5 Tips To Improve Your Blood Sugar Levels

If you have diabetes, pre-diabetes, are taking steroids or other medications that can raise your blood sugar, you may be wondering what you can do to better control your blood sugar levels. Here are five simple tips you can apply to every meal and practice everyday that will help you control your blood sugar levels.

1.) Eat more fiber

Research consistently shows that eating fiber can help prevent elevated blood sugar levels. Fiber is a type of carbohydrate that the body cannot digest. Fiber can help prevent the spike in blood sugar because fiber slows the absorption of sugar from food. This is why drinking orange juice will raise your blood sugar much more than an actual orange.

2.) Add a protein source or healthy fat to your meals

Protein and fat are slower to digest than carbohydrates. That is why pairing carbohydrate sources with a protein or fat source prevents a spike in blood sugar, because they help to delay the absorption of carbohydrates into the bloodstream. I recommend choosing lean and healthy sources of protein and fat, such as fish, tofu, nuts, seeds, avocado, olive oil, egg whites, skinless chicken, and plant based or non-fat greek yogurt. An example of this is adding almond butter (fat/protein) to toast (carbohydrate), avocado (healthy fat) to crackers (carbohydrate), or having a piece of fish (protein/fat) with sweet potatoes (carbohydrate).

3.) Fill up on non-starchy vegetetables

You might hear dietitians refer to non-starchy vegetables as a “free food” when it comes to eating while managing high blood sugars. This is because you can eat a large amount of non-starchy vegetables without it affecting your blood sugar levels. Plus vegetables (obviously) provide an incredible amount of health benefits. When creating a meal, I would recommend making about half your plate non-starchy vegetables. Examples of non-starchy vegetables include: asparagus, brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber, lettuce, tomato, mushroom, bell pepper, and zucchini.

4.) Hydrate!

Hydration is so important for many reasons… and controlling blood your sugar is one of them. Some studies have found that those with poor hydration were more likely to have increased blood sugar levels. I would recommend around 8 cups of water daily. If you are exercising, spending time in hot weather, or are taking certain medications you may need even more fluids. If you are someone who does not like the taste of water, try adding fruit or a dash of juice to plain water or carbonated water.

5.) Move your body

Research has shown us that light and moderate physical activity can help to control blood sugar levels. It is recommend to engage in 150 minutes of moderate physical activity every week. Examples of moderate physical activity include brisk walking, jogging, pilates, indoor cycling, dancing, yoga, strength training, and swimming. Sometimes very intense exercise, such as HIIT workouts, can temporarily raise your blood immediately following the workout.