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10 Ways To Naturally Lower Your Blood Sugar

1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic (by 9 people)   Your rating: 1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic

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Pre-Diabetes, Insulin Resistance, and Overweight Issues

 

Here's how it works: You eat something and the stomach and intestines breaks the food down into glucose. The cells need glucose for energy, but for the cells to be able to use glucose they also need insulin which the pancreas emits in the response to glucose.

The body, however, can become resistant to using the insulin if there are certain factors occurring, in particular excess fat. So the glucose stays in the blood, which makes the pancreas secrete more insulin. Eventually the pancreas gets tired, very tired and gives up. That's when pre-diabetes becomes diabetes. What a bummer.

Keeping glucose sugar levels balanced also helps promote weight loss as having low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) will trigger binge eating, which causes the rebound effect of high blood sugar or glucose. The body will rapidly store this high blood sugar as fat.

With a few tricks up your sleeve, you can easily control your glucose levels and avoid more serious health problems.

Ready? Read on!

All About High Blood Sugar 

High blood sugar is called hyperglycemia versus low level blood sugar called hypoglycemia.

Blood sugar levels are considered high when they're above 110 mg/dl first thing in the morning (assuming you weren't midnight snacking). You can get a simple kit to monitor your blood sugar and find out what foods might be affecting you negatively and what your fasting blood glucose level is.

Besides high blood sugar making you feel wonky, it can negatively affect many organs over a longer period of time.

Hyperglycemia can cause damage to the vessels that supply blood to vital organs, which can increase the risk of heart disease and stroke, kidney disease, vision problems, and nerve problems.

In this lens, natural solutions to balancing or lowering blood sugar are listed in the orange boxes, with explanations following. These are tried and true solutions and extremely powerful.

Order a Glucose Monitor 

Eat Small, Eat Often

No Highs Or Lows 

The body does much better eating smaller amounts of food, more often throughout the day. It's easier on the intestines, the pancreas, and the digestive enzymes.

Depending on your caloric intake you could eat 4-6 meals, of 400-600 calories each. Eat at least every four hours.

Also increase your water. Being chronically dehydrated is hard on the blood, the carrier of not only the blood sugar but also insulin itself.

Get Your Muscles Involved

Burn, Baby, Burn 

If Americans are the biggest consumers in the world, muscles are the glucose consumer equivalent. Getting physically active is one of the easiest ways to use up glucose and "force" the body out of insulin resistance. Exercise vigorously for 20-30 minutes a day to get optimal benefits.

Get Up Off of That Couch! 

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Richard Simmons Walks it Out

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Get Rid of the Belly Fat

Belly Fat and Stress 

Belly fat increases heart disease and insulin resistance. It is particularly hard to get rid of by women in their menopause years.

Belly fat can increase dramatically under acute and chronic high stress because of the hormone release of cortisol from the adrenals. Exercise helps reduce stress levels as does massage, meditation, yoga, relaxing baths, etc.

The recommended waist measurement for men is less than 40 inches and for women, less than 35 inches.

The following two books are excellent for targeting belly fat.

Dr. Oz on Creating Health 

You: On A Diet: The Owner's Manual for Waist Management

Amazon Price: $16.50 (as of 12/02/2008)Buy Now

Prevention's Flat Belly Diet 

Flat Belly Diet

Amazon Price: $17.13 (as of 12/02/2008)Buy Now

Choose The Right Sweets

Keeping That Sweet Tooth Happy and Healthy 

Refined sugar and corn syrup dramatically increase your blood sugar, forcing the pancreas to secrete large amounts of insulin. The insulin tells the body to remove blood sugar fast (where it is stored as fat) which then causes a dramatic drop in blood sugar. Eventually the pancreas can't create insulin (diabetes) or the body becomes insulin resistant (like the boy who called wolf, too many times).

There are sweeteners that can be used that don't dramatically increase the blood glucose level. Some have additional health benefits as well. All can be found in health food stores.

Stevia: This ancient herb from Paraguay adds no calories and is thought to help with obesity and blood pressure. It is mostly found in health food stores as a dietary supplement.

Agave Syrup: Forget tequila...use the syrup made from the same cactus! This sweetener needs to be consumed in between meals to maintain its low glycemic value (not raising the glucose or blood sugar levels). Agave comes in different "flavors" such as light or dark.

Xylitol: This natural substance found in many foods not only delivers a "sugar like" product that doesn't raise glucose or blood sugar levels, but it also helps protect teeth from decay.

