There are many reasons to maintain your blood sugar under control: protecting your arteries and nerves are two of them. Here's one other big one: stopping dementia, the lack of memory and pondering skills that affects hundreds of thousands of older Americans.
Dr. Nathan collaborated with researchers from across the country to look at blood sugar levels in greater than 2,000 older adults—with a mean age of 76—participating within the Adult Changes in Thinking Study. The majority of study participants didn't have diabetes. Here's what the researchers found. anyone A persistent rise in blood sugar was linked to an increased risk of dementia — the upper the blood sugar, the greater the danger.
Why? There are only theories. “The speculation is that elevated blood sugar levels are causing more vascular disease, but it could also be other metabolic problems. For example, people with elevated blood sugar often have insulin resistance. “That might be the link affecting our brain cells,” says Dr. Nathan.
The study doesn't prove that prime blood sugar reasons Dementia, only that there's a connection between the 2. For this reason, don't start attempting to lower your blood sugar simply to preserve your pondering skills, warns Dr. Nathan. There is not any evidence that the strategy will work, although he says it must be studied.
But it's price maintaining a tally of your blood sugar to forestall type 2 diabetes. This disease is in epidemic proportions. About 26 million Americans – one in 12 – have diabetes. High blood sugar is a symptom of this disease. Normal blood sugar after eight hours of fasting is lower than 100 mg/dL of blood. If your fasting blood sugar is 126 mg/dL or higher, you might have diabetes. