 |
Expert Diabetic Information:
|
Your decision to seek out diabetic information to lower diabetes blood tests at lunch is a great one! Think about it – there might be 10 hours between breakfast and supper. Imagine your risk for complications if you had high sugar levels for all those hours? That's almost half your day!
Decreasing your exposure to high sugars at ANY time of the day - whether it be fasting , lunch, supper , bedtime or even 2 hr after eating can lower A1c (average blood sugar) and lower your risk for eye, kidney and nerve damage. But each part of the day requires some specific and unique diabetic information to get you into target blood sugar ranges.
On this page you'll find specific diabetic information for how to lower diabetes blood tests at lunch . These are solutions collected from 17 years of experience as a diabetes educator and diabetic informaton from thousands of patients (and 33 years as a diabetic myself!). They're not magic. But they are practical and proven. Some of this diabetic information may work for you while some may not.
If you haven't yet, please consider reading the essential 4 steps for lowering blood sugars. These 4 steps make the acronym: “U-ACT “ (U-get it? Okay, I'm not subtle). They will help with your success and reduce your frustration.
Disclaimer: This site and links out are for information purposes only and not to be used as medical advice, please follow with your doctor for medical care. Reading beyond this notice implies you've read and agree with disclaimer. THANKS FOR STAYING SAFE, FOLKS!
Oh, Oh Wait! Before you start - make sure your glucose meter and test strips are accurate so you aren't getting inaccurate diabetic information. (And so you aren't wasting money on strips!). Be sure to have enough diabetes blood test results at lunch. Rarely do two high sugars make a trend. Remember to see your doctor if you are having low readings regularly (and immediately follow the best way for treating hypoglycemia).
Ohh, and a very big time-saver . . . If most of your lunch sugars are already within target don't bother with this page. Just celebrate! And perhaps move on to another time of the day when you are high.
Solutions and diabetic information to lower lunch-time sugars.
- You might not be high after all. Read here . . .
- Have a smaller morning snack.
- Have a healthier or low glycemic index morning snack.
- Consider omitting morning snack (after talking with doctor). **
- Do 10-20 minutes of activity in the morning.
- Try a smaller breakfast.
- Try a healthier breakfast.
- Try a low glycemic index breakfast.
- Try adding soluble or “gummy” fibre to breakfast.
- Try a carbohyrdrate management strategy.
- Remember to take diabetic medication on time – particularly your breakfast meds.
- Reduce your before breakfast tests if they are high.
- Reduce or manage morning stress or chronic stress.
- Consider insulin pump therapy if on multiple injections.
- See your doctor or health educator for medication changes.
1. You might not be high after all. Read here . . . Lots of people know this next tidbit of diabetic information but many people fail to use it. If you have a snack 1-2 hours before lunch, then you are not aiming for glucose levels of 90-130 mg/dl(US) or 4-7 mmol/l (Canada) at lunch. You are aiming for diabetes blood test results less than 180 mg/l or less than 10 mmol.
Even I fell into this trap recently. My sugars before lunch were running around round 144-162 mg/dl ( 8-9 mmol). I was about to adjust my basal insulins when I remembered that I'd started drinking hot chocolate for my morning break instead of tea. So, my sugars were only 1.5 hrs after eating and were just fine
Always remember to ask yourself when you last ate before you interpret your numbers. Then compare your numbers to the guidelines.
2. Have a smaller morning snack. If you have a morning snack that is 3 hours or more before lunch then your diabetes blood test result should ideally be back down to 90-130 mg/dl or 4-7 mmol/l by lunch. If it isn’t you could consider eating less carbohydrate at that snack (less starch, fruit, milk, sweets). Perhaps more veggies? Hey, I’m also a dietitian; you can’t blame me for trying.
Keep in mind that a piece of bread has about 15 grams of carbohydrate, not including fibre (this is a useful piece of diabetic information to memorize). If your muffin has 60 grams (with fibre subtracted) then your muffin is equal to 4 (yes four) pieces of bread. Check the grams of carb out on your snack foods!
3. Have a healthier or reduced glycemic index morning snack. If you have a morning snack that is 3 hours or more before lunch then your glucose level should ideally be back down to 90-130 mg/dl or 4-7 mmol/l. If it isn’t, you could try a healthier snack. No doubt you know what is junky food and what isn't, so I won't preach at you.
You could also try a low glycemic index snack. "Huh?", you say. Well, diabetic information changes over the years and the glycemic index is one of those changes.Some foods have carbohydrates that enter the blood stream slowly and cause less of a rise in blood glucose level than other similar carbohydrate foods. It does not depend on if the product is sweet or starchy. Some sweet foods are slow and others are fast. Some starchy foods are fast and others are slow.
An example: Whole grain bread (gritty bread with “bits”, as one of my patients calls it) raises the blood sugar slowly and less dramatically than 100% whole wheat bread made from finely ground flour. Milk, yogurt and most fruit are slow moving carbohydrates compared to most crackers and breads. Everyone is different so experiment using your home testing monitor.
