Tricks to prevent low blood sugar (hypoglycemia)

Low blood sugar levels or hypoglycemia are the most at risk for people undergoing insulin therapy or blood sugar medications, such as diabetics. However, blood sugar can also drop too low at certain times, without being affected by any medication. This makes hypoglycemia can be experienced by anyone, including those of you who are healthy. Fortunately, the dangers of hypoglycemia can be prevented by using tricks to avoid low blood sugar.

When is it necessary to be alert for sugar levels to fall?

Hypoglycemia is a condition when blood sugar levels are lower than the normal blood sugar limit to reach 70 mg / dL. Some of the symptoms that indicate your blood sugar level is too low include:

Dizzy
Body limp and trembling
Heart beat
Blurred vision
Losing balance.

If you don't try to avoid low blood sugar or even it recurs, hypoglycemia can cause brain damage that can lead to seizures, coma, and even death.

Diabetes medications that focus on lowering high blood sugar levels, such as insulin injections and the drug metformin, do have side effects that trigger hypoglycemia. However, the drastic drop in blood sugar can also be influenced by the body's natural reactions.

Several things can put a person at an increased risk of developing hypoglycemia, such as:

When sleeping at night, because the body does not get food intake for a long time.
Do not eat regularly with unbalanced portions.
Too much activity and not increase your daily carbohydrate intake.
Eating too little and irregularly, but still injecting insulin in a fixed dose.
Excess dose of insulin therapy than the doctor recommended.
Inject insulin at the wrong time, such as before exercising.
Too much alcohol consumption on an empty stomach for a long time.
Exercising too intensely without being accompanied by adequate food intake.

The trick is to prevent blood sugar levels from dropping too low

Health problems caused by hypoglycemia can be prevented through a combination of implementing a healthy lifestyle with discipline in taking medication, especially for diabetics.

To keep blood sugar under control, the National Institute of Diabetes recommends that you do the following tricks to prevent low blood sugar:

1. Routinely check blood sugar levels

Checking or checking blood sugar levels regularly every day is needed to measure whether you have been undergoing treatment well, are active enough to move around, or have met your daily food intake needs.

Check blood sugar levels independently using a blood sugar measuring device several times a day as recommended by the doctor. You need to check immediately when showing a complaint that is suspected of being a symptom of hypoglycemia.

To prevent low blood sugar levels at night, always check your blood sugar levels regularly before going to bed. If the blood sugar levels of diabetics always drop at night, you should ask your doctor to adjust your daily insulin dose.

2. Eat regularly with balanced nutrition

Blood sugar levels should tend to rise after eating. However, hypoglycemia can also occur when people with type 1 diabetes who eat too little and often skip meals, but always inject insulin in a fixed dose.

Therefore, the key to the trick to avoiding blood sugar dropping too low is to eat and snack regularly according to your schedule. This needs to be accompanied by a regular schedule of insulin injections, especially for diabetics.

In addition, you should also regulate the types of food you consume. Make sure you meet daily nutritional needs, especially the amount of carbohydrate intake to keep blood sugar levels within normal limits.

Tips for preventing low blood sugar during exercise

Engaging in strenuous activities such as exercising puts diabetics at an increased risk of developing hypoglycemia. Even though you are still required to always be physically active in order to control blood sugar levels.

Therefore, you need to apply special tricks to avoid low blood sugar levels during exercise.

1. Check blood sugar levels

Check blood sugar levels before, during, and after exercise. Make sure your blood sugar level is above 100 mg / dl before starting exercise.

If your blood sugar level is above 250 mg / dl before starting exercise, check for ketones in your urine.

If your urine test shows ketones, don't continue exercising. This can raise your blood sugar levels and increase the risk of ketoacidosis, which is a condition of severe dehydration.

If your blood sugar level during exercise is 70 mg / dL or lower, stop activities and eat foods that contain carbohydrates, such as fruit slices, low-fat yogurt, and granola bars. Check every 15 minutes, if it doesn't change, repeat this again.

Check when you are done. This will let you know how the exercise you do can affect your blood sugar levels. This check will also tell you whether you need a snack to raise your sugar level (if it's below 100 mg / dl) or not.

2. Eat before you exercise

To prevent low blood sugar, make sure you have enough energy during exercise by eating food sources of calories, especially carbohydrates. Avoid drinking alcohol both before and after exercising

However, make sure to allow at least 2 hours between after meals and exercise. Don't exercise on a full stomach. Therefore, avoid foods and snacks that are high in fat as they take a long time to digest.

If you use insulin before meals, make sure you also know when the insulin works peak. Postpone to exercise until the insulin working period is over.

3. Always have snacks on hand

Sometimes it is difficult to prevent low blood sugar while exercising. As a precaution, you should always carry snacks that can increase blood sugar levels quickly.

If you have experienced several health problems similar to the symptoms of hypoglycemia, check your blood sugar levels immediately. Don't hesitate to see a doctor. For diabetics, you need to be consulted to adjust a diabetes treatment plan that is safer for your health condition.