What brings blood sugar down in diabetes?

The most important thing to keep your blood sugar in check if you have Diabetes is to drastically limit your intake of carbohydrates. This includes sugar (found in wine, beer, soda, sweets, fruits, milk, to name a few) and complex carbohydrates like bread, rice, pasta, potatoes and oats. You do not need to eliminate them from your diet entirely, but you need to keep the % of them compared to vegetables and protein very low. Americans tend to eat a lot of carbs, which is a factor in the cause of diabetes in the first place. Diet is the #1 most important factor in controlling diabetes. If in doubt about what you're eating, check the label for carbohydrates, sugars, sugar alcohols. Dietary fiber is OK even though it is technically carbohydrate.

Exercise will also help lower your blood sugar, since the purpose of blood sugar is to transfer an energy source to your body. When you exercise, your cells will use up that sugar. Getting large amounts of mild-to-moderate exercise regularly is best. This could be as simple as walking around the neighborhood, doing household chores, or standing rather than sitting (at work, while watching TV, etc.).

Sleep affects your blood sugar. If you don't sleep enough, your body and brain will be under stress, which causes blood sugar to be harder to control because it thinks you need the extra energy when you really don't.

Diabetes is also treated with medications, primarily insulin injections. Insulin is the chemical that a normal person's body makes to break down blood sugar, but in a diabetic that process doesn't work. Many diabetes medications also tend to cause weight gain, so they should be considered a secondary measure to diet and exercise.

If you are diabetic, this means that your body has a hard time controlling blood sugar whether it is high OR low. Low blood sugar must also be watched out for, and a few small things (like candies) should be kept on hand if it drops too low, but ONLY then.

Diabetes means a huge lifestyle change, and the most crucial thing to maintaining a good quailty of life is maintenance. This means changing your habits (start small, then increase the changes over days and weeks) and being very consistent. Set alarms and reminders to check your blood sugar, get exercise, and go to bed. Don't tempt yourself with bad foods by keeping them around the house, and last but not least see your doctor regularly. Your doctor will know better than anyone how well you are controlling your diabetes, and the risks are if you aren't.