabolism, and detoxifies the body.

Micronutrients– taking vitamins and minerals from time to time may help. Getting them enough through diet is not always the option.

Give natural supplements and herbs a try. Many of them like cinnamon may help in reducing blood sugar in mild cases.

Conclusion

Finally, remember to monitor your body weight, blood pressure, and blood glucose regularly. Investing in the gadgets raises awareness, provides timely information and may help to prevent many of the health issues.

It is essential to understand that in chronic conditions like high blood sugar, the only way to health is through learning about the ailments, correcting lifestyle. Healthcare provider is just an adviser for your question “how to reduce blood sugar”.

Published by

Dr. Aleksandar Grbovic

Hi! My name is Aleksandar Grbovic. I’m a radiology resident with five years of experience in General Medicine. As a medical writer, I have only one goal in my mind - to bridge the gap between doctors and patients point of view by breaking down complex medical topics and presenting them in lay people language. Knowing that my writing might help someone out there connect the dots is what keeps me motivated.

2 thoughts on “How to Reduce Blood Sugar Naturally

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