According to the World Health Organization (WHO), building and maintaining a scientific lifestyle, especially through some healthy daily habits, can help stabilize blood sugar levels, slow or reverse the progression of the disease.
Eat on time and control your portion sizes
Diet is the most important factor affecting blood sugar. Instead of eating too much at one time or skipping meals, patients should eat all meals throughout the day, on time and divide the portion into small portions. This helps prevent blood sugar from spiking after eating or dropping too low when hungry.
Prioritize foods with a low glycemic index (GI) such as green vegetables, whole grains, legumes, limit refined starch and simple sugar.
Eating too much starch or sugar will cause blood sugar to suddenly increase. If maintained for a long time, the pancreas has to work too hard to secrete insulin, leading to insulin resistance and progression to diabetes.
Exercise regularly for at least 30 minutes a day
Physical activity not only helps consume excess energy but also increases the body's sensitivity to insulin - a key factor in helping sugar enter cells from the blood. Some forms of gentle exercise such as brisk walking, cycling, swimming or yoga all bring stable blood sugar if maintained regularly.
Dr. Mark Hyman, an American functional medicine expert, emphasizes: Exercise is a free dose of medicine that helps control blood sugar naturally. Just walking 30 minutes a day after a meal can significantly reduce blood sugar levels in people with prediabetes.
Drink enough water, limit sweets
Water helps purify the body and helps the kidneys remove excess glucose through urine. Drinking enough 1.5 - 2 liters of water per day, especially water, helps maintain blood volume and stabilize blood sugar levels. On the contrary, carbonated soft drinks and canned fruit juices contain a lot of simple sugars, which can easily cause blood sugar to spike.
Get enough sleep and manage stress
Good sleep plays an important role in regulating hormones, including insulin. Prolonged lack of sleep can lead to insulin resistance and increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. In addition, mental stress causes the body to secrete the hormone cortisol - a factor that increases blood sugar.
According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), sleeping less than 6 hours a night disrupts glucose metabolism and increases the risk of prediabetes by up to 40%.
