How to Lower Blood Sugar Naturally

This post is for you if:

1. You have diabetes or pre-diabetes

2. You have insulin-resistance or PCOS

3. You’re trying to lose weight

A couple of important tidbits to know before we dive in:

1. When your blood sugar is high, your blood is actually thick; it’s not getting where it needs to go. Pair that with high cholesterol / plaque, and you’re trying to get thick blood through narrow pipes. Not good.

2. If you’re on blood-sugar-lowering medication like Metformin or insulin, you may want to grab a glucometer before making drastic changes to your diet. Cutting back on carbs while on meds could lead to low blood sugar and that’s not good either.

3. When your blood sugar goes up, insulin (a fat-storage hormone) goes up. If you’re trying to lose weight, you want to keep your blood sugar down even if you don’t have diabetes.

Step Two: Talk to your doctor

Depending on your bloodwork results and medical history, your doctor might want to start medication right away. If your blood sugar is just a little bit elevated and you aren’t otherwise high risk, you’ll probably get the green light to try lifestyle changes from now until your next bloodwork in three to six months. This is where the next two steps come in.

Step Three: Change your diet

The one thing you have complete control over: what you put in your mouth. And the most important thing you can do with what you put in your mouth is pair carbs with fat. Not protein, fat.

I suggest leaning heavily on heart-healthy plant-based fats like avocado, nuts, seeds, olive oil and then sprinkle in some full-fat dairy, real butter and cheese where a meal just doesn’t make sense without it.

If we were working together I’d have you walk me through a day of food and then go back through it to show you where to balance things better for improved blood sugar.

Here’s how to DIY:

Write down a typical day: breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, drinks, booze, dessert, etc. Once you’ve done that, go back through it and highlight any of these things:

• bread, pasta, rice, crackers, cookies, corn, beer, pretzels, cereal, oatmeal, beans, fruit, potatoes, chips, soda, candy, juice

• low fat dairy (yogurt, milk, ice cream, cream cheese, etc)

Everything highlighted is something that needs to be paired with a fat.

A few examples:

1. Bread + butter, PB, olive oil

2. Oatmeal + PB, nuts

3. Chips + guac

4. Low fat yogurt + nuts, grain-free granola (Trader Joes’ is the best)

5. Baked potato + butter, sour cream

Step Four: Get moving

Exercise improves circulation, mood, heart health, blood sugar and cholesterol levels. The good news is, you don’t need to join a gym or start a daily 60-min spin routine; plain old walking is enough. Go as far and as fast as you want / can and solidify this new routine before switching up the intensity or duration—or adding in any other activities like weights or yoga.

If after three to six months nothing’s changed bloodwork-wise, you do have some options, but I suggest starting with the tips in this post as they tend to work well for most people.

If you’d like to review your bloodwork and / or diet with me, I’d love to chat! Call the office now for an appointment. 732-842-3050

Know someone who needs this more than you??

Tools + Resources

1. Anti-inflammatory diet

2. Foods that lower cholesterol

Q+A

Have a burning nutrition question? Reply to this email and I’ll pick one to answer in next week’s NL!

Disclosures:

This is not medical advice. Speak to your doctor before taking supplements or making any major dietary and / or lifestyle changes.

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