10 Ways To Naturally Lower Your Blood Sugar

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

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.

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.

Belly fat increases heart disease and insulin resistance. It is particularly hard to get rid of by women in their menopause years. Insulin resistance means that the blood sugar stays in the blood instead of getting into the tissue cells.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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).