Know Your Food Friends and Enemies

Keep Your Friends Close... 

And Your Enemies Out The Door

Foods that quickly raise the blood sugar levels are refined foods, primarily white sugar and flour. But any food that converts rapidly into glucose will cause a sudden leap in glucose or blood sugar levels including juice, and refined breakfast cereals.

Which brings us to the first food friend:

Fiber: Eat foods high in fiber including apples, oatmeal, whole, unrefined grains, bulky vegetables, nuts and seeds. Take a digestive aid such as Zypan (made by Standard Process), if your digestive system has a hard time digesting lots of fiber and wants to make gas instead.

Protein: If you just can't resist that Krispy Kreme donut, eat it with a slice of cheese or a hard boiled egg. The protein will slow the break down of the carbohydrates into glucose. Not recommended for cheating every day, but it can help you cheat once in a while!

Get Your Cholesterol In Right Balance

Metabolic Syndrome 

Lots have been written about cholesterol and its effect on the blood vessels, if certain cholesterol is too high (while others are too low). HDL is the "good" cholesterol and trigylcerides are the bad.

High cholesterol (of the bad sort) is part of a group of symptoms that together have been labeled metabolic syndrome. This condition is the precursor to heart disease and a host of other problems including diabetes.

Technically speaking, getting your cholesterol in right balance doesn't really lower your blood sugar levels. It does speak to overall improved health and less likelihood of becoming insulin resistant (which does affect high blood sugar).

Chinese tonic herbs are very beneficial for helping the body to come into balance. Two in particular are "kings" when it comes to health benefits for the body including balancing cholesterol.

Gynostemma: This herb is widely used in China and Japan specifically for its cardiovascular health benefits. Studies from around the world indicate that Gynostemma has the following cardiovascular-related actions in humans: cardiovascular protecting, cholesterol regulating, lowers blood and body fat, platelet regulating, anti-obesity, and triglyceride (bad cholesterol) lowering.

Reishi. Numerous clinical researchers in China, Russia and Japan have reported that Reishi has cholesterol-lowering properties. In one relatively large study, the effective rate was about 86% for 3 to 6 months of treatment. Reishi has an inhibitory effect on cholesterol biosynthesis and absorption. One mechanism of action is due to Reishi's ability to inhibit an enzyme in the cholesterol biosynthesis pathway.

Reishi also helps reduce the effects of stress (which lead to belly fat).

Both of these products have been combined into one product called CardioPro 2000 and can be ordered from Dragon Herbs.

Check Your Thyroid

Your Doctor Won't Tell You This 

There is a link between your thyroid and your pancreas. If your thyroid is not working properly, it can create a pancreatic imbalance which leads to insulin resistance in the body.

Get it checked and get the thyroid balanced. Women, as they age, seem to lose more of their thyroid capability.

Secret Weapons

Super Helpers 

Two food/dietary supplements are stand out helpers in improving blood sugar levels.

Salacia: This aryuvedic herb from India helps normalize blood sugar and insulin levels, and supports healthy blood lipids. Salacia contains two potent alpha-glucosidase inhibitors that may help regulate carbohydrate-metabolic imbalances. Salacia will bring down glucose levels within 20 minutes after taking. It's best to use this super helper as needed versus every day. Salacia can be ordered from Dragon Herbs

Cinnamon: This wonderful tasting spice has been shown to lower fasting blood sugar levels AND balance cholesterol levels. A fabulous two-fer! Cinnamon is recommended at amounts of 1 gram a day and if taken for 40 days will continue to promote benefits for an additional 20 days. One delicious way to take cinnamon is to make tea with cinnamon sticks (boiling 2-3 sticks in 4 cups of water for 20 minutes). Or just add it to oatmeal, smoothies, or cinnamon toast (use whole grain bread such as Ezekiel and one of the recommended sweeteners above).

What's Your Favorite Help In Lowering Blood Sugar? 

Vote on these or add your own.

