3 Lifestyle Tweaks for Better Blood Sugar

Regardless of whether you want to live with prediabetes or diabetes – or only a balanced blood sugar – what you eat is crucial. However, it is not the only thing that affects her blood sugar numbers. Your habits can also play an important role. The good news is that small, simple everyday lifestyle changes can be surprisingly powerful -no drastic measures required!

In order to make the management of blood sugar as easy as possible, we asked health experts to share their three top lifestyle strategies for healthier blood sugar. Here is what they told us and simple, realistic ways to put these options into practice.

Add your day of movement

“Consistent physical activity is the key,” says certified diabetes educator Michelle Routhenstein, MS, RD, CDCES. “Both aerobic movement and strength training can improve insulin sensitivity and help the body use glucose more efficiently.”

And you don’t have to spend hours in the gym or on your bike to see an advantage. Studies have shown that even a short 15-minute walk can lower blood sugar after eating.

If you could apply some strategies to process more exercise into your day, try out these tips supported by experts.

• Avoid sitting longer: The more time you spend on your computer or tablet, the more time you will probably spend sitting. The fix? Try to set or watch a timer on your phone to remember, get up and move. Consider planning hiking meetings or trying a standing desk.
• Take a staircase: This old advice was withstanding the test of time for good reason. Short outbreaks of activity during the day, like the stairs, are not only accessible, but also very effective.
• Get a change of setting: If you need motivation to start moving, explore your neighborhood, your city or your city so that new spaces can go and enjoy the sights.
• Try home training video: There are countless training videos online and many of them can access free of charge. To make things even easier, look for short training videos without equipment that you can easily include in your daily routine.
• Mix activity in your commuting: If it is safe and available, try on foot or ride a bike for everyone or part of your commuting. Or, if you normally take public transport and come from a station earlier and go the rest of the way, try it out. You will add steps to your day and also feel more energetic.

Prioritize the quality sleep

Without high -quality sleep, every function in the body suffers, including blood sugar treatment. “People who sleep less Juan Ramirez, AprnA nurse specializing in endocrinology. “Insomnia can also (also) influence hormones such as cortisol, which increase sugar levels (blood) and the risk of weight gain.”

These small adjustments can help you get the rest you need.

• Add in small steps: If you don’t get the recommended night for seven to nine hours of sleep, try to turn five or ten minutes earlier every night (or to sleep a little later in the morning if you can swing it). As soon as your body has set up, add a few minutes every evening until you reach the seven to nine-hour Sweet Spot.
• Separate with your screen: Adjusting habits of screen time can support healthy sleep. This can mean that the screens are not disturbed about an hour before bed, the phone is brought to a point through the room or the function of your phone is switched on to disturb the plug in the evening.
• Create a quiet environment: If your bedroom causes stress, it is time to make some changes. Try to escape your room, add a white noise machine to block outside of noise outside the sound, or change your bed linen to get more comfort.
• Make your room dark and cool: A cool, dark room makes it easier to get high quality sleep. If possible, consider Blackout curtains. If not, a sleeping mask can also help block light. Set the thermostat in front of the glow to ensure that your room is beautiful and cool.
• Checked out: “It’s not just about how many hours you sleep; how well you sleep,” says Routhenstein. “If someone wakes up a lot at night, snore loudly or feel tired even after sleep at night, it could be a sign of a sleep problem like sleep apnea that should be further examined.” If you are chronically exhausted despite good sleeping habits, speak to your health service provider to exclude sleep apnea or other sleep -fluctuating diseases.

Stress

Stress happens to all of us. But when it becomes chronic, it can mean difficulties for your blood sugar. “Chronic stress increases hormones such as cortisol that cause the liver to collect glucose into the bloodstream,” says Routhenstein.Present

If this becomes a regular event, the continued increase in stress hormones can have a negative and continuous influence on blood sugar levels, explains Ramirez. This can make this more susceptible to weight gain and fatigue, he adds. This lack of energy can even lead to less motivation for training.

Studies have shown that chronically high stress hormones can also increase the risk of insulin resistance. Therefore, chronic stress can adverse their blood sugar, even if they do not live with diabetes.

The stress management does not have to be time -consuming or complicated. Try these simple changes for less stress:

• Adjust your breathing: Studies show that simple breathing exercises can be very effective to reduce stress. If you are not sure where to start, read one of the many deep -breathing apps that you can download on your phone.
• Practice mindfulness: Simple requests to practice gratitude can make a major contribution to restoring the calm during your day. Consider start grateful journal, or create a short list of things for which you can quickly visit all day.
• Make a break of meditation: Studies have shown that even short meditation meetings can offer stress management advantages.
• Connect yourself to a friend or a loved one: Studies show that social connection is a powerful instrument to reduce stress. For a double bonus, try to combine physical activity and social connection by taking an exercise course or walking with a friend.

Our expert

When it comes to blood sugar management, we often concentrate on what we eat. However, our habits can also have a decisive impact on blood sugar levels. And these habits do not require extreme, time -consuming measures or revision of their lives. Experts say simple lifestyle adjustments such as moving more often, the prioritization of sleep and management of stress can promote healthier blood sugar. Not sure where to start? Select the habit that you will think the easiest to go and add from there. In combination with a blood sugar who is supported with a blood sugar, to whom it is supported, this easy -to -follow optimization is doubled its likelihood of success of blood sugar management.