Normal Blood Sugar Levels ARE Possible for a Type 1 Diabetic!
Very
few doctors will admit that normal blood sugar levels are possible for the type
1 diabetic. With a relatively small amount of effort, you too can achieve normal
blood sugars! Treatment for Type 1 Diabetes has become increasingly
controversial as the complications continue to effect millions of individuals. I
feel it's time to take control of your own future by testing yourself and
finding out what really works for YOU!
What are normal blood sugar levels? Fasting (blood sugar level after not eating
for 8 hours) blood sugar should be between 70 milligrams per deciliter to 100
mg/dL. Your blood sugar should not be above 100 at any given time; If it is,
this suggests a pre-diabetes condition. A level of 100 - 199 suggests
prediabetes. A level over 200 suggests that you have either Type 1 or Type 2
diabetes. Click here for other symptom of diabetes.
There
are several steps in lowering your blood sugar. Try the following if you are
interested in more normal blood sugar levels.
A. Begin slowly lowering your carbohydrate intake. If you want to
get very specific on which foods you can and cannot eat, I recommend the
diet as per Dr. Richard Bernstein. He has done all the testing for us
and eliminated all foods that had a make up that could not be tracked.
After all, if you can't track it, you can't manage it. Also, check out
our
diabetic recipes page for some
delicious low carb meals. If you stick to a pre-calculated amount of
carbohydrates per meal, your insulin amounts should be the same every
day.
B.
Test your blood sugar more frequently. We test from 5
- 10 times per day. If your fingers can take it, the blood sugar
readings are imperative to helping understand if the insulin
amounts are correct or not. Know your
A1C. This test is very revealing as to how you are doing
with blood sugar levels and should be under 6.0%.
C.
Pay attention to how and when your type of insulin works. For
example, before meals, Isobel gets about 2 units of Regular Humalin
insulin. This particular insulin is given about 40 minutes before a meal
because it takes that long to begin working. If we did not wait the
proper amount of time to allow the insulin to work, her blood sugar
level would rise significantly before the insulin could react. This
simple knowledge can make a HUGE difference in managing blood sugar
levels. Humalog on the other hand is a more fast acting insulin and if
given for meals, should only be given about 5 minutes before eating.
Check with your doctor or do your own research on your insulin to make
sure you are giving it enough time to start working before you eat.
D. Stop snacking and limit
yourself to three meals per day. Snacking is habitual and can
easily be broken.
The level of blood sugar control predicts the onset
and severity of
diabetes-related complications
for both types of diabetes. This means that if you have diabetes, if you
can keep your blood sugar levels as close as possible to normal, you can
live a normal life span with few or even no complications at all. A
non-diabetic's normal blood sugar range is from 70 - 100. I see no
reason why a diabetic can't strive for the same levels. We do!
Dr. Bernstein and his philosophy helped us
immensely. I highly recommend you at least read his book - of which he
just published a 2nd edition. You can purchase his book and other
products by
clicking here.
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