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7 Easy Ways to Lower Blood Sugar Levels Naturally

Actions such as exercising regularly and eating more fiber and probiotics, among others, may help lower your blood sugar levels.

Diabetes is an expensive condition to manage. In 2017, 1 out of every 7 dollars spent on healthcare in America was spent on diabetic care.

High blood sugar, also known as hyperglycemia, is associated with diabetes and prediabetes. Prediabetes is when your blood sugar is high, but not high enough to be classified as diabetes.

Your body usually manages your blood sugar levels by producing insulin, a hormone that allows your cells to use the circulating sugar in your blood. As such, insulin is the most important regulator of blood sugar levels.

However, multiple factors can impair blood sugar management and lead to hyperglycemia.

Internal causes for high blood sugar include when your liver produces too much glucose, your body makes too little insulin, or your body can’t effectively use insulin. The latter is known as insulin resistance .

External factors include dietary choices, certain medications, a sedentary lifestyle, and stress.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 13% of U.S. adults live with diabetes and that another 34.5% have prediabetes. This means that close to 50% of all U.S. adults have diabetes or prediabetes.

Blood sugar management is especially important for people with diabetes, as chronically high blood sugar levels can lead to limb and life threatening complications.

Here are 14 easy and evidence-backed ways to naturally lower your blood sugar levels.

1. Exercise regularly

Regular exercise can help you reach and maintain a moderate weight and increase insulin sensitivity .

Increased insulin sensitivity means your cells can more effectively use the available sugar in your bloodstream.

Exercise also helps your muscles use blood sugar for energy and muscle contraction.

If you have problems with blood sugar management, consider routinely checking your levels before and after exercising. This will help you learn how you respond to different activities and keep your blood sugar levels from getting too high or low (5).

What’s more, researchers recommend doing so-called “exercise snacks” to lower blood sugar and prevent the damage that sitting all day can do.

Exercise snacks simply mean that you break up your sitting time every 30 minutes for just a few minutes throughout the day. Some of the recommended exercises include light walking or simple resistance exercises like squats or leg raises.

Other useful forms of exercise include weightlifting, brisk walking, running, biking, dancing, hiking, swimming, and more. In fact, any activity that regularly gets you up and moving — regardless of the intensity — beats a sedentary lifestyle.

Plus, know that if you have trouble dedicating longer periods to exercise throughout the week, you can still gain many benefits by doing shorter sessions. For example, try aiming for 10-minute exercise sessions 3 times a day for 5 days, with the goal of 150 minutes per week.

2. Manage your carb intake

Your carb intake strongly influences your blood sugar levels .

Your body breaks carbs down into sugars, mainly glucose. Then, insulin helps your body use and store it for energy.

When you eat too many carbs or have insulin-function problems, this process fails, and blood glucose levels can rise.

That’s why the American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommends that people with diabetes manage their carb intake by counting carbs and being aware of how many they need .

Some studies find that this can help you plan your meals appropriately, further improving blood sugar management.

Many studies also show that eating a low carb diet helps reduce blood sugar levels and prevent blood sugar spikes .

It’s important to note that low carb diets and no carb diets are not the same.

You can still eat some carbs when monitoring your blood sugar. However, prioritizing whole grains over processed ones and refined carbs provides greater nutritional value while helping decrease your blood sugar levels.

3. Eat more fiber

Fiber slows carb digestion and sugar absorption, thereby promoting a more gradual rise in blood sugar levels.

There are two types of fiber — insoluble and soluble.

While both are important, soluble fiber has explicitly been shown to improve blood sugar management, while insoluble fiber hasn’t been shown to have this effect (15Trusted Source, 16Trusted Source).

A high fiber diet can improve your body’s ability to regulate blood sugar and minimize blood sugar lows. This could help you better manage type 1 diabetes.

Foods that are high in fiber include:

• vegetables
• fruits
• legumes
• whole grains
The recommended daily intake of fiber is about 25 grams for women and 35 grams for men. That’s about 14 grams for every 1,000 calories

Eating plenty of fiber can aid blood sugar management. Soluble dietary fiber appears to be more effective than insoluble fiber for this purpose.

4. Drink water and stay hydrated

Drinking enough water could help you keep your blood sugar levels within healthy ranges.

In addition to preventing dehydration, it helps your kidneys flush out any excess sugar through urine.

One review of observational studies showed that those who drank more water had a lower risk of developing high blood sugar levels (19Trusted Source).

Drinking water regularly may rehydrate the blood, lower blood sugar levels, and reduce diabetes risk (20Trusted Source, 21Trusted Source).

Keep in mind that water and other zero-calorie drinks are best. Avoid sugar-sweetened options, as these can raise blood glucose, drive weight gain, and increase diabetes risk

5. Choose foods with a low glycemic index

The glycemic index (GI) measures how quickly carbs break down during digestion and how rapidly your body absorbs them. This affects how quickly your blood sugar levels rise .

The GI divides foods into low, medium, and high GI and ranks them on a scale of 0–100. Low GI foods have a ranking of 55 or less .

Both the amount and type of carbs you eat determine how a food affects your blood sugar levels. Specifically, eating low GI foods has been shown to reduce blood sugar levels in people with diabetes.

Some examples of foods with a low to moderate GI include:

bulgur
barley
unsweetened Greek yogurt
oats
• beans
• lentils
• legumes
• whole wheat pasta
• non-starchy vegetables

Furthermore, adding protein or healthy fats helps minimize blood sugar spikes after a meal

6. Try to manage your stress levels

Stress can affect your blood sugar levels.

When stressed, your body secretes hormones called glucagon and cortisol, which cause blood sugar levels to rise.

One study including a group of students showed that exercise, relaxation, and meditation significantly reduced stress and lowered blood sugar levels.

Exercises and relaxation methods like yoga and mindfulness-based stress reduction may also help correct insulin secretion problems among people with chronic diabetes.

SUMMARY
Managing your stress levels through exercise or relaxation methods like yoga may help you regulate blood sugar levels.

7. Get enough quality sleep

Getting enough sleep feels excellent and is necessary for good health .

In fact, poor sleeping habits and a lack of rest can affect blood sugar levels and insulin sensitivity, increasing the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. They can also increase appetite and promote weight gain .

Additionally, sleep deprivation raises levels of the hormone cortisol, which, as explained, plays an essential role in blood sugar management.

Adequate sleep is about both quantity and quality. The National Sleep Foundation recommends that adults get at least 7–8 hours of high quality sleep per night .

To improve the quality of your sleep, try to:

• follow a sleep schedule
• avoid caffeine and alcohol late in the day
• get regular exercise
• cut down on screen time before bed
• keep your bedroom cool
• limit your naps
• create a bedtime routine
• use soothing and calming scents such as lavender
• avoid working in your bedroom
• take a warm bath or shower before bed

SUMMARY
Good sleep helps maintain your blood sugar levels and promotes a healthy weight. On the other hand, poor sleep can disrupt critical metabolic hormones.

There are multiple ways to naturally manage your blood sugar levels.

Many of them include making lifestyle changes, like managing your weight, stress levels, and sleep quality, exercising, and staying hydrated. That said, some of the biggest improvements have to do with your dietary choices.

Be sure to talk with your healthcare professional before making lifestyle changes or trying new supplements— especially if you have problems with blood sugar management or are taking medications.

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