Healthy Diet Base Better choice for better life!
Diabetes is a chronic disease caused by the body’s inability to regulate sugar level in the blood. Because the blood sugar level is unstable among diabetics, at-home monitoring is critical in reducing the risks of complications from the disease. In today’s post, we are giving you helpful glucose care and monitoring tips you can do at home:
Do Home Blood Sugar Tests
Your health care provider will teach you how to perform an at-home blood sugar test. The test involves analyzing a small amount of blood using a special tool that will pierce the skin to draw blood from the fingertips. But some home testing kits can draw blood from other parts of the body. If you want to test alternative sites of the body other than the fingertips, talk to your doctor to determine what method works best for your needs.
Learning Your Ideal Glucose Range
You can’t check your glucose level if you don’t know what you should be looking for. You need to ask your doctor what your ideal glucose range is. You can expect a little spike in blood sugar level after eating so learn when the best time to do the glucose checks. Usually, the ideal time to check for blood sugar level is two hours after a meal. But check with your health care team first to be on the safe side.
Looking out for Glucose Patterns
Monitoring your glucose level is a great way to identify patterns. Think of monitoring as a compass. Figure out why your glucose level is different at various times of the day and determine the best steps to take to regulate your sugar level. You could be miscalculating your carbohydrate intake or your blood sugar is dangerously low. Log your observations and try to remember them so it won’t happen again.
Maintain Consistency
For diabetics, consistency is everything. Do not skip meals or depend on drugs to lower your blood sugar level. You need to improve your diet and lifestyle to keep your sugar level normal. No matter what type of diabetes you have, make sure to eat balanced meals at specific times of the day.
Improve Your Lifestyle
A sedentary lifestyle can aggravate your condition. Apart from eating healthy foods and avoiding alcoholic beverages, try to get a lot of exercise and quit smoking. A healthy lifestyle helps stabilize the blood sugar level. Our advice is to ask your doctor what type of workout suits you the best. Usually, a 30-minute walk or a 15-minute jog every day is enough to stay fit. You can move on to more challenging exercises once you get the green light from your doctor.
Get a lot of Sleep!
Never underestimate the power of sleep. Sleep deprivation is associated with obesity and complications from diabetes. When you are sleep-deprived, your blood sugar level will dip and spike sporadically throughout the day. This can cause mood swings, intense cravings, and overeating. So get a lot of sleep every night. If you are suffering from a sleep disorder of sorts – such as insomnia – ask your doctor what medications to use to get more sleep.