If you have been a diabetic for very long, you have probably learned different ways to control your blood glucose levels. We know that diabetes can predispose us to all kinds of health problems. It’s much better to be proactive with our health than to merely eat and live haphazardly without any care to what you eat or how you control your blood sugar. I’ve made a little list of things that may be helpful in controlling your blood glucose levels. Not every method mentioned is a proven fix for blood sugars, but many do believe they work.
Ways to control blood your sugar
Vinegar: Everyone has heard about vinegar being good for weight loss. Vinegar isn’t really a magic potion to make a person lose weight, but it does help to keep blood glucose levels from spiking. We get hungry when our blood sugar levels spike and then dip down low again. Vinegar keeps the blood sugar from spiking. A person that regularly takes vinegar before a meal will reduce a blood sugar spike by approximately 30 percent.
Diet: A good way to control your blood glucose levels is to eat more protein and reduce the amount of carbs that you eat. When you do eat carbs, let them be the more healthy type of carbohydrates. Avoid the heavily processed carbs and eat more of the whole grain foods, like whole grain pasta and whole grain breads. If you like to eat pastry, try making your own with whole grain. There are healthier ways to make the foods you love. I like to make strawberry pie with fresh raw strawberries with strawberry syrup and whipped cream. I experimented by making this dessert with half white flour and half whole wheat flour. It turned out great. I bought a sugar free strawberry glaze to go in the strawberries and topped it with low fat cool whip. This dessert isn’t exactly the healthiest, but it is healthier than if it was chock full of white flour and sugar. You don’t have to deprive yourself of your favorite foods to keep your blood sugar normal; you can learn to make the foods you adore in a different way.
Cinnamon: Add cinnamon to your diet. It helps to maintain a healthy blood sugar. Mayoclinic.com reports that studies have shown that taking cinnamon twice daily for 90 days improved the A1C levels of the people in the study. There is no solid proof yet that cinnamon actually lowers blood glucose levels, but many people believe it is beneficial for that purpose. When I went to New York to visit my brother last year, I noticed that he kept a big sugar shaker filled with cinnamon and Splenda. He put that mixture on his oatmeal, in his coffee, and on his French toast.
Weight loss: I spoke of my brother in the last paragraph. He is a diabetic, but now he has no symptoms of diabetes. He lost a total of 160 pounds by using portion control and watching his blood glucose levels. The weight loss is surely one of the major reasons why his blood glucose levels are normal, and have been normal after he changed his lifestyle.
Avoid alcohol: Drinking alcohol will raise your blood sugar. Remember, when your glucose level is high and you have insulin resistant diabetes, you will gain weight. It’s a vicious cycle that promotes poor health related to diabetes related causes.
There’s nothing wrong with having an occasional drink or two, but if you know that your blood sugars will spike when you drink, it’s probably best not to drink. My brother went to Canada last year to visit a friend. He bought light beer and kept it in a cooler so he would have it when he got to his destination. His sugars went up some, but not as much as they would have had he drank regular beer. He gained a little weight from it too, because he is an insulin resistant diabetic, though he is under control with no symptoms anymore, so long as he uses good judgment.
Sources:
Mayoclinic.com
WebMd.com
My brother’s success with becoming a symptom free diabetic
