No one ever gives his blood sugar a second thought unless and until he has diabetes. But beware! Scientists and researchers have come to a conclusion that whether you have diabetes or not, a diet loaded with foods that increase your blood sugar level can increase the risk of heart disease, damage the blood vessel and raise the cholesterol level in the body. It may even chip away the memory and increase the risk of certain type of cancer. This has brought about a revolution in the way we understand diet and health. Luckily the damages do not happen overnight and even a slight change in the food you eat can start you on a healthier path and make you feel energized immediately.

The lure of sugar hits:

When you need quick refreshment what do you go for? Lollies,  pastry, or a packet of biscuits? All these are called convenience food as they dissolve quickly in your stomach and they race into the blood stream flooding the body with glucose There is no harm in it but the thing is it won’t last long and you are left feeling hungry well before the next meal time.

Unfortunately our usual diets are choked with fast foods which increase the blood sugar level .It is a common sight of us left with less energy than what we would like to have and continuous feeling of restlessness. It is also not a surprise that most of us  today are overweight and would be only glad to loose some pounds. The reason behind this is our life style and the food we eat. Yes eating too much and very little of physical exercise is the lion’s share in contribution towards the obesity. Low energy and weight gain are only the tip of the ice berg.

Why blood sugar matters?

Even when the blood glucose level reaches the sky after a heavy meal, our body has the ability to bring it back to normal in a few hours time. Only people with untreated diabetes have high  blood sugar levels most of the time. It was thought by the doctors for a long time that only these group of people needed attention and control on the food they eat. But the recent researches  reveal that even in healthy people, high levels after meals can damage the body even though it does not cause diabetes.

With all these information you will now be wondering how to control the level of blood sugar in the body?   It is very easy to tame the blood sugar level in your body .Follow the simple 7 steps to control the blood sugar .

1. Choose low glycaemic –index food and keep the portions moderate:  If you choose slow acting food instead of fast acting food, you can keep you’re your blood sugar level low and steady. It will be better if you keep a watch over the quantity of intake you have no matter what it is.  All kinds of legumes, cereals, vegetables (except beets and pumpkin) , leafy vegetables and fruits  have low glycaemic  index in them and they can be added in the diet.
2. Make three of your carb servings whole grains: Make sure that you have whole grains in your diet as these will help to prevent the heart disease and diabetes independently of their effects on blood sugar.
3. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables: Most of the fruits and vegetables are packed with vitamins, minerals and fibres. If you add these to your carbohydrate rich meal, then you can be successful in making your diet blood glucose friendly.
4. Have a lot of protein at every meal: it has been proved that protein lowers the overall glycaemic index of the meals and helps in curbing the hunger which in turn helps in making the weight loss easier. Some of the protein rich food is lean meat, fish, poultry and milk products. Vegetarians can have pulses, pea nut butter , Soya milk ,nuts and legumes.
5. Favor good fats to bad ones: ‘Bad’ saturated fats can interfere with the body’s capacity to control the blood sugar level while the ‘good’ unsaturated fats assist the body in controlling the blood sugar level. The good fats also help in lowering the over all glycaemic index of meals.
6. Eat in small quantity:  When we talk about the quantity of food we are not talking about carbohydrate rich foods but about all foods. Even when you are eating a low glycaemic index diet, quantity of food does counts. Eating in small quantity can help you fight insulin resistance and along with exercise will help you to reduce the weight to a larger extent.
7. Add acidic food to your meal:  Adding acidic food along with the carbohydrate rich food is a simple way to neutralize the blood sugar level in the body after a hearty meal. Citrus food, pickle liquid, lemon juice ,vinegar  all are acidic in nature and cooking food with any one of these or having it along with the meal helps in neutralizing the sugar level in the body.
8. Do not smoke: Smoking affects the functioning of heart and also the circulatory system which can lead to heart disease and poor circulation of blood which is very harmful for a diabetic person. So it is better to stop smoking.

Incorporate these simple steps in your daily routine of your diet program and tame your blood sugar and feel energetic, and also reduce your over weight.