DIABETES: WHAT MAKES BLOOD GLUCOSE GO UP AND DOWN?
When you eat food, your blood glucose levels will go up – at least until insulin helps this glucose get into the cells where it is used for fuel. Glucose levels will go down when you follow a healthy meal plan – one that is designed to help you achieve and maintain your ideal weight.
If you do physical exercise, your cells will burn more fuel and your blood glucose levels will go down (until you replenish them with more food).
Physical activity on a regular schedule, along with reduced kilojoules, will help you to lose weight, improve your physical fitness, and reduce your risks for future heart and circulatory diseases.
If you inject insulin or swallow an anti-diabetes pill, your blood glucose levels will go down. But the injection or pill only works when you follow a proper meal and exercise programme.
If you’re under a lot of stress, your blood glucose levels will go up – because that’s the way your body fuels up to handle the emergency called stress.
The same reaction takes place when you have an illness. Your body, without your conscious action, releases stored glucose to fight the illness. If you learn how to cope with stress and how to treat minor illness, you can reduce your blood glucose levels.
If you are carrying excess fat (when you’re overweight or obese you store those kilograms primarily as fat), the fat interferes with your body’s ability to use insulin. Therefore, when you’re overweight, your blood glucose levels will be higher. A weight loss of ten to twenty per cent in most persons with diabetes will lead to the normalization of insulin action – and a return to normal blood glucose levels.
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