Vigorous exercise

1 point

Stevia

1 point

Cinnamon

1 point

Eat Small, Eat Often

1 point

Increased fiber

0 points

Protein with refined sugar/flour

0 points

Get rid of the belly fat

0 points

Agave Syrup

0 points

Xylitol

0 points

CardioPro 2000

0 points

Salacia

0 points

Get Informed 

Blood Sugar 101: What They Don't Tell You About Diabetes

Amazon Price: $13.45 (as of 12/02/2008) Buy Now

Toxic Fat: When Good Fat Turns Bad

Amazon Price: $16.49 (as of 12/02/2008) Buy Now

It Must Be My Metabolism

Amazon Price: $12.71 (as of 12/02/2008) Buy Now

Outsmart High Cholesterol

Amazon Price: $6.99 (as of 12/02/2008) Buy Now

Great Squidoo Lens 

Advice From Others 

Ebook The metabolic syndrome - Free Download PDF Ebooks Files
Ebook The metabolic syndrome - Free Download PDF Ebooks Files, the most comprehensive source for free download PDF Ebook on the Web. Includes E-book Fictions, Adventure, Crime, Erotica, Fantasy, Historical, Romance, Science Fiction, ...
Therapeutic treatment for metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes ...
In another aspect, the present invention is directed to a method for treating a patient suffering from a metabolic disorder such as the metabolic syndrome, Type 2 diabetes, obesity, or prediabetes, and the metabolic sequale of these ...
Metabolic Syndrome Signs, Symptoms, Causes, Treatment and ...
Metabolic syndrome risk factors include high blood pressure, obesity, high cholesterol, and insulin resistance. Prevention and treatment include lifestyle changes and medication.

Reader's Wisdom 

If you're not new to the problem of insulin intolerance, you've probably learned a few tricks of your own. Please share those with us.

aj2008 wrote...

Good, important lens. I used to be married to a diabetic and I know how difficult it can be to stabilise your blood sugar.

ReplyPosted November 23, 2008

Ener-G wrote...

in reply to sandyspider That's a good question, good question, good question : ) which unfortunately I don't know the answer to. However, in the featured lens above on Type 2 Diabetes there is a source for cinnamon in capsule form that really addresses this super helper. That's what I'd use.

ReplyPosted November 21, 2008

Jewelsofawe wrote...

Wow! Great info. I have hypothyroidism and for years had hypogycemia and am just now feeling better with it and have started eating fruits again which I did not eat for years. Also my blood sugar seems to have stabilized... It came about during a stressful time and seems to be getting better now...

ReplyPosted November 16, 2008

sandyspider wrote...

My blood sugar has always been good, which is funny when you consider my diet.
Being a Squidoo addict doesn't make good exercise either Good source of information.

ReplyPosted November 13, 2008

Lensmaster

Levi wrote

sorry for the now...erm triple post :-) but i actually meant cassia bark, not acacia bark, sry. question still stands though

Reply Posted November 12, 2008

Lensmaster

Levi wrote

regarding Cinnamon - just wondering if it's only true cinnamon that works, or if acacia (sp?) bark, which is what most "supermarket" cinnamon is, works the same way

Reply Posted November 12, 2008

Lensmaster

Levi wrote

regarding Cinnamon - just wondering if it's only true cinnamon that works, or if acacia (sp?) bark, which is what most "supermarket" cinnamon is, works the same way

Reply Posted November 12, 2008

Lensmaster

Levi wrote

regarding Cinnamon - just wondering if it's only true cinnamon that works, or if acacia (sp?) bark, which is what most "supermarket" cinnamon is, works the same way

Reply Posted November 12, 2008

redsecond wrote...

The tyroid bit is very informative. I just knew that!

I was thinking though, you haven't mention about nopal when you mention natural alternatives to lower blood-sugar levels. Nopal made from opuntia cactus can be one alternative that can be used to lower blood-sugar.

More success to your lens! It's very well-written.

ReplyPosted November 06, 2008

flighty02 wrote...

Thanks for a very informative lens. My partner was recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes so this was of particular interest to me. 5*****

ReplyPosted October 20, 2008

Ener-G wrote...

I'm honored, Frankster, to have you as a fan. My apple photo is rather deceiving looking. Tough subject for a photo (blood? sugar? needles?).

ReplyPosted October 11, 2008

Frankster wrote...

Oops, Freudian slip -- I just realized your intro photo is of apples NOT candy corn! lol

ReplyPosted October 11, 2008

Frankster wrote...

Excellent source of info. Thanks for sharing. 5 stars, favorite and I'm a FAN! Bear hugs, Frankster

ReplyPosted October 11, 2008

Portable_eBay wrote...

I really need to lower by blood sugar. I won't even mention how high it is. Some of you may faint. :-) 5*

ReplyPosted September 27, 2008

MrMarmalade wrote...

great lens have forwarded your lens to a friend
Thank you

ReplyPosted September 26, 2008

 
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