Managing Blood Sugar With Diet and Supplements

Managing your blood sugar is important for a number of reason. When your blood sugar becomes too low, you can experience dizziness and weakness, and when your blood sugar becomes too high, you can experience many issues such as weight gain, confusion, respiratory issues, and diabetes. Fortunately, managing blood sugar with diet and supplements is easy to do.

Focusing On Your Diet

First and foremost, it is important to eat a healthy diet and to pay attention to the glycemic index (GI) of foods. You can use the GI to help manage your blood sugar, because the index is a measure of how carbohydrate-containing foods raise blood sugar.

Foods that have a high GI raise blood sugar and increase the production of insulin, which can eventually lead to issues such as insulin resistance. Foods that are high on the GI include white bread, white rice, pretzels, rice cakes, and instant oatmeal.

It would be best to avoid foods that have a high GI; however, if you are going to eat them, then combine them with foods that have a low GI. Doing this can balance out the effect on blood sugar levels. The GI of a food can become different when combined with other foods.

“…the use of vinegar in rice (sushi, GI=67) and vinegar-pickled foods (GI=75–77) decrease the GI of rice by about 20–35%.” – European Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Avoid Sugar Altogether

If you eat processed foods, eat out, or buy low-fat foods, then you are consuming much more sugar than you think. Moreover, if you put sugar in your coffee, drink pop, eat dessert daily, and add sugar to your cereal, then you are definitely eating over the recommended amount of sugar, and that influences your blood sugar in a very negative way.

“Eighty percent, or 480,000 of the 600,000 food products sold within the U.S. have added sugar, which, according to researchers and medical doctors, is why we have the world’s highest obesity rate at 31 percent.” – Huffington Post

If you haven’t watched the documentary FED UP, it may be worthwhile to check it out if you are worried about your blood sugar and weight.

In short, sugar and foods high on the GI act in a similar way to spike blood sugar levels. Therefore, eliminating sugar from your diet can have a dramatic effect on balancing out your blood sugar levels.

Lastly, when you are not eating, a hormone called glucagon helps the liver to maintain blood sugar levels. There are certain foods that can help release the hormone glucagon, including cottage cheese, green vegetables, and foods that contain slow-digesting protein.

Supplements And Their Effect On Blood Sugar?

Your blood sugar naturally rises after a meal as a way to distribute fuel around your body. This process requires that your hormones, leptin and insulin, are working properly. Taking supplements that increase leptin and insulin sensitivity can have a huge effect on your blood sugar levels in the long run. This is especially true if you are experiencing leptin or insulin resistance.

For example, when you have insulin resistance, the sugar in your blood does not get utilized quickly and efficiently. Research is showing that various ingredients, such as cinnamon and fenugreek, can increase insulin sensitivity.