The swing of blood sugar levels from very high, usually after a meal, to very low, say after missing your breakfast, needs to be kept in check as it can complicate the symptoms of diabetes. The blood glucose tends to fluctuate and goes beyond the normal range. The action of insulin which opens the channel of cells to allow glucose to enter is prominent with regards to the swinging blood sugar level. When the blood sugar levels are not under control, it is usually because of problems in the action of insulin.
[Read: How Insulin Works in Diabetes]
Some of the situations responsible for swinging blood sugar level are:
- When a person consumes too much of sugar in his meal, his body produces as much of insulin to process them. This results in many cellular channels opening up for absorption of blood glucose into the cells. Thus, the blood glucose gets absorbed into the cells and its concentration in blood drops.
- In a person suffering from insulin resistance, the membranes of the cells do not open.
- In case of insulin resistance, the membranes of the person's cells are not able to detect insulin and thereby, very few channels are opened. Thus, glucose as well as insulin both remain intact in the blood while some cells are also deprived of sufficient glucose.
- The pancreatic cells release insulin in the blood but if these cells can get exhausted if excessive amount of insulin is produced. Once fatigued, these cells are no longer able to generate the level of insulin that is needed for processing even normal level of glucose. Thus, this leads to blood sugar impalance.
Imbalance in blood sugar level can lead to diabetes mellitus and thus, it is important that the factors that are affecting it are looked into. You need to be prompt in preventing the condition to aggravate. You can find out the way various foods affect your blood sugar level by maintaining a food dairy for two week.
[Read: What is the Recommended Blood Glucose Levels for Diabetes?]
Test yourself just before eating, and couple of hours after your meals. This would tell you the foods you eat affect your blood sugar levels. You would notice that foods contain complex carbohydrates are absorbed slowly in the cells. For them, you need to test your blood glucose 3-4 hours after your meals to judge their impact.
You can also get a carb counter book for yourself, or look for it online and get a printout. This can help you manage the amount of carbohydrates you consume. The ideal condition of your blood glucose is when the reading just before having meals is the same as what you get 2-3 hours after having your meals. If that is not the case, think what you had in your meal as it may be damaging to your health. You might need to consider reducing the portion size of what you ate if not completely eliminating it from your diet.
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