Dont Give Yourself A Hard Time
And the flipside of focusing on the positives of these new changes is to not give yourself a hard time, or expect to be perfect. Its very rare to quit eating meat and added sugar, and integrate an entirely new system of eating and exercising all at once.
You might have nights where you splurge, or weeks where youre busy and might not be able to exercise. Family life, work, and vacations get in the way.
The important thing is to focus on the long term effect. Are you moving in the right direction in general? If so, dont give yourself a hard time.
Intermittent Fasting Can Help Weight Loss
IF makes intuitive sense. The food we eat is broken down by enzymes in our gut and eventually ends up as molecules in our bloodstream. Carbohydrates, particularly sugars and refined grains , are quickly broken down into sugar, which our cells use for energy. If our cells dont use it all, we store it in our fat cells as, well, fat. But sugar can only enter our cells with insulin, a hormone made in the pancreas. Insulin brings sugar into the fat cells and keeps it there.
Between meals, as long as we dont snack, our insulin levels will go down and our fat cells can then release their stored sugar, to be used as energy. We lose weight if we let our insulin levels go down. The entire idea of IF is to allow the insulin levels to go down far enough and for long enough that we burn off our fat.
What Causes High Blood Sugar Levels In The Morning
Commonly known reasons why your blood sugar may be high in the morning include high-carb bedtime snacks and not enough diabetes medications.
Yet two lesser-known reasons may be causing your morning blood sugar woes: the dawn phenomenon and the Somogyi effect. These causes of high morning blood sugar levels are a result of body changes and reactions that happen while you are sleeping.
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S To Take In An Emergency
If your symptoms persist or worsen, immediately seek out medical attention. If left untreated, hyperglycemia can lead to more serious conditions like diabetic ketoacidosis, hyperosmolar hyperglycemic state , or a diabetic coma.
Fortunately, if caught quickly, a spike in your blood glucose tends to be easily treated by medical professionals.
How To Avoid High Morning Blood Sugar
Weve all been there before.
You wake up. Lay in bed for a few minutes before getting up. Check your blood sugar. 115 stares back at you.
You smile to yourself: life is good.
Forty minutes later, when you sit down to eat, your blood sugar meter or CGM tells you that you are now at 180 ! You have eaten NOTHING. All youve done is prepare for the day and prepare food. Now you face the grim potential of chasing your high blood sugars all day long.
What is going on??
Let me explain why your blood sugar sometimes can be high in the morning and what you can do about it
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How Do I Reduce Fasting Glucose Levels
Blood glucose tests are one way to measure how your body utilizes insulin. The fasting glucose test, taken before any meals, gives you an idea of the baseline level of glucose present in your blood, and can be an indicator of the development of diabetes. If your fasting glucose levels are high, there are a few things you can do to help lower them.
How Long Will It Take To Lower My Blood Sugar
If you have high blood sugarin a non-emergency situationthere are several things you can do to lower your blood sugar right away. Follow these steps in order:
Sometimes people with diabetes can go into diabetic ketoacidosis or hyperglycemic hyperosmolar syndrome, a medical emergency requiring immediate medical care. The symptoms are subtle but look out for:
- Shortness of breath
- Excessive urination
- Abdominal pain
If you experience these symptoms, call your healthcare provider immediately and follow their guidelines. If you cannot reach a physician emergently, call 911.
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How Is Prediabetes Diagnosed
A blood test can tell if you have prediabetes. You have prediabetes if:footnote 1
- The results of your fasting blood glucose test are between 6.1 to 6.9 millimoles per litre .
- The results of your oral glucose tolerance test are 7.8 to 11.0 mmol/L .
- The results of your hemoglobin A1c test are 6.0% to 6.4%.
Type 2 Remission: How I Got Here And How Ill Stay Here
Michael writes about how he used two main strategies intermittent fasting and walking after meals to put his type 2 diabetes into remission
Theres that word again. Remission. The dream word of people with type 2 diabetes. But is it only a dream? Not for me. As a person with type 2, it did come true. Or to be more accurate, I made it come true. It didnt just happen. Since I achieved remission many people have asked me, How did you do it? and, How are you staying in remission?
Well, first of all, I did have help. If you read my article on the power of CGM, you will know that I dont think I could have achieved remission without the aid of such amazing and important technology. But just having a continuous glucose monitor isnt the whole picture. You still have to make the commitment to using that panorama of information in ways that help you to achieve your goals in your diabetes management.
For me that meant setting goals for diet and exercise I was also determined to do it without the aid of any medication. As a nurse, I did have a good deal of knowledge about nutrition and exercise, but not really in relation to diabetes.
