For people suffering from high blood sugar, the level spiking after a meal is quite frequent. Now, the question that strikes in your mind is that why the level rises? Let’s have a look and analyze the situation which brings such radical change.

What makes my blood sugar level rise after meals?

After a meal, the carbohydrate is broken down into simpler substances. Glucose is the basic unit to get absorbed into the bloodstream. It’s natural for the blood sugar level to rise after a meal. For ordinary people, the blood sugar to come back to normalcy after a certain level. But for a person who is affected with diabetes, it stays high for a more extended period. The reason is that the insulin that is supposed to get released from pancreas does not work reasonably or else it is very slow.  Insulin is responsible for absorbing glucose from your bloodstream.

What immediate effects you have after your blood sugar level spikes?

• You start feeling tired
• You begin feeling irritable
• You think the difficulty in concentrating and remembering.
• It affects your athletic performance. It affects your strength, flexibility, and endurance.
• It affects your irritability or mood shifts
• It increases your hunger pangs.

What should I do so that I do not face sugar spikes after meals?

Break down your meals into smaller ones. It gives enough time, and the glucose level in the blood does not shoot up. It also provides enough time for absorption of glucose and the insulin works on the carbohydrate.

• Check on your GI (glycemic index) and have food based on it. Diet with higher glycemic index results in higher blood level after meals.
• Fiber-based food combined with those with high GI will give the best ones for a diet. It will take longer time for absorption of glucose in the bloodstream. The digestion will be late, and thereby sugar spike will be delayed.
• Always stress on light exercise and walking. It will control your blood sugar level by inducing insulin from the pancreas.
• Stress on medication. You should never discontinue diabetes medicines until and unless suggested by the doctors.
• Do not stress on low carbohydrate meals a lot. Low carbohydrate meals are bound to induce insulin production and lead to a higher level in sugar spike.
• Always drink a lot of water and other fluids. It will dilute the blood vessel and thereby induce lower spikes in blood sugar level.
• Always eat in a particular fashion like start with non-starchy food followed by the more starchy ones. It will create a gel inside the stomach and help in digestion thereby avoiding sugar level spikes.
• Eating acid based food delays absorption. Have vinegar in water, and this will help in delaying absorption. Thus, the sugar spikes will be comparatively lesser.

What techniques should I adopt to speed up the insulin action?

• Try to take analog insulin like Novolog, Humalog, and other varieties. Try using NPH spikes to cover meals, and that should be considered switching.
• Try taking insulin 15 -20 minutes before you have your meals.
• Try taking heated injections or insulin. Exercising muscles directly under the arm helps. If the dose is injected in the stomach, you should do some sit-ups.
• Trying some post-meal injections help in reducing the level of blood sugar.
• Consider medicines after meals, and that helps in reducing the level of blood sugar.

What should I avoid so that I don’t have blood sugar spikes after meals?

You should have a check on your food and heck the calorimeter. Download the app to your mobile and check each time after your meals. Foods like – cookies, biscuits, rice, white flour based grain, grapes, fried items will cause a natural shoot in your blood sugar.  The reason is that it is easily broken down into glucose or simpler substances. Now stimulation of insulin being at a low pace, there is a natural shoot in blood sugar level.

What should I eat so that I don’t have blood sugar spikes after meals?

Non-starchy foods should be preferred to avoid that spike in blood sugar level after completion of meals. Foods which are rich in fiber, non-sweet fruits, vegetable and dry fruits are an ideal food for diabetic people. Eat dry grains and protein-rich foods. Take a calorie test and measure the calories after each meal.  The reason is that fiber helps in slow digestion, thereby allowing a longer time for the insulin to act. The sugar level is lower in that case.

What activities should I do to avoid diabetes?

• Diabetes is rightly considered a lifestyle disease. Just by changing your style of food and activities, you may win over this condition. Some tips for controlling diabetes in everyday life is:
• Stress on healthy eating. Avoid starchy based foods and east more of fiber-rich content.
• Take time to eat your food. Chew your food and eat them slowly so that it takes time in digesting the same.
• Split your meal into six times a day. It will avoid the spike in sugar level after meals. The reason being that absorption will take time, and it will secrete insulin from the pancreas.
• Practice light exercises especially after meals. Running, swimming, gym, dancing, gardening, cycling are all instrumental in the fast utilization of the extra glucose in your body.
• Take early dinner and then take a walk, allowing the extra energy to be utilized. It will enable the glucose to be absorbed quickly.
• Try to eat natural substitutes like fenugreek seeds, bitter gourd which naturally cubs down blood sugar level.

You should know when to measure your diabetes. Some people are addicted to taking a measure just after the meals. Some people prefer making the count after breakfast or may be in the morning hours. The more often you take a number, the result will become erroneous. There is no reason to panic on the level of diabetes after meals; it shoots up as a natural process. The best is to take the stand after a week.

[su_spoiler title=”References” style=”fancy” icon=”plus-circle”]

[su_list icon=”icon: external-link” icon_color=”#1829c0″]

• https://asweetlife.org/high-blood-sugar-after-meals-and-what-to-do-about-them/
• http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/high-sugar-level-after-meal-4348.html

[/su_list]

[/su_spoiler]