5 ways to Balance Blood Sugars Fast

I had an 'SOS' call from a client this week. 

She had bloods done and was told her HbA1c reading was a little high, meaning her blood sugar levels are higher than desirable.

HbA1c (glycated haemoglobin) measures the your average blood glucose levels for the previous 8-12 weeks.  

She was concerned about it, so I got her to come in straight away so we could discuss actions to get the number going in the right direction.

When it comes to balancing blood sugars, the most powerful thing you can do is change your nutrition to a low carb food plan, because by lowering your level of carbs with each meal you will be instantly lowering your blood sugars, and there are other actions you can take too:

1. Be consistent with a low carb food plan.  If you are just starting low carb, aim for 50g or less per day.  (and if you need a structured programme to make it super easy to get going, you can start my 4-week programme on Monday!) 

If you are already doing low carb, make sure your are staying within 30-40g consistently, and not blowing out in the weekends! 

2. Cut back on sugar-free substitutes if you are eating them regularly, as they may be having an impact.  This would include protein bars, Atkins bars or sugar-free drinks.   

3. Don't consume too many calories in one meal.   Aim for between 400-500 calories for your main meal of the day.  This is where fasting may not be helpful.....if you are going longer between meals, getting too hungry and then eating 700-800 calories in one go, it may not be great for your blood sugar levels.

4. Do a 5-minute walk within 45 minutes of eating.  When you do this, it will help bring your blood sugars down faster.  Doing this consistently will have a huge impact on your metabolic health.

5. Try continuous glucose monitoring for a short period of time.  This is the best way to get data on how different foods are impacting your blood sugar levels. I did a 14-day blood glucose test using this one from MediRay and it really helped me to see how my body was reacting to different foods.

If you decide to do this, it is helpful to check:
- what your blood sugars are reading just before you eat
- how high they spike within one hour of eating
- where they are after 2 hours of eating (Hopefully they will be back to where they were before you started eating)

It's always concerning to see numbers that we're you're happy with, but luckily there's always actions you can take, to make progress without needing to instantly go on medication.

As for my client, when we looked at her readings from last year, we saw that they had already started to drop, and with these new actions to focus on, she is feeling much more confident that she can continue making progress in the right direction. 

LET FOOD BE YOUR MEDICINE!