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The key to optimal blood sugar control isn’t restricted to consistent blood sugar control medications only. Instead, the best control methods involve implementing proven management tips outlined by experts as adjunctive therapy.

That said, if you experience blood sugar spikes or dips, you must take deliberate, dedicated steps to keep your health under control with essential lifestyle changes.

This article outlines six crucial healthy lifestyle tips you can implement for better blood sugar control.

What to Expect?

• Tips to Prevent Sugar Spikes
• Tips to Prevent Sugar Dips

Tips to Prevent Sugar Spikes

Here are the tips you can adhere to to control blood sugar levels if you experience abnormal spikes.

Reduce Carb Intake

Carbs are the biggest culprits of sugar rise, and one excellent means of controlling your blood sugar level is drastically cutting down on your intake of this nutrient.

Why’s that, though? It’s simple; carbs turn to sugar when broken down in the body. When this happens, they’re absorbed into the bloodstream leading to sugar level spikes.

Healthy persons with enough insulin can easily control sugar spikes following each sugar rush. However, people with diabetes generally have a problem with insulin production. As such, they may experience a consistent high sugar level that leaves them exposed to various diseases and complications like heart disease.

Once again, the best way to counter pure carb intake is by cutting them off. Carbs like candies and sugar lumps are best avoided or, at the very least, taken in extremely minimal amounts, especially if you have an unusually high blood sugar content. Counting carbs in meals is a great way to track how much you consume daily and how your diet can affect blood sugar. 

Avoid Refined Carbs as Much as Possible

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If carbs are bad for sugar spikes, refined carbs are worse. Refined carbs are one of the least beneficial choices for managing blood sugar, especially in persons with diabetes.

Refined carbs are significantly different from natural carbs and have more far-reaching consequences. Yet, they’re extremely popular and are major foods in most countries.

Most processed carbohydrates sources are refined carbs. Foods such as table sugar, soda, white rice, white bread, candy, desserts, breakfast cereals, and junk snacks are all sources of refined carbs.

The thing with refined carbs is that they have an increased glycemic index (GI) due to how easily the body absorbs them. High glycemic index foods are particularly dangerous to our health, especially diabetics’ since they rapidly increase blood sugar levels; this is true for processed carbs.

Hence, it’s only logical you steer clear of refined carbs to ensure optimal blood sugar levels at all times.

Eat More Fiber

Fiber foods are not just essential nutrients in food. They’re a better option than carb-filled foods.

The two types of fiber—insoluble fiber and soluble fiber—are incredibly effective in ensuring a steady and gradual rise and fall of sugar levels instead of sudden spikes that put the body in shock and cause different types of complications.

Fiber also guarantees fullness, much faster than carbs. This means, compared to carb or fat alternatives, a fiber-filled meal will make you eat less — essential if you want to achieve weight loss or maintain healthy body weight.

Fiber controls blood sugar spikes by forming a gel-like thick substance that significantly slows down your body’s absorption of carbs. This control makes the rise and fall of blood sugar more natural and safer.

Fiber is primarily found in nuts, oatmeal, legumes, whole grains, certain fruits (apples, blueberries, and oranges), and most non-starchy vegetables.

Exercise Regularly

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One of the best management tips that people with high blood sugar can adhere to is exercising regularly. Any form of exercise is always good for controlling blood sugar increases. You could opt for moderate exercise, which involves brisk walking, light jogging, or a mix of light jogging and brisk walking.

Moderate exercise is great if you only have minimal or less frequent irregular blood sugar rise or while trying to adapt to your new exercise routine. Once you get used to moderate exercise, you can then incorporate intense exercise plans into your routine — a significant boost to reduce sugar levels much more.

Tips to Prevent Sugar Dips

It’s not out of place to think that you can prevent blood sugar decline by doing the exact opposite of what keeps blood sugar spikes at bay. However, this isn’t always true, as we’ll observe in a bit.

Increase Your Fiber Intake

Fiber foods do not only control sugar spikes but also dips in sugar levels. The thing with fiber is that it ensures a gradual and steady rise or drop in sugar. So if you experience irregular dips in blood sugar, then opting for fiber foods—just as you would do when experiencing sugar level spikes—will go a long way to help you live a healthier life.

Measure Sugar Levels Regularly

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The good thing about low blood sugar is that it’s relatively easier to control than high sugar levels. However, you still need to take adequate measures as its consequences aren’t any lesser than those of high blood sugar.

Examples of measures to ensure adequate low blood sugar control include having functioning sugar measuring equipment that helps you check your blood sugar at all times. The equipment will help you know when you have a dip and how you can quickly raise your sugar level to the safe range.

Scientific references like the American Diabetes Association suggests the 15–15 rule for people with low blood sugar levels. The rule involves the following activities:

• Check blood sugar and if low, take carbs such as honey, sugar lump, and candies and wait for 15 minutes before another check.
• If still below the recommended 70 mg/dl recommended range, take another lump of carb and check again.
• Repeat the process until the sugar level reaches the recommended range.

Conclusion

Knowing how to effectively manage your blood sugar in a way that precludes frequent hospital visits is one of the best approaches to living a healthier life. While visiting a doctor for expert advice and medications at the early stages of irregular blood sugar rise or dip is essential, the helpful management tips listed in this article can help you beat poor blood sugar control and help you live on a healthy diet.

An essential aspect of the tips mentioned in this article is your diet. Sugar spikes are generally triggered through meals and carb consumption, so it’s imperative to take meal planning and dieting seriously.

The Klinio app is a supportive virtual caregiver for diabetics that doubles as an excellent food planning app for those seeking healthy food meal choices. In summary, appropriate meal planning coupled with regular exercise ensures you keep your blood glucose levels in control at all times.