4. Omit the morning snack (but first talk with doctor!). If you have a snack between breakfast and lunch, consider omitting it. **Please consult with your doctor or health care team first to avoid the risk of hypoglycemia, particularly if on diabetic medications. **
Interestingly, many folks believe that eating 3 meals and 3 snacks every day is just standard diabetic information that everyone should follow. Not so. There is also research to show that eating just 3 meals per day can also give good diabetes blood test results!
Remember, everyone is individual. Diabetic information is not to be interpreted the same for everyone. If however, you are eating that snack because you thought you should, you might want to talk with your doctor about the possibility of eliminating it.
A good question to ask yourself is: “Would I still be eating this snack if I didn’t have diabetes?” If the answer is “no” then work with your doctor to change the meds to allow you to eliminate the snack. This in itself may solve the problem of high readings before lunch. It might also help your weight, which in turn could also help your blood glucose levels.
You can verify if the morning snack is the culprit by testing your blood before that snack and see if you are in target. If you ARE in target before the snack but are then out of target by lunch, then you need to focus on either changing that snack, activity or meds for that snack.
5. Walk or do 10-20 minutes of activity after breakfast. No site with diabetic information would be complete without mentioning the benefits of exercise. I have seen the addition of exercise work in thousands of patients to reduce their diabetes blood test results. Walking after the meal makes your own insulin or the insulin you have injected work so much better!
This diabetic information is well known but unfortuately not always well applied. For myself, I can cut my insulin in half at breakfast if I know I will be doing a 15-20-minute walk around the hospital before going into work in the morning.
I've also seen patients who are normally high at lunch come into target just for the day of their diabetic appt. When we sleuth through the reasons we often get one similar to this: "Oh, that's because I walked from the bus stop. Whenever I do that, my sugars drop."
Carry glucose with you in case this method works too well! Check with your doctor for heart safety if you’ve had a heart attack or you’re unsure (people with prior heart attacks should not physically exert themselves immediately after eating). Indeed, check with your doctor before you start any activity program.
6. Try a smaller breakfast. You can focus your efforts on breakfast IF you're sure the morning snack is not the culprit. (see number 4. above). If you overdo starch (bread, toast, cereal, muffins) or fruit, fruit juice, jam or syrup or even milk at breakfast you might want to consider cutting back one or all of these portions to see if this helps reduce your diabetes blood test result at lunch. Here's some eye popping diabetic information about food: many bagels, tea biscuits and muffins are equal to 3-4 bread!
A story: A friend of mine was recently diagnosed with diabetes. His readings were around 285 mg/dl (15 mmol). He was having 2 bagels for breakfast, because he figured, why not, he’s a tall guy. He didn’t know that many bagels are equal to 4 pieces of bread (yes! 60 grams of carb). When he switched to 2 toast and fruit for breakfast his blood blood readings – well. . . both he and I were amazed at the results . . . the high readings came plummeting down by lunch – right into target. And here I thought he’d need diabetic meds. I love being wrong! See what one piece of diabetic information did for his sugar levels!
Another version of this is to "swap" some of your carb. For example, if you want 3 toast instead of your usual 2 then have less or no juice/fruit or milk that morning.
7. Try a healthier breakfast. Although fat is not a carbohydrate food, for many people a high saturated fat meal - eg. with sausage, bacon and hash browns - can impair glucose tolerance and make insulin resistance worse. This can seem odd especially other diabetic information shows us that fat in the diet has been shown to slow the absorption of carbohydrate. But, regardless, I'm just reporting what I see happening in some patients and yes, there is some research to back it up. Now switching to healthier, low saturated fat breakfasts does not work for everyone's glucose levels and it does depend on the type of diabetic medication you are on. However, switching to lean back bacon and multigrain bread can have positive effects on heart health and if you try it long enough you might lose weight. AND 8 to 10 lbs weight loss can decrease the actual results of diabetes blood tests!
8. Try a low glycemic index breakfast. Diabetic information revolving around the glycemic index is now quite prevalent. Low glycemic index foods are still carbohydrates but they cause a slow and less dramatic rise in blood glucose levels. I recall a person who had high diabetes blood tests of around 180 mg/dl (or 10 mmol) at lunch after eating corn flakes and whole wheat toast (both high glycemic index foods) for breakfast. This person wasn't interested in reducing portions or any other options listed on this page except for trying more low glycemic index starches at breakfast. The switch was made to oatmeal and corky pumpernickel. (yes, yes ... the thin stuff that looks like cork from a memo board). The result? The blood readings dropped into target by lunch. The thing that amazed me most wasn't the drop in the meter readings, it was the fact that this particular person choose these foods and actually ended up liking them. It's amazing what you'll like once you try it!