First, I think that it was possible for me to achieve remission for several reasons:
Experimenting with diet: intermittent fasting
Walking to lower blood sugars
Now what?
About Michael
Michael is an avid chef, photographer, musician, and fiber artist in his free time.
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Why Is My Fasting Blood Glucose High
People point fingers towards the nighttime snack or dinner for their high fasting blood glucose. It appears to be logical! Even it may be indirectly correct in few occasions however, the real culprit is the hormones that involved in the blood glucose control.
Before going into the details about high fasting blood glucose, you should know about four hormones that influence your blood glucose level Insulin, Amylin, Incretins, and Glucagon.
Supplements I Took With Gestational Diabetes
I knew the importance of phosphatidylcholine during pregnancy and was already taking sunflower lecithin 2-3 times per week, but I decided to up the dosage to 1 capsule daily. I took one capsule of fish oil daily as well to maintain an optimal fatty acid balance between the omega-six fats and omega-three fats.
The optimal multi minus one was the multivitamin I chose to take during pregnancy which contains B vitamins and chromium. These nutrients and magnesium are needed for the utilization of glucose in the body.
Cinnamon also improves insulin sensitivity and the transport of glucose inside the cell. Many studies show the benefits of cinnamon to lower blood sugar levels.
I mixed a tsp of cinnamon in lemon water and would sometimes sip on that before meals.
One of my best blood sugar readings 2 hours post-eating was after eating eggs with artichoke, vegetables, and one potato. I sipped on cinnamon lemon water before this meal and took all 4 of my prenatal supplements at once:
My blood sugar levels were 4.4 2 hours after eating that meal. Pretty darn good if you ask me.
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What Causes Low Blood Sugar
Low blood sugar has many causes, including missing a meal, taking too much insulin, taking other diabetes medicines, exercising more than normal, and drinking alcohol. Blood sugar below 70 mg/dL is considered low.
Signs of low blood sugar are different for everyone. Common symptoms include:
- Shaking.
- Dizziness.
- Hunger.
Know what your individual symptoms are so you can catch low blood sugar early and treat it. If you think you may have low blood sugar, check it even if you dont have symptoms. Low blood sugar can be dangerous and should be treated as soon as possible.
What Is A Prediabetes Diet
A diet for prediabetes looks a lot different than a typical American one. I like to tell my clients to reserve half of your plate for vegetables, a quarter of your plate for protein, and a quarter of your plate for healthy carbohydrates, such as whole grains and fruit, says McKittrick.
A person with prediabetes should not eat processed carbohydrates that are high in sugar, but instead get carbohydrates from whole grains, fruits, legumes, and starchy vegetables . If you want to cut out carbs, you certainly can, but you dont have to, McKittrick says. They taste good, they give you energy, and usually it’s not sustainable to give them up completely.
Also shoot for 25-30-grams of fiber from food each day, as fiber-rich foods such as oatmeal and crunchy vegetables improve insulin resistance and keep you fuller, longer.
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Never Skip Eating Breakfast
Cameron Whitman/Stocksy
Weve all heard that breakfast is the days most important meal. This is especially true for those who have diabetes. I think eating breakfast is important, especially with potential risk for hypoglycemia and avoiding potential highs related to fasting for too long a period of time, Crandall Snyder says.
A high-protein breakfast has an edge over breakfasts that are high in carbohydrates, according to research from The University of Missouri-Columbia. In the research, women ages 18 to 55 consumed meals with similar calories, fat, and fiber contents but differing amounts of protein. Researchers monitored the amount of glucose and insulin in the participants blood for four hours after they ate breakfast. The best breakfasts contained 39 g of protein and led to lower post-meal glucose spikes than the meals with less protein, the researchers found.
Besides, eating breakfast may help overweight people with type 2 diabetes shed extra pounds. Of the participants in the National Weight Control Registry who maintained at least a 30-pound weight loss for at least one year, 78 percent said they eat breakfast daily.
When To Contact Your Doctor
Hyperglycemia can turn into a medical emergency like DKA and HHS that requires immediate intervention by your doctor or a local emergency department. If you have two blood sugar readings of 300 mg/dL or more, or have blood sugar above your target range for more than a week, seek immediate medical help.
Signs of hyperglycemia include:
- Ketones in your urine
- Stomach pain, nausea, or vomiting
- Shortness of breath
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Control How Much Sugar You Eat
While this one may seem obvious to some, donât scroll past just yet. How closely do you read ingredient labels? You likely buy and eat some processed foods unless you make all foods including sauces, dressings, and condiments, from scratch.
Thatâs OK youâre a modern-day human and convenience and cost matter. But, most packaged or pre-made foods contain added sugar or artificial sweeteners. Select carefully and, as an example, buy big tubs of steel-cut oats or quick-cooking oats over the flavored, sugary oatmeal in a box or cup.
Dr. Robert Lustig, a pediatric endocrinologist, professor, and specialist in childhood obesity, believes that sugar is so toxic to health that he recommends federal regulation against marketing sugar-laden products1 to children and even adding taxes to processed foods that contain added sugar.
These ideas may seem radical but are similar to rules that govern marketing alcohol to minors, and similar to the extra taxes consumers pay to purchase alcohol and tobacco products. Just as booze and cigarettes can be addictive for some, sugar can hook you and make you want more2.
Wait Why Is Your Blood Sugar Up In The Morning
Why is it that your blood sugar levels will rise overnight? You dont eat anything, so how can you possibly add any glucose to your system?
Well, those who suffer from type II diabetes will find this is most problematic. The body still creates glucose throughout the night. It needs to, whether youve eaten something or not. This natural process is called gluconeogenesis, and there is nothing you can do to stop it nor would you want to. In a healthy person, this process doesnt cause a major problem.
Those with diabetes will find the gluconeogenesis process is increased. That means your body produces more glucose naturally than it would if you were healthy.
Lets not forget that the stress hormone cortisol also plays a part. This increases slowly on a morning until it reaches a peak early in the morning. The cortisol will elevate the blood sugar levels, so you end up with naturally higher levels on a morning.
To keep your blood sugar levels down, you need to keep your cortisol and gluconeogenesis levels down. Theres no need for extra medication when you follow the seven tips that will follow.
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How To Lower Fasting Blood Sugar Levels
Nearly three decades ago scientists observed unexplained increase in fasting blood sugar levels in Type 1 Diabetes patients. Soon enough the same was seen in Type 2 Diabetes as well. This was named the Dawn phenomenon. The blood sugar values as well as insulin levels are near normal at night. As the night passes we would expect a decrease in blood sugar levels compared to post dinner readings. But here there is a 15-25mg/dl increase in fasting blood sugar readings.
Obviously this translates as increase in PPBS as well. There can be a rebound increase of about 40mg/dl in the post prandial state irrespective of the treatment.Over a period of time this means the average HbA1c can rise irrespective of our rigorous control.
Research Design And Methods
Four men and seven women diagnosed with type 2 diabetes who were not taking insulin completed the study. Participants provided a clinically determined A1C reading from a recent blood analysis. All participants gave written informed consent, and the study was approved by the institutional review board at Arizona State University.
Participants maintained 24-h diet records for 3 days and measured fasting glucose at 0700 h for 3 consecutive days with a calibrated glucometer before the start of the study. Participants were instructed to continue usual prescription medication use during the study. Utilizing a randomized crossover design with a 3- to 5-day washout period between treatments, participants followed a standardized meal plan for 2 days, consuming either 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar or water at bedtime with 1 oz cheese . The standardized meal plan was designed to reflect the individual’s typical diet. Participants were instructed to record all foods and beverages ingested during each 2-day treatment period.
Fasting glucose was recorded with a calibrated glucometer by each participant during the trial: at baseline and day 2 at 0700 h. These results were downloaded by the research staff from each participant’s glucometer memory. A multivariate repeated-measures ANOVA test with body weight as a covariate was used to determine a significant time-by-treatment effect using SPSS .
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Reduce Your Sugar Intake
The average American consumes 22 teaspoons of added sugar per day. That translates to around 350 calories .
While some of this is added as table sugar, most of it comes from processed and prepared foods, such as candy, cookies and sodas.
You have no nutritional need for added sugar like sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup. They are, in effect, just empty calories.
Your body breaks these simple sugars down very easily, causing an almost immediate spike in blood sugar.
Studies show that consuming sugars is associated with developing insulin resistance.
This is when the cells fail to respond as they should to the release of insulin, resulting in the body not being able to control blood sugar effectively .
In 2016, the US Food and Drug Administration changed the way foods have to be labeled in the US. Foods now have to display the amount of added sugars they contain in grams and as a percentage of the recommended daily maximum intake.
An alternative option to giving up sugar entirely is to replace it with sugar substitutes.
Summary:
Sugar is effectively empty calories. It causes an immediate blood sugar spike and high intake is associated with insulin resistance.
