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Healthy blood sugar levels are important for everyone. Maintaining healthy blood sugar levels can help reduce the risk of developing diabetes, kidney dysfunction, and problems with your eyes, gums, and nerves. Day-to-day healthy blood sugar levels will help with balancing energy levels, maintaining focus, and stabilizing mood.
What Is “Blood Sugar?”
Blood sugar, also known as glucose, is the primary sugar that is found in your blood. Glucose is the type of energy that your body prefers to use for the majority of its functions! Your body can get glucose from certain foods and drinks you consume.
Why Healthy Blood Sugar Levels Matters
When you digest a meal containing glucose, the glucose enters into your bloodstream and then your pancreas produces insulin. Insulin is a hormone that helps transfer the glucose into your cells to be used for fuel. An imbalance of blood sugar levels increases the risk of developing diabetes (type 2) and heart disease. With type 1 diabetes, your pancreas is unable to produce insulin, and taking insulin around meals is needed to aid in this process. Managing blood sugar levels is important for everyone, not just those with Diabetes.
What Can Contribute To Abnormal Blood Sugar Levels?
Depending on what we eat or don’t eat, our blood sugar levels can spike or plummet. This is why proper nutrition is such an important factor in balancing blood sugar. If you eat something high in simple carbohydrates, such as a candy bar, your blood sugar will immediately spike, often followed by a sugar crash. One of the best ways to maintain healthy blood sugar is to eat a carbohydrate with protein, fiber, or healthy fats. Protein, fiber, and fat delay digestion and help slow the release of glucose helping to avoid a spike and crash situation.
Some other factors that can contribute to abnormal blood sugar levels are stress, sleep, and dehydration. Both stress and lack of sleep can decrease the function of insulin, leading to a potential increase in blood sugar. Drinking water and staying hydrated is important because water helps dictate the amount of blood sugar concentration in the blood. Dehydration can cause the concentration to be too high.