10 Simple Tips to Prevent Blood Sugar Spikes

Health

3. Reduce Your Sugar Intake

The average American consumes 22 teaspoons (88 grams) of added sugar per day. That translates to around 350 calories (12).

While some of this is added as table sugar, most of it comes from processed and prepared foods, such as candy, cookies and sodas.

You have no nutritional need for added sugar like sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup. They are, in effect, just empty calories.

Your body breaks these simple sugars down very easily, causing an almost immediate spike in blood sugar.

Studies show that consuming sugars is associated with developing insulin resistance.

This is when the cells fail to respond as they should to the release of insulin, resulting in the body not being able to control blood sugar effectively (13, 14).

In 2016, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) changed the way foods have to be labeled in the US. Foods now have to display the amount of added sugars they contain in grams and as a percentage of the recommended daily maximum intake.

An alternative option to giving up sugar entirely is to replace it with natural sugar substitutes.

SUMMARY:

Sugar is effectively empty calories. It causes an immediate blood sugar spike and high intake is associated with insulin resistance.

4. Keep a Healthy Weight

At present, two out of three adults in the US are considered to be overweight or obese (15).

Being overweight or obese can make it more difficult for your body to use insulin and control blood sugar levels.

This can lead to blood sugar spikes and a corresponding higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

The precise ways it works are still unclear, but there's lots of evidence linking obesity to insulin resistance and the development of type 2 diabetes (16, 17, 18).

Weight loss, on the other hand, has been shown to improve blood sugar control.
In one study, 35 obese people lost an average of 14.5 pounds (6.6 kg) over 12 weeks while they were on a diet of 1,600 calories a day.

Their blood sugar dropped by an average of 14% (19).

In another study of people without diabetes, weight loss was found to decrease the incidence of developing type 2 diabetes by 58% (20).

SUMMARY:

Being overweight makes it difficult for your body to control blood sugar levels. Even losing a little weight can improve your blood sugar control.

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