Simple ways to keep your blood sugar stable

If you have diabetes, you know that keeping your blood sugar levels under control is the key to managing your condition and staying healthy. Here are some simple ways to make sure your blood sugar levels are as steady and stable as they can be.

It turns out that the lactose, protein, and fat in dairy products improves blood sugar by filling you up and slowing the conversion of food sugars to blood sugar.

Complex carbohydrates slow down absorption of glucose and keep your blood sugar stable longer.

• Researchers asked volunteers with diabetes to take cinnamon or a placebo for 40 days.
• Those taking the cinnamon saw their blood glucose levels drop by between 18 and 29 per cent.

• Made from high-fibre buckwheat, soba lowered blood glucose levels by 12 to 19 per cent in one well-controlled study on rats.
• You're not a rat, but the evidence on fibre and blood glucose improvement is unquestionable.

• Women who had a glass of wine a day cut their risk of diabetes in half compared to teetotallers.
• The same effect was found for beer. However, drinking wine immediately after eating can cause a sudden drop in the insulin in your blood, due to residual glucose from your meal.

• Researchers had obese patients eat half a grapefruit with each meal then compared them to a group that didn't have any. The grapefruit group had lower levels of insulin and glucose after each meal, suggesting more efficient sugar metabolism.

• Save half of each meal you prepare to eat later.
• This prevents you from overeating, and having several small meals over the course of the day helps to avoid a major blood sugar surge and its accompanying release of insulin.

• Your blood sugar drops when you're hungry, and then when you do eat, glucose floods your system, forcing your pancreas to release insulin.
• This creates a rollercoaster effect on your blood sugar.

• Numerous studies find that sleep deprivation has a dramatic effect on your blood sugar and insulin levels.
• Make sure you get to bed early and get the eight hours you need.

• These high-fibre foods take longer to digest, so they release their glucose more slowly.
• Studies find just 75 grams (1/3 cup) a day can help to stabilize blood sugar and insulin levels.

• Walnuts are a great source of monounsaturated fat, which won't raise your blood sugar.
• Researchers suspect that this fat also makes cells more sensitive to insulin, helping to combat high blood sugar.