9. Add more soluble fibre to breakfast. Okay, soluble fibre gives food a low glycemic index so I'm mentioning glycemic index twice! It's just that I see so many people who switch to Bran Buds with Psyllium or oatmeal or whole grain rye bread for breakfast (yes, all soluble fibre) and get better blood results by lunch that I had to slip this in again! I've had patients say this was the easiest piece of diabetic information they used! (and it also helped their cholesterol levels)
10. Try a carbohydrate management strategy.There are numerous ways to get picky with your carbohydrate foods at breakfast that can help your lunch readings. Here are some: consistent carbohydrate (the same grams carb or the same number of servings of carb foods at the same meal every day); structured meal plan (a specific or "locked in" number of servings from each food group per meal); carbohydrate budgeting ( an individualized range of carbohydrates to eat at each meal); insulin to carb ratios (the specific grams of carb you can eat per 1 unit of rapid or fast insulin - may differ for each meal); insulin to carb choice ratios (the specific units fast/rapid insulin per serving of carb food per meal).
People also try constant carb but "top up" medicine for when they eat more than the alloted grams or portions of carb foods. Eg. the patients we have who are prescribed gluconorm or rapid insulin to use just for the meals they eat more than usual. Or they may already be on those meds and merely take more of them when they overeat. This can work with glucophage/metformin too. Talk with your doctor and dietitian if you want to pursue any of the above food-related diabetic information. Down the road I'll add in pages to explain each of them.
11. Remember to take your medications as prescribed. It's not unusual to forget diabetes pills before breakfast and take them afterwards or forget them altogether. Indeed, sometimes I see pill vials that don't specify when to take the pills. If you're having these problems, talk with your pharmacist, doctor or health care team for possible solutions.
Your pharmacist is a great resource for diabetic information regarding types of pills or insulins. Some diabetic pills like Avandia or Actos can be taken only once a day - even at night. However, remember that it's common to need more than one type of diabetic medication. Luckily, there is a myriad of designer pills out there to try to suit your lifestyle and hopefully your memory!
12. Lower your fasting blood sugars. It's amazing the number of people I see who reduce their fasting diabetes blood test results into a healthy range and the rest of the day's readings just fall into place. You can check out the solutions forhow to lower fasting blood sugars on this site.
13. Reduce morning stress or chronic stress. Stress management is critical for overall health! Millions of diabetic people have more than adequate access to diabetic information. But in the United States, only 1/3 of those people have adequate diabetic control. The problems arise when trying to implement that diabetic information. And stress is one of the biggest barriers to doing this. Stress causes the liver to dump more sugar into the bloodstream. It also results in making hormones that works against insulin. When I had my last evaluation I went into my boss's office with normal sugars and came out one hour later with a sky high reading - and the review went superbly! Arrr - Stress. Most importantly, stress impairs your ability to make and act on decisions. Any decisions- including those for how to make use of diabetic information. Of interest, this stress - whether it be emotional or physical, also has horrid effects on blood pressure and heart health! The information on heart disease from the well respected Interheart Study clearly showed this. (It clearly showed 9 factors cause 90% of heart attacks!>Please seek help for managing stress from your doctor, minister or counsellor if you feel this is affecting your life.
Now if it's a short term stress like a cold or infection you might find glucose elevate but return to normal once the illness has resolved. However, they might not - so continue using your home blood sugar monitors to test and keep an eye on the results.
14. Consider insulin pump if on numerous insulin injections. Insulin pumps are truly an overlooked area of diabetic information by many with diabetes. Pumps are unique in how they provide insulin. And no. You cannot do the same thing with injections that you can with a pump - unless you like injecting yourself once an hour. I can think of 4 people immediately in my practice who have solved troublesome blood sugars between breakfast and lunch by switching to an insulin pump. Now they're also able to miss meals too. Consider discussing with your physician and getting more diabetic information regarding pumps if you feel this is an option for you.
15. See your doctor or health educator for help. If you are using all the diabetic information you can or want to - even though it may not be perfect - you owe it to yourself and to the ones you love to seek more help. Yes, you will likely need medication added or changed but remember . . . it is the high blood sugars that do the damage to your body, not likely the medicine. People frequently say "Poor you," when they hear I am on insulin. I have no such opinion. Indeed, I'm glad I wasn't born before Banting and Best's discovery. I am grateful for this medicine which has kept me here - here so that I could burn cookies with my daughter today. (Unfortunately the insulin hasn't taken away my ineptitude in the kitchen.)
Didn't find the diabetic information you need? Try searching the web or this site.
BRAVO!
You made it through this page. Even if you don’t try any of diabetic information listed in these solutions you are better informed about what your doctor or educator might suggest next to help.
Ready to move on? Find another "high chunk" of your day you'd like more diabetic information on so you can lower those blood glucose levels. How about fasting , supper or bedtime ? If you're unsure where to start, review the the diabetic information in the 4 steps to U-ACT!
Good Luck & Good Health! ---- Bev