A large percentage of the patients I see have prediabetes or type 2 diabetes, which means managing blood sugar is an important aspect to maintaining good health. For some of my patients, the pandemic has helped with blood sugar control as there has been more time to cook and prepare healthy meals in the home and less opportunity to eat out. For others, however, necessary lifestyle changes has made it challenging to keep sugar levels at target. For example, increased screen time comes at the sacrifice of movement and interferes with our ability to fall asleep and/or stay asleep. In addition, the increased stress many of us are experiencing during these times can trigger emotional eating, and may affect our mood and motivation to adhere to the best laid plans.

If you’ve been struggling with your sugar levels, one of the best ways to get back on track is to take an inventory of the following:

  1. Physical Activity Levels & Daily Movement. Record how many steps you take in a day, or the number of minutes spent exercising. Also keep track of time spent doing unstructured daily activities, such as household tasks, raking the leaves, gardening, etc. General guidelines for physical activity are a minimum of 150 minutes per week, divided over 3 or more days of the week. It has also been suggested that adults with diabetes break up prolonged periods of sitting with some type of light movement for a few minutes at least every 30 minutes.
  2. Sleep. Record how many hours you sleep per night. If you wake up in the middle of the night, note roughly how long you are up for. Research studies have shown that people who sleep less than 6 hours per night have more difficulties managing their blood sugar than those who sleep 7-8 hours per night.
  3. Self-Monitoring Blood Glucose. If you have a home blood glucose monitoring kit, starting measuring your sugar levels to determine a pattern of when you’re spiking. The recommended times to check are fasting (first thing in the morning before eating or drinking) and two hours after breakfast, lunch and dinner. You don’t have to collect all of this information in one day. Try to get a couple readings at each time over a two-week period (also record what was eaten prior to collecting).

Once you’ve collected this information, book an appointment to review your results. Blood sugar is highly responsive to lifestyle changes, and oftentimes there are small adjustments that can be made to one’s diet and lifestyle routine to help bring your sugar levels back to target.

References:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5317029/#!po=7.57576

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15851636/

https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/managing-diabetes-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/


Disclaimer: The information provided on this blog is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional before making any changes to your health regimen. The content shared here is based on the author’s research and personal experiences, and individual results may vary. The author and blog are not responsible for any adverse effects or consequences resulting from the use of any suggestions, preparations, or procedures discussed on this site.