Are you at risk of type-2 diabetes? This is the most common type that affects 95% of diabetes patients. It’s important to watch your blood sugar levels to help lower your risk of diabetes and prediabetes. The main health condition to watch out for is insulin resistance. If you have this condition it can lead to more serious conditions like diabetes. Today high blood sugar is becoming a worldwide problem. This is due to added sugar in a wide range of products from sodas to candy bars. You can also have high blood sugar levels from other food like refined flour. These ingredients are swapped out in programs like the Keto, Atkins, and Paleo diets. You can also lower A1C levels to monitor diabetes.
What’s the problem with blood sugar? On one hand, this is how the body usually gets its energy. The exception is when you do long-term fasting or follow diets like Keto or Atkins. In these cases, your body uses up all the glucose (blood sugar) then starts getting fuel by breaking down fat stores. It’s important to keep your blood sugar levels in check if you want to avoid becoming diabetic. The good news is you can reverse blood sugar level levels if you have insulin resistance or prediabetes.
What’s the Deal with Blood Sugar Levels?
Before talking about A1C let’s get to the nitty-gritty about blood sugar itself. High levels lead to diabetes but it’s important to talk about the basics in terms of the process. Diabetes patients have blood sugar levels that are high and stay high. As time passes this can cause damage to the human body and cause a world of trouble in terms of other health conditions.
What’s a normal blood sugar level? After you’ve fasted it should be under 100 mg/dL. The fast should be 8+ hours because this will help lower your blood sugar levels. If you’ve just eaten an epic cheat meal then your blood sugar levels will be sky-high.
During the day, blood sugar levels usually the lowest right before meals. Non-diabetes patients the figure the blood sugar level is usually 60. However, it can be higher at 70 or even 90.
How about low blood sugar levels? There can be a wide range. In many people, it never drops under 60 even after a long-term fast. When you fast/diet the human liver keeps sugar levels average by converting muscle/fat into sugar. This can then be used for energy.
A doctor usually orders different kinds of diabetes tests to see if you have the disease. They include:
- Fasting Plasma Glucose
- Oral Glucose Tolerance
- Random Check
These are different kinds of tests that check blood sugar at different times. The main goal though is to figure out whether or not your blood sugar levels are low, normal, or high. If your blood sugar level is higher than normal this is a sign, you’re unhealthy. Above-average levels but not high enough for full diabetes is called prediabetes.
What Is the A1C Test?
This is one of the blood sugar tests that doctors order to check if their diabetes patients’ blood sugar. It checks their sugar levels during the past 3 months. It gives a snapshot of how high or low levels are. This is also known by other names.
This test is different from daily tests that diabetics do to check their glucose levels. The A1C test is done so doctors can see long-term trends of their patients’ blood sugar. The long-term monitoring because blood sugar levels can vary greatly even in one day. They can be super-low before meals then spike after eating.
This test also allows doctors to see how well certain diabetes medicines are working. If they’re not very effective he/she might prescribe a different medicine or add a new one. Checking blood sugar over the last 3 months provides a better picture of how well the medicine is working.
It’s critical for diabetics to control blood pressure. This can help to prevent possible issues that can affect nerves, blood vessels, kidneys, etc. Day-to-day monitoring is important but the A1C test is also critical for watching the levels over months.
This test checks the length of time red blood cells survive in the human body. It averages blood sugar during a couple months. This checks the amount of “hemoglobin.” (A1c). This is extra sugar in the red blood cells. If you have a lot of extra glucose then this will be a higher A1C ratio in the person’s body.
It’s a technical process. However, it’s still critical to watch for any trends that might show signs a diabetes medicine isn’t working well, for example. On the other hand, the test could show that the meds are indeed keeping sugar levels lower. The results can be cross-checked with other tests.
Tips to Lower A1C Levels
1. Eat 6-8 small meals
This is one way you can keep your blood sugar up without causing it to sky-rocket. If you eat three large meals it’ more likely to cause blood sugar spikes. It’s still important to avoid foods like sugar and refined grains that cause sugar level spikes. However, eating smaller meals can help to lower blood sugar.
2. Ditch white sugar and refined grains
These are some of the main causes of blood sugar spikes. Keep in mind there’s table sugar and added sugar in many pre-packaged products. Sugar has no nutritional value and simply sweetens food/drinks. Better options include monk fruit/stevia extracts and sugar alcohols.
You should also avoid refined grains like white rice, baked goods with refined wheat flour, and so on. Ditching grains has been trending but whole grains can be a big part of a healthy diet. The main exception would be if you have an immune system disease like celiac disease or wheat/gluten allergy.
3. Monitor blood sugar
Besides the A1C tests, you should also monitor your blood sugar as your doctor prescribes. This is often at least once per day. It will help to check your day-to-day blood sugar levels and watch for spikes. For example, you might be eating pre-packaged foods with added sugar that’s causing glucose levels to increase. You can find affordable blood sugar monitors so you can easily keep track.
4. Exercise more
When you exercise your body gets energy from glucose and stored glucose. This is a good thing if you have high blood sugar levels. Try to exercise most days of the week. You don’t have to run a marathon but it’s good to do 30 minutes of exercise for 5 days/week. You could play sports with friends, walk your dog, or ride a bike indoors/outdoors to lower A1C levels.