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Healthy Blood Sugar Support Tips

By Ethan Boldt

October 4, 2024

Blood sugar is the amount of glucose in your blood. Very simply, glucose is a sugar that comes from the food and beverages you consume, and it’s your body’s main and first source of energy.

Our blood sugar levels fluctuate during the day, such as after meals and snacks, and this is normal. They’re lowest just before a meal.

However, maintaining healthy blood sugar levels already in the normal range is something you’ll want to do. It can help promote healthy weight management (in addition to a healthy diet and lifestyle, including regular exercise), hormonal balance, a positive mindset, steady energy levels, healthy skin and can help fight cravings.

To be precise, the higher the level of glucose in your blood, the more the hormone insulin is released in order to bring things back to balance. And a high amount of insulin being released leads to a sudden and sharp drop in blood glucose levels.

Therefore, it’s helpful to learn about ways to help maintain your healthy, normal blood sugar levels. Here are 13 tips to help support healthy blood sugar levels.

As always, you should consult your healthcare professional prior to beginning any new dietary or lifestyle regimen.

1. Eat a low-processed, balanced diet

Rather than avoiding carbohydrates or not consuming any sugar, which is not realistic for many of us, you simply need to balance your carb intake with protein and fats — and focus on getting them from real, whole foods.

Try to eat a source of protein, fiber and healthy fat with all of your meals. Such a strategy can help stabilize normal blood sugar levels, especially when you consume carbs or sugar. These types of foods slow down the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream, help manage your appetite, and are also important for your healthy metabolism and digestion.

2. Eat low on the glycemic index

A food’s glycemic index (GI) tells you how quickly the food is converted into sugar once you eat it. Every time you eat a food containing carbs, you experience a change in blood sugar, which is normal.

However, responses to eating certain carbohydrates can be very different from eating others, depending on factors like how much sugar they contain, how processed they are, their fiber content and what other types of foods you pair them with.

Carbohydrate-containing foods fall into different GI categories based on scientific measurements of glucose in the blood before, and then after, consuming each food.

When you eat foods high on the glycemic index scale — like white bread, white rice, breakfast cereals and desserts — you experience a faster, more significant increase in your blood glucose levels. When you eat foods lower on the GI — like whole grains, non-starchy vegetables and legumes — the increase in blood sugar is slower and more sustained.

And, as mentioned above, whenever you eat a carbohydrate, ideally it’s a fiber-rich carbohydrate and try to pair it with some protein and fat.

3. Lower your sugar intake

In general, Americans consume too much sugar. The average adult has about 22 teaspoons of added sugar per day. It should be around 6 to 9 max.

Excessive sugar can negatively affect many areas of the body and its function, including blood sugar, energy level, body weight, hormones, heart, liver, cognitive function, outlook and the body’s healthy response to inflammation.

Learn to follow a low-sugar diet and make replacements like replacing flavored yogurt with plain, breakfast cereals with regular oatmeal, sweet coffee drinks with non-sweet versions, cocktails with no-sugar mocktails, etc.

4. Substitute full-fat for low-fat

Along with the specific low-sugar replacements above, it’s recommended to avoid most “low-fat” foods that often contain high amounts of sugar. Yogurt, salad, breakfast cereals, peanut butter, cereal bars, etc. have low-fat versions that are all higher in sugar than their full-fat counterparts.

Full-fat varieties also help you keep you fuller longer and don’t affect overall blood sugar levels as much.

5. Have fiber throughout the day

As mentioned above, fiber can help stabilize normal, healthy blood sugar levels plus can keep you full — both can mean fewer sugar cravings. This includes both soluble and insoluble fiber, as they may decrease the normal after-meal rise in blood sugar for example.

Quality high-fiber foods include vegetables, nuts, seeds and legumes. Ancient grains like oats, brown rice and millet are also high in fiber.

6. Consume more protein

Many of us don’t eat enough protein. If your goal is supporting a healthy weight, 0.7 to 0.75 grams of protein per pound of body weight is optimal.

Protein helps keep blood sugar levels steady and in the already-normal range, plus we require it for muscle synthesis, burning fat and supporting our metabolism.

So get some protein foods in each of your meals. Eggs, meat, fish and dairy sources work well. For plant-based eaters, you can go with beans, legumes, nuts, seeds and whole grains. Plus one of the most convenient ways to increase your protein intake is to supplement with protein powder.

7. Eat probiotic foods

Probiotic-rich foods feature bacteria with many health benefits, and this includes helping to promote already-healthy levels of blood sugar. Top choices include kefir, yogurt, sauerkraut, miso and kombucha.

8. Have more magnesium-rich foods

Diets rich in magnesium appear to benefit blood sugar levels already in the normal, healthy range. Spinach, Swiss chard, black beans and almonds are the top sauces of magnesium.

9. Drink more water

To keep your blood sugar levels within healthy ranges, drinking enough water is also important. While hydrating is important for general health, it also assists the kidneys in flushing out excess sugar through urine.

Studies have even shown that drinking enough water can help keep blood sugar levels where they need to be, plus it may rehydrate the blood.

Zero-calorie and sugar-free beverages are best, led by water itself. Sugary drinks can raise blood glucose and also lead to weight gain.

10. Exercise regularly

Exercise helps keep blood sugar normal in more than one way. Short-term exercise gets your muscles to take up more glucose to use for energy and tissue repair, and will naturally lower blood sugar in the process. Long-term, regular exercise makes cells more responsive to insulin.

11. Practice healthy weight management

If you’re able to achieve the recommended weight range for your age and height, research indicates that a healthy weight helps to promote normal blood sugar levels. Along those lines, even a 5 percent drop in body weight can improve one’s blood sugar regulation.

12. Try intermittent fasting

Intermittent fasting benefits include managing a healthy weight, maintaining healthy, normal blood sugar levels and boosting overall health.

The most common form of intermittent fasting is fasting for 16 hours every day and limiting your eating to an eight-hour window. Typically, this simply involves not eating anything after dinner and skipping breakfast the next morning.

13. Manage stress levels

Excessive stress can increase blood sugar levels by the release of the “stress hormone” cortisol. Stress not only contributes to high blood sugar by raising cortisol, but also tends to increase sugar cravings — so a double-whammy you want to avoid.

All around, dealing with high amounts of stress often means people won’t take care of themselves and follow habits that can lead to normal blood sugar management. Instead, they may skip workouts, drink more alcohol and caffeine — all of which can contribute to increasing blood sugar levels.