Why lower blood sugar?

PCOS and other conditions like Diabetes cause blood sugar to be high. After long periods of time this can cause damage to blood vessels and nerve cells that can be painful and cause complications. Plus, having high blood sugar means you also get a sugar crash later on. If you keep blood sugar more even, you don’t spike or crash and have even energy all day! Sound pretty good? Here are five tricks to help get your blood sugar lower.

Drink and eat apple cider vinegar to lower blood sugar

Honestly, I couldn’t believe it when I looked at the science behind apple cider vinegar. It has been shown in several studies to help with blood sugar levels after a meal whether you take it before or after the meal itself. You need a fairly substantial amount – about 20 – 30 mls or an ounce or so. You can use it in dressing or sauces or drink it like tea.

Use cinnamon generously to lower blood sugar

There’s some evidence that cinnamon may help get blood sugar under control as well. Again, you likely need a lot, but it doesn’t hurt to include smaller amounts in smoothies, overnight oats, coffee and other foods. I’ve seen studies with everywhere from 1-3 grams per day in pill form, which would be a fair amount to add to food. Cinnamon seems to both increase the uptake of sugar into cells like vinegar and improve insulin sensitivity (super helpful for folks with PCOS).

Consider taking Inositol

Inositol has been shown in at least one study to help regulate blood sugar as well as metformin without the common GI side effects. It works by increasing insulin response or sensitivity and is a fairly mild supplement to take.

Walk after you eat

Exercise is pretty magical when it comes to blood sugar management because it allows your body to take up sugars from the bloodstream without the help of insulin. Pretty cool, huh? It doesn’t have to be rigorous either – a nice brisk walk around the block can get this process going.

Include fats, protein and fiber in meals & snacks

The things that keep blood sugar from spiking are… you guessed it – fat, protein and fiber. If you eat these with your carbs, you’re much less likely to get that sugar high and sugar crash and have more even energy throughout the day. This can be as simple as adding protein to your pasta dishes, nuts to your popcorn and nut butter to your oatmeal in the morning.

Need some help getting your blood sugar in check, so you can have even energy all day long and avoid sugar crashes? Book a free nutrition chat to make a plan with me: