Glucose monitors are used to quickly and easily monitor a person's blood glucose levels.
Hyperglycemia, or high blood sugar, occurs when the body has too little insulin or can't use insulin properly. Lowering your blood glucose level (or blood sugar level) is the first step to improving overall health and avoiding the long term health effects caused by diabetes or insulin resistance. There are many ways to lower blood sugar through lifestyle and diet modification that are more effective long term solutions to hyperglycemia than medicinal remedies.
Instructions
1. Determine your average blood sugar using a glucose monitor. Check your blood sugar level at different points during the day and track them in a notebook or on a chart. Your blood sugar level should be between 80 and 120 in the morning and before meals. Two hours after a meal, your level should be 170 or less. In the evening, your blood sugar level should be between 100 and 140.
2. Eat breakfast every morning. After fasting over night, eating breakfast is the best way to normalize blood sugar levels and jump start your metabolism. It also provides energy for the day ahead.
3. Spread food consumption out across the day to keep carbohydrate and glucose levels in your body consistent. This does not mean you should consume large amounts of food throughout the entire day. Rather, eat several small meals over the course of the day. Most importantly, do not skip meals because the body has difficulty regulating large fluctuations in glucose and insulin levels caused by fasting and digestion.
4. Choose resistant starches over regular starches as they bypass the small intestine and get metabolized in the large intestine. Resistant starches are common in unprocessed whole grains, cold rice, cooked and cooled pasta and potatoes, legumes and beans. Resistant starches are also good sources of long-term energy.
5. Increase your protein intake by eating more legumes, fish and low fat dairy. Also, minimize the amount of simple sugars (i.e. candy) and salt you consume, both of which can increase your blood sugar levels.
6. Get up off of the couch and exercise for at least 20 to 30 minutes per day. Exercise is the most effective way to reduce blood sugar levels since muscle activity requires use of glucose. This will also encourage weight loss, which also reduces the amount of insulin resistance and ultimately decreases blood sugar levels over the long range.
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