How Can I Quickly Lower My Blood Sugar?

Management of blood sugar levels for those living with diabetes is paramount in order to prevent long-term complications; however, at times your levels may spike (hyperglycemia).

Drinking water and exercising are effective strategies for quickly lowering blood sugar. Water can prevent dehydration while exercise such as walking, jogging, bicycling or dancing can increase insulin sensitivity while helping your muscles use glucose for energy (4).

1. Eat Right

Maintaining an optimal blood sugar level is key for diabetes patients. Doing so can prevent long-term complications like vision loss and kidney damage. To manage your blood sugar effectively, follow your physician’s treatment plan and consume a balanced diet.

Start managing your blood sugar by eliminating processed foods that contain added sugar, sodium, and unhealthy fats. Instead, switch to eating nonstarchy vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, nuts, seeds, quality proteins (such as poultry fish and lean meat) along with minimally processed packaged goods with ingredients you can recognize like nuts seeds dried fruit rather than one that lists several sugars as ingredients like granola bars containing multiple sugars as ingredients.

Eating regular meals at regular times each day and avoiding skipping or overeating between meals are also vital components of overall good health. If you find yourself feeling hungry in between meals, snack on low-carb options such as berries or raw carrots to satisfy hunger pangs.

Staying hydrated requires drinking plenty of water; water helps your body get rid of excess sugar more rapidly. Opt for unsweetened beverages like tea and coffee in order to minimize sugar intake.

As part of your diabetes treatment plan, working with a registered dietitian to learn to count carbohydrates and make appropriate meal and snack choices may also help maintain consistent blood sugar levels throughout the day, which may reduce chances of sudden highs.

Other measures you can take to keep your blood sugar stable include maintaining a food journal and using a glucometer or insulin pump to track levels. Also make sure that you consume the correct serving sizes – using measuring cups or food scale at home can help here; alternatively check Nutrition Facts labels of products for this information. One promising approach could be taking apple cider vinegar supplements; it has been found helpful for lowering blood sugar in some people; however it should only be used alongside other measures designed to manage diabetes.

2. Exercise

Exercise programs can help both short and long term to control blood sugar. Exercise burns glucose as energy while also increasing insulin sensitivity to help avoid future spikes. it’s best to begin gradually increasing duration such as walking each day until reaching desired goal duration; check blood sugar before and after exercising with guidance from healthcare provider or diabetes educator on effective monitoring methods.

Steady-state cardiovascular exercises like walking, jogging and swimming don’t require your body to deliver sudden bursts of energy in quick bursts; thus, blood sugar tends to remain stable or decrease during these types of activities. On the other hand, high intensity exercises such as HIIT and strength training cause adrenaline release which raises your blood sugar level because your body no longer receives fuel from fat but instead must turn to glucose for energy instead.

If you are experiencing high blood sugar, it’s vital that you call 911 or go directly to the emergency room immediately. Prolonged periods of high blood sugar levels can damage both the pancreas and nervous system and lead to serious, possibly life-threatening complications.

If your blood sugar is above 250 mg/dL (13.9 mmol/L), exercising may not be safe as food and insulin alone may not be enough to bring back down its levels. Before exercising, it is recommended that you eat a snack containing carbohydrates (such as fruit juice, yogurt or granola bars ) to bring back down your blood sugar levels to safe ranges. Before exercising, it is also wise to test your urine for ketones – substances produced when your body breaks down fat for energy – to determine whether your levels are safe to exercise in. If there are ketones present, exercise should not take place as this could further raise your blood sugars and potentially increase insulin resistance. Insulin can help quickly lower blood sugar, but only when taken under medical advice and at prescribed intervals. Fast-acting insulins may start working within 15 minutes while oral diabetes medications take several hours before they take full effect.

3. Stay Hydrated

Dietitians concur that beverages play an equally crucial role in managing blood sugar. Remaining hydrated is the ideal way to bring elevated blood sugar down quickly to healthy levels; in fact, being even slightly dehydrated can increase glucose levels, according to dietitian Erin Palinski-Wade. For maximum effects in terms of fast lowering of blood sugar quickly, unsweetened filtered water or unsweetened tea with no added sugar should be used as the ideal drink; other options could include seltzer water without sugar added directly or fruit juice without added sugar; other alternatives could include caffeine- or alcohol-containing beverages which could dehydrate and potentially spike blood sugar.

Fresh, filtered water in the house is an effective reminder to stay hydrated, helping prevent high blood sugars from sneaking up on you unexpectedly. Carrying a bottle with you at all times is also recommended so you can replenish it whenever your blood sugar begins to increase or prior to exercise; doing this could prevent reaching for something unhealthy like soda or sweet snacks instead.

Apple cider vinegar (ACV) may help reduce blood sugar by helping improve insulin sensitivity, enabling muscle cells to take in glucose as fuel for fueling their muscles and using up glucose as fuel efficiently. ACV may provide a natural, cost-effective method of quickly returning your blood sugar back to normal without resorting to medications.

Summer can be an easy time to lose track of our health, especially with children out of school, vacations and summer activities taking up so much of our time. But it is essential that we maintain our exercise routines, monitor blood sugars regularly (four or more times daily), make smart food choices and follow any signs of dangerously high blood sugar as soon as possible to reduce complications such as shakiness or blurred vision; additionally it is advisable to discuss potential treatments with our doctor or care team to find one best suited to us personally.

4. Relax

Stress from daily life or diabetes management can elevate blood sugar. This occurs because stress triggers cortisol production to boost liver production of glucose for release by the liver – raising blood sugar. Though short term stress management strategies such as this may provide short term solutions, chronically raised blood sugars may cause long-term complications.

Relaxation techniques like breathing exercises, meditation, yoga and stretching may help lower stress levels and can improve blood sugars. Furthermore, laughing with friends or engaging in spiritual activities may lower stress hormones and thus stress.

Regularly checking your blood sugar before and after exercise allows you to see how different activities affect it and helps avoid excessive low or high levels. Also, try breaking up long sitting sessions throughout the day by performing light resistance exercises or walking for just a few minutes; this will prevent build-ups of glucose in feet and legs that could otherwise lead to hypoglycemia. For further assistance on managing blood sugars, speak to your physician or dietitian; they can teach how to eat right, exercise properly, and relax for optimal blood sugar control.