Healthy Living

Taking Control of Blood Sugar Levels with Diabetes

Keep Meals Consistent

Most of the time, people are more worried about overeating rather than eating too little. In fact, it is commonplace for people, especially people who work in high stress environments, to skip eating and work through their lunch hours. However, skipping meals is really unhealthy, especially if the person skipping meals has diabetes. Depending on which glucose-lowering medicines a person is taking, their blood sugar level can become low, resulting in hypoglycemia.

So how does skipping a meal translate into something unhealthy? Well, if someone skips meals or does not eat for several hours (like during sleep), the body gets its energy from the glucose that the liver produces. However, it is normal for there to be a miscommunication between a person with diabetes’ liver and the rest of their body. In a person with diabetes’ body, the liver does not recognize that the blood has plenty of glucose. Because of this, the liver keeps exuding glucose into the body. The best way to stop that is to eat something with a little carbohydrate. This meal will tell the liver to stop releasing glucose into the body. This will help to keep the blood levels stable and healthy.

Sometimes people skip meals because they are trying to keep caloric intake low. The old adage around healthy eating is as follows: Eat like a king in the morning, like a prince at noon, and like a pauper at dinner. Skipping meals earlier on in the day means that your body is starting off the day on reserve energy from your body. What often happens is that people starve themselves during the day and eat healthy, and then at night they eat the entire second shelf of the fridge because they are famished from the day. Studies show that there is a positive correlation between eating breakfast and healthy weights.

What about people who don’t like to eat heavy in the morning? Some people have sensitive stomachs, or long commutes, or run short on time in the morning. Here are some helpful breakfast tips for fussy morning eaters.