All Blood Tests

What is blood sugar?

Before listing out the tips on how to lower Blood Sugar, one must be acquainted with what actually High Blood Sugar means. It is precisely defined as an elevated level of the sugar glucose in blood otherwise phrased as ‘the spillage of glucose into the urine (glucosuria) converting the urine sugary.

Your blood sugar is regulated by your body but it cannot do the job without some help from you. The types of foods you eat play a big part in the level of your blood sugar. Some foods help to lower the levels. Others enter the bloodstream faster, thus raising sugar levels. The pancreas produces insulin and high-gylcemic foods make it have to work harder to produce the insulin your body needs.

The following tips should help you to maintain a normal sugar level and cut down on the threat of developing diabetes.

1) The number one way you can lower your blood sugar is by eating the right foods. The types that are digested slower help to maintain good sugar levels such as fruits – apples, oranges, pears – vegetables such as – peas, zucchini – and grains such as – oatmeal, barley, granola.

Even if you already have diabetes, these foods can help you to keep it under control. Because diabetes, when uncontrolled can cause circulation problems as well as other problems, there should be an ongoing regimen to stay as healthy as possible.

2) Exercise is another way you can control blood sugar levels. If you exercise in the morning before eating this can lower your glucose just about as well as medication. The alternative to medicines to regulate blood sugar can be exercise is it is maintained on a regular basis. Not only is it beneficial in this way but losing weight and keeping a healthy weight can reduce the incidence of diabetes.

3) Eating four to five small meals a day rather than three large meals will also help to lower your blood sugar.

4) Avoid drinking a lot of soft drinks because they are high in sugar and carbohydrates. Many people drink six and eight soft drinks a day. One 12 ounce soft drink contains 11 teaspoons of sugar. This is eventually going to cause a problem.

5) Before taking over the counter drugs always read the ingredients and what effects they may have on you. Many times these types of drugs can cause an increase in blood sugar levels.

6) Find out why your blood sugar levels are high. This can differ from individual to individual and you need to know the specific reasons for your high levels. This can help you to know what to do to lower them. Stress is one situation that can cause higher levels. If your blood sugar level is high due to stress you need to make some changes in your lifestyle.

As well as eating healthy, there are certain foods that you should not eat. Foods such as potatoes, pasta , and foods that are high in carbohydrates should be avoided. Because the body turns carbohydrates to sugar this will add more sugar to your diet. Lowering the intake of carbohydrates will help you to lower your blood sugar. This is not to say you cannot have carbohydrates at all. But you should eat foods that are low in carbohydrates such as chicken, seafood, and turkey. Certain vegetables are also low such as broccoli, asparagus, and greens. Salad ingredients are also another way of getting the vitamins you need while still eating a low carbohydrate diet.

Diabetes is one of the most prevailing diseases now a day. Population of diabetic patients is increasingly dramatically since last few years. So it is very important to keep a check on diabetes. In this concern you yourself play a big role in managing your diabetes. First, you need to know how diabetes affects your body.

To Check your blood sugar regularly tells you whether your lifestyle, your physical activity, meal plans, and medicines doing a good job controlling your diabetes.
There are two easy methods to test your blood sugar level yourself. They take less than two minutes.

* Finger-stick method
* Noninvasive method

FINGER-STICK METHOD

Most equipment for checking blood sugar level involves pricking your finger with a tiny needle (lancet) to draw a drop of blood. Some draw the blood from your forearm. For reading your blood sugar level, you can use a blood glucose meter that will show the number on its screen.

There are many types of meters. Your doctor can help you choose one and show you how to use it. If you still have questions, check the instructions that came with your meter. There are many Newer options also available in the market rather than a lancet for creating the tiny hole needed to draw the blood from the finger like they test blood from other less sensitive parts of the body than the fingertips.

These new devices draw blood in ways similar to the finger-stick method.

To check your diabetes through finger stick method, follow these simple steps:

Step 1 – Wash your hands with warm water and dry them well with a clean towel. You can also use an alcohol wipe to clean the finger that you’ll draw blood from.
Hold your hand below your waist for a minute or so. This helps blood pool in the finger, making it easier to get enough blood for the test.

Step 2 – After preparing your lancet and glucose meter, have a clean test strip ready. Stick the side of your fingertip with the lancet. There are many kinds of lancets and meters. Some draw blood from your forearm. Your lancet and meter may not look like the one in this photo.

Step 3 -Put a drop of blood on the test strip.

Step 4 -To get your results, follow the directions that came with your blood sugar meter. Some meters can give results in a few minutes.

Step 5 -Write down the results and the time you did the test.

Mostly doctors will use these records to see how well you’re managing your blood sugar level.

NON-INVASIVE METHOD

Any other blood sugar testing tool does not draw blood. You wear it on your wrist like a watch and it takes the reading through your skin. It uses a slight electrical current to pull fluid through the skin and into the machine, where it measures the sugar level.

The watch can’t replace your regular finger-stick test. But the watch lets you see trends in how your blood sugar changes over the course of the day.There are some guidelines to check your diabetes with noninvasive method.

Some general guidelines for checking your blood sugar level are given as below

* Wear the device for a three-hour warm-up before taking a reading. During this time, don’t bathe or swim.
* Adjust the device by entering a blood sugar measurement that you’ve gotten by the finger-stick method every time you use the watch.
* The device will automatically take readings every 20 minutes for up to 12 hours. It can be programmed to sound an alarm if your blood sugar reaches dangerously high or low levels.