How to Control Diabetes

April 11, 2022

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Keeping your blood glucose levels within the range recommended by your doctor is often demanding. Many factors change your blood sugar levels, and sometimes they are unexpected. Following are some factors that may affect your blood glucose levels.

Food
Engage in physical activities regularly
Get enough sleep
How can I control diabetes immediately?
How can I naturally control diabetes?
What are the three ways to control diabetes?
What can I drink to control diabetes?
What should you eat to control sugar?

Food

Healthy eating could be a foundation of healthy living with or without diabetes. But if you are diagnosed with diabetes, you need to understand how foods affect your blood sugar levels. It isn’t only the sort of food you eat, but also what proportion you eat and the combinations of food types you eat.

Here’s what you can do

Learning about carbohydrate counting and portion sizes – A key to several diabetes management plans is learning to count carbohydrates. Carbohydrates often have the most crucial impact on your blood sugar levels. In addition, for people taking mealtime insulin, it is vital to understand the number of carbohydrates in your food to get the proper insulin dose.
Considering portion size is suitable for each food type – Simplify your meal planning by writing down portions for foods you eat often. Use measuring cups or a scale to ensure proper portion size and an accurate carbohydrate count.
Making every meal well balanced – The maximum amount possible, plan for each meal to have a decent mix of starches, fruits and vegetables, proteins, and fats. Pay attention to the categories of carbohydrates you decide on. Some carbohydrates, such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains, are better for you than others. These foods are low in carbohydrates and have fibre that helps keep your blood sugar levels more stable. Confer with your doctor, nurse or dietitian about the simplest food choices and, therefore, the appropriate balance of food types.
Coordinating your meals and medications – Insufficient food in proportion to your diabetes medications, especially insulin, may lead to low blood sugar (hypoglycemia). Conversely, an excessive amount of food may cause your blood glucose level to climb too high (hyperglycemia). Ask your diabetes health care team about how to best coordinate meal and drug schedules.
Avoiding sugar-sweetened beverages – Sugar-sweetened beverages tend to be high in calories and offer little nutrition. And since they cause blood sugar to rise quickly, it is best to avoid these forms of drinks if you’ve got diabetes.

The exception is if you’re experiencing a coffee blood sugar level. Sugar-sweetened beverages, like soda, juice and sports drinks, are often used as an efficient treatment for quickly raising blood sugar that’s too low.

Best and not-so-best food to eat when you are diabetic

1. Starches

Your body needs carbs. But you want to choose wisely. So use this list as a guide.

Best Choices

Whole grains, such as brown rice, oatmeal, quinoa, millet, or amaranth
Baked sweet potato
Items made with whole grains and no (or very little) added sugar

Not-so-good choice

Processed grains, such as white rice or white flour
Cereals with tiny whole grains and lots of sugar
White bread
French fries
Fried white-flour tortillas

2. Vegetables

Best Choices

Fresh veggies, eaten raw or lightly steamed, roasted, or grilled
Plain frozen vegetables, lightly steamed
Greens such as kale, spinach, and arugula. Iceberg lettuce is not as great because it’s low in nutrients.
Low sodium or unsalted canned vegetables

Not-so-good choices

Canned vegetables with lots of added sodium
Veggies cooked with lots of added butter, cheese, or sauce
Pickles, if you need to limit sodium. Otherwise, pickles are OK.
Sauerkraut, for the same reason as pickles. Limit them if you have high blood pressure.

3. Fruits

They give you carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and fibre. Most are naturally low in fat and sodium. But they tend to have more carbs than vegetables do.

Best Choices

Fresh fruit
Plain frozen fruit or fruit canned without added sugar
Sugar-free or low-sugar jam or preserves
No-sugar-added applesauce

Not-so-good choices

Canned fruit with heavy sugar syrup
Chewy fruit rolls
Regular jam, jelly, and preserves (unless you have a tiny portion)
Sweetened applesauce
Fruit punch, fruit drinks, fruit juice drinks

Engage in physical activities regularly.

Regular exercise can help you reach and maintain a moderate weight and increase insulin sensitivity. It also helps your muscles use blood sugar for energy and muscle contraction.
If you are someone with blood sugar, consider routinely checking your levels before and after exercising. This can assist you in learning the way you respond to different activities and keep your blood sugar levels from getting too high or low.
Exercise snacks mean that you split your sitting time every half-hour for just a few minutes throughout the day. A number of the recommended exercises include light walking or simple resistance exercises like squats or leg raises.
Any activity that regularly gets you up and moving regardless of the intensity beats a sedentary lifestyle such as walking, weight lifting, running, dancing, hiking, swimming, etc.
Try aiming for 10-minute exercise sessions three times daily for five days, with the goal of 150 minutes per week.

Get enough sleep

Getting enough sleep feels excellent and is necessary for good health. Poor sleeping habits and an absence of rest can affect blood sugar levels and insulin sensitivity, increasing the chance of developing type 2 diabetes. they can also increase appetite and promote weight gain
Additionally, sleep deprivation raises levels of the hormone cortisol, which, as explained, plays a vital role in blood sugar management.
7-8 hours of high-quality sleep per night is necessary to keep the blood sugar at bay.