According to a report by Japanese media Kaigo Post Seven, diabetes doctor Ichihara Umie and nutritionist Kato Tomoko stated that making 15 small changes in daily life can effectively lower blood sugar. They frankly admitted that they strictly follow these practices themselves.
Blood Sugar Lowering Methods
- Avoid Wolfing Down Food
- Reason: Eating too quickly accelerates digestion and absorption of food, easily leads to overeating. Overeating carbohydrates increases calorie intake and raises blood sugar levels.
- Suggestion: Double your chewing time during meals.
- Eat Vegetables First During Meals
- Reason: Vegetables are rich in dietary fiber, which helps slow down carbohydrate absorption, preventing post-meal blood sugar spikes.
- Suggestion: Follow this meal order: Vegetables → Protein → Carbohydrates.
- Check Drink Ingredients
- Reason: Liquids are absorbed by the body faster than food, so sugary drinks can immediately raise blood sugar levels.
- Examples of Sugary Drinks: Cafe au lait, fruit/vegetable juices, energy drinks, lactic acid菌 (bacteria) drinks.
- Avoid Using Large Plates During Meals
- Reason: Using large plates can lead to unconsciously eating more, easily causing blood sugar to rise.
- Suggestion: Use small plates to serve food.
- Must Eat Breakfast
- Reason: Skipping breakfast disrupts the body clock and can easily lead to weight gain. Furthermore, the body being in a fasting state all morning can cause you to eat more at lunch, affecting blood sugar.
- Drink Less Alcohol
- Reason: Alcohol stimulates appetite. Coupled with the fact that snacks eaten with alcohol are often high in sugar and fat, it can easily lead to weight gain and affect blood sugar.
- Enjoy Sweets Preferably After Lunch
- Reason: Eating sweets in the morning after a long fast can easily cause blood sugar to spike.
- Suggestion: After enjoying sweets at lunch, do some light exercise to help lower blood sugar.
- Control Fruit Portions
- Reason: The glucose, fructose, and sucrose in fruit can cause blood sugar to rise.
- Suggestion: Eat fruit only once a day, with a portion size about the size of your palm. For example, a maximum of five strawberries per serving.
- Avoid Excessively Long Fasting Periods
- Reason: Excessive hunger can lead to overeating, easily causing blood sugar instability.
- Suggestion: Occasionally eat small snacks, such as unsweetened yogurt, unsalted nuts, or dark chocolate, controlling the portion to about 10 grams.
- Avoid Completely Cutting Out Carbs and Starch
- Reason: This can unintentionally increase salt and protein intake, potentially leading to high blood pressure; excessive protein intake puts pressure on the kidneys.
- Suggestion: Consume carbohydrates and starch in moderation, trying to distribute the intake evenly across three meals.
- Drink Vinegar Daily
- Benefit: Acetic acid can suppress post-meal blood sugar rises.
- Suggested Amount: 1 to 2 tablespoons per day.
- Note: Some fruit vinegars are high in sugar, so pay attention to the dosage.
- Do Moderate Exercise After Meals
- Suggestion: Do 15 minutes of exercise 1 hour after a meal.
- Benefit: Exercise allows muscles to absorb sugar, preventing post-meal blood sugar elevation.
- Exercise Examples: Slow walking, squats, heel raises.
- Get Sufficient Sleep
- Reason: Shorter sleep duration is associated with higher HbA1c levels, making blood sugar harder to control.
- Suggestion: Aim for 6 to 8 hours of sleep.
- Take a Bath Before Meals
- Benefit: Bathing for 10 minutes can burn 30-40 kcal. It also slows down intestinal activity, preventing overeating and post-meal blood sugar spikes.
- Manage Stress Appropriately
- Reason: Stress-induced overeating can cause blood sugar levels to rise rapidly.
- Suggestion: Find other ways to relieve stress, such as singing, exercising, etc.
How to Determine if You Have Diabetes? Watch for 8 Major Signs
1 in every 10 Hong Kong people has diabetes. According to data from the Hong Kong Hospital Authority, there are approximately 700,000 diabetic patients in Hong Kong, accounting for about 10 percent of the total population; among those aged 65 and above, over 20 percent have diabetes.
According to WHO criteria, a person can be diagnosed with diabetes if their fasting blood glucose is ≥7 mmol/L, or their 2-hour postprandial blood glucose is >11.1 mmol/L.
Diabetes is a chronic disease involving metabolic disorders. When the pancreas does not secrete enough insulin, or when insulin cannot function properly, blood sugar becomes abnormally high, leading to diabetes. Some patients may experience the following symptoms in the early stages:
- Frequent thirst
- Frequent urination
- Feeling hungry
- Weight loss
- Easily tired
- Blurred vision
- Wounds slow to heal
- Skin itching; women may experience genital itching.
2 Types of Diabetes Complications, Easily Damaging 5 Major Organs
According to Hospital Authority data, diabetes can cause acute or chronic complications; severe cases may lead to amputation or fatal risks.
- Chronic Complications
If diabetes is poorly controlled and blood sugar remains high long-term, blood vessels and the nervous system can be damaged, causing long-term harm or loss of function to body organs, with potential fatal risks: - Brain: Cerebrovascular diseases like stroke.
- Eyes: Retinopathy, cataracts, glaucoma.
- Heart & Blood Vessels: Coronary heart disease, heart failure, hypertension.
- Kidneys: Proteinuria, infections, kidney failure.
- Feet: Neuropathy, vascular disease, ulcers, infections. If lower limb ulcers/infections don't heal long-term, amputation may be necessary.
- Acute Complications
- Acute Hypoglycemia (Blood sugar less than 3.9 mmol/L):
- Symptoms: Patients may experience rapid heartbeat, severe hunger, dizziness, blurred vision, trembling, shaking, cold sweats, numbness in lips, tongue, or fingers, drowsiness, even confusion.
- Action (if conscious): Consume 15g of easily absorbed carbohydrates, e.g., three sugar cubes/juice candies, three teaspoons of sugar, half a glass of regular soft drink or juice. After symptoms improve, add a small slice of bread or three to four biscuits.
- Acute Hyperglycemia (Blood sugar equal to or exceeding 15 mmol/L):
- Symptoms: Patients may experience rapid, deep breathing, nausea, vomiting, extreme thirst, and may lead to confusion or coma.
- Action: The patient should be sent to the hospital for treatment as soon as possible.
