World Diabetes Day: When you’ve got sort 1 diabetes, you have to routinely test your blood sugar ranges earlier than meals. We might not all the time take into consideration what occurs to our blood sugar ranges simply after consuming. However it’s slightly widespread for everybody to expertise temporary spikes of their blood sugar put up a meal.
Studying the way to attempt to handle an increase in your blood sugar ranges after meals might assist enhance your normal well being and wellness. It is because excessive sugar ranges may cause signs corresponding to thirst, fatigue, and a continuing want to make use of the restroom.
Why is my blood sugar so excessive after consuming?
It is not uncommon for individuals to have a short bounce of their blood sugar after consuming a meal, particularly if it comprises carbs earlier than the insulin generated of their our bodies begins to work to lower the surge. That is known as a post-prandial spike. These will increase could be higher and keep longer in individuals with sort 1 diabetes – who’re unable to make their very own insulin.
This is because of the truth that the insulin they inject (or obtain by way of an insulin pump) might take longer to start performing than the insulin that an individual with out diabetes would usually make of their physique to decrease these post-meal rises.
Moreover, it’s crucial to grasp that people with sort 1 diabetes might have modifications in numerous digestive enzymes, which can lead to faster digestion of our meals (ensuing within the glucose reaching the bloodstream sooner). This will additionally impression the spike’s magnitude.
Methods to management blood sugar spikes after consuming?
Your future well being will profit should you spend extra time in your objective blood sugar vary, typically known as the ‘time in vary’. This can be achieved by decreasing these spikes. Since it could fluctuate from individual to individual, it’s best to converse along with your healthcare supplier to find out the optimum objective vary for you.
Within the close to time period, it’s best to cut back the recurrence of excessive blood sugar stage signs. On the identical time, it’s best to give attention to growing your vitality ranges, cognitive (pondering) and athletic abilities, and normal temper by avoiding extended excessive blood sugar readings after consuming.
How can I inform if my blood sugar ranges have risen?
Blood sugar spikes can happen at totally different instances, relying on the person and the meals. Nonetheless, the post-meal peaks usually happen one hour and fifteen minutes after a meal has begun.
Using a steady glucose monitor or flash monitor are trendy strategies to find out post-meal tendencies, with out the standard finger-pricking technique.
Listed here are some tricks to cut back a few of your post-meal blood sugar will increase in magnitude and size. Nonetheless, a phrase of warning: Please seek the advice of your healthcare group earlier than adopting any of the next to find out whether or not it’s acceptable for you.
1. Choose meals with a low glycemic index
Many meals objects in our weight loss plan, together with white bread, rice, and nearly all of breakfast cereals, have a excessive glycemic index, which causes glucose to be launched into the bloodstream extraordinarily rapidly. We might keep away from or flatten the blood glucose surge after meals if we select low-glycemic-index meals corresponding to oats, whole-wheat bread, pasta, and peas since insulin can operate on the identical charge.

2. Choose the correct insulin on the acceptable second
In comparison with an individual with out diabetes, whose physique makes its personal insulin, which reaches the blood in solely seconds, rapid-acting insulin might take as much as quarter-hour to start working.
The post-meal blood sugar spike can be higher managed by rapid-acting insulins than by extraordinary insulin.
3. Schedule of injections
We’re beneficial to inject 15-20 minutes earlier than to consuming to cut back blood glucose will increase since we inject insulin into fats situated instantly beneath the pores and skin (subcutaneous). Relying on the glycemic index of the meals you may be consuming and your pre-meal blood glucose studying, you could select the time.
The final phrase
Protecting insulin ranges inside vary includes loads of focus, consideration and energy for somebody with sort 1 diabetes. Nonetheless, it’s useful to grasp that slightly than striving for blood glucose perfection, we will applaud our on a regular basis efforts to take care of our well being.
Analyze your day by day meals decisions and the way your physique responds greatest to numerous meal varieties and insulin timings. Ask your diabetes group for help as you’re employed via this at your personal pace.