Maintain Healthy Blood Sugar Level
What is High Blood Sugar?
High blood sugar means there is too much glucose (sugar) in the body. A normal glucose level will vary slightly from one lab to another, anytime the glucose is above 140, it is too high.
Blood sugar levels are one of the most important foundations of sound health. Over time, chronically high or heavily fluctuating blood sugar levels can inflict enormous hidden damage as the excess glucose combines with proteins, collagen, and enzymes, and reacts with cellular DNA.How do you balance blood sugar levels to maintain a constant supply of energy . to the cells without glucose overkill. By eating a low-glycernic,, high-fiber diet. This results in a steady stream of glucose into the blood. The best foods include rolled oats, dried apricots (which have one of the lowest percentages of sugar among fruits), cracked barley, buckwheat, millet, and brown rice. There are also two sweet-tasting dietary supplements that are virtually calorie-free having a glycemic index of 0, and are packed with other health benefits: Stevia and FOS. These supplements are not just ideal for diabetics but for anyone interested in managing erratic blood sugar levels, such as those with reactive hypoglycemia.
High blood sugar is the hallmark of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. For people with type 1 diabetes, hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) occurs when you don’t have enough insulin to control your blood sugar levels. If you test your blood sugar and find that it is 180 or higher, you have hyperglycemia.
For most people, stress is simply annoying or unpleasant; for people with diabetes, it can have a direct impact on health. Stress hormones can cause blood sugar to rise and you may need more insulin or other medications to control blood sugar when you are under stress (being sick or physically injured can also do the same). Your response to stress, however, can exacerbate the problem. If you skip meals, neglect exercise, or tend to eat poorly, your blood sugar may become too high or too low.
Causes of High Blood Sugar
Few simple reasons can account for your blood sugar getting too high:
* You didn’t take your medicine when you were supposed to.
* You aren’t exercising enough.
* You ate too much.
* You are sick or stressed out.
Symptoms of high blood sugar
High blood sugar may produce few or no symptoms. When there are symptoms of:
1) Fatigue or drowsiness: Fatigue occurs when the glucose in your body is not properly being converted to energy. The result is that the loss of energy in your body makes you tired.
2) Frequent urination or increased urination during the night: When there is excess blood glucose in the bloodstream, and the body cannot convert the blood sugar to energy, it is processed through the urinary tract. Increased urination can be a symptom of high blood sugar and is usually a result of the person consuming more fluids due to increased thirst.
3) Vaginal Yeast Infections (in women): Increased glucose levels also affect the urinary tract. Not only is yeast infection a sign of high concentration of blood glucose, someone with high glucose levels in their body is also at risk for urinary tract infections, kidney infections, as well as kidney stones.
4) Increased Thirst: This is due to the brain’s response to the excess sugar. It reacts by making the body thirsty so that the bloodstream can be diluted, resulting in an attempt to lower the blood sugar concentration.
5) Blurred Vision: Blurred vision as a result of increased glucose levels can lead to more serious diseases of the eye such as diabetic retinopathy which results from damage to the retinal blood vessels from prolonged periods of high blood sugar.
6) Weight loss, or increased appetite.
Note that these symptoms of high blood glucose may or may not occur in any combination. The root cause of these signs is that the excess glucose in the bloodstream has thickened, resulting in various organs responding to the excess sugar.
Why control blood sugar levels?
When very high levels of blood glucose are present for years, it leads to damage of the small blood vessels. This in turn increases your risk of developing late-stage diabetes complications including:
* retinopathy (eye disease)
* nephropathy (kidney disease)
* neuropathy (nerve disease)
* cardiovascular disease, such as heart attack, hypertension, heart failure, stroke and problems caused by poor circulation, e.g. gangrene in the worst cases.
With Type 1 diabetes, these complications may start to appear 10 to 15 years after diagnosis.
They frequently appear less than 10 years after diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes, because this type of diabetes is often present for years before it is recognized.
By keeping the blood sugar level stable, you significantly reduce your risk of these complications. However, untreated high glucose levels (or hyperglycemia can result) can result in the hardening of the arteries due to the excess levels of glucose in the blood which causes damage to vessels. The longer the signs of high blood sugar go unchecked, the more potential damage that is done to one’s organs (and body). The good news also is that if you are able to get your blood glucose levels under control, you may be able to reverse any adverse affects that prolonged periods of high blood sugar have had on your body.
Related posts:
- HYPERTENSION: High Blood Pressure
- Know your Cholesterol Level
- Find out about complications with Diabetes
- Type ii diabetes
- Diabetes the Facts
July 19 2009 02:08 am | Medical Health
July 24th, 2009 at 7:03 am
Thanks for posting about this, I would love to read more about this topic.