Your blood glucose, or blood sugar, levels change throughout the day. In order to monitor your blood sugar successfully and keep it within a normal blood sugar range for diabetics, you must check your levels at a number of specified times each day. Everyone’s levels vary, so your doctor will determine your target range for each check point.
Blood Sugar Levels Throughout The Day
You will take these different readings of your blood glucose levels:
- Fasting Blood Sugar Levels - taken on an empty stomach before breakfast
- Pre-Meal Levels – taken before lunch and again before dinner
- 2-Hour Post-Meal Blood Sugar Levels - taken two hours after eating, and
- Pre-Bedtime Levels - taken just before you go to bed
Target glucose ranges vary according to the time of day. A typical example may require fasting and pre-meal levels to remain between 90 and 130 mg/dL (milligrams per deciliter), post-meal levels below 180 mg/dL, and bedtime levels between 110 and 150 mg/dL. (1)
Lower Your Average Blood Sugar Range
Adopting a diabetic-friendly lifestyle may seem like a daunting task at first, but it is not all about eliminating foods that you love from your diet. It is about knowing the effects that different foods have on your body, making healthy choices, and indulging in moderation to maintain a healthy, normal blood sugar range for diabetics.
Carbohydrates like cereals, crackers, pasta, rice, and sugary foods and drinks, and starchy vegetables like lima beans, potatoes, and yams, raise blood sugar levels. Carbohydrates are the body’s main energy source, so being diabetic DOES NOT mean that you have to give up carbs. You still want to include a carbohydrate with every meal. Just be sure to space them out evenly and try to choose ones that are high in fiber, like the whole grain version of your favorite breads, cereals, and pastas.
Make sure to read these articles on carb counting for more information on eatign simple and complex carbohydrates and this post on the diabetic food pyramid for more on what foods are to be consumed in various quantities.
You also want to include lean sources of protein in your meals to help keep you full and energized. Eat three meals daily at regular intervals and light snacks in between to help regulate the body’s production of insulin as well as to control your appetite and prevent you from overeating.
Limit your intake of alcohol, fatty foods, and sodium. Never consume alcohol on an empty stomach, and make sure that your diabetes is well controlled and that it will not interfere with your medication before drinking alcohol. Ingesting fat itself does not affect blood sugar; however, excess body weight can cause blood sugar levels to rise. A low sodium intake will help keep your blood pressure at a normal rate. (2)
For more info on proper dieting options see this post: Diabetic Diet Meal Plan Options.
Citations
http://www.bd.com/us/diabetes/page.aspx?cat=7001&id=7237
http://www.cpmc.org/learning/documents/diabetes-diet-ws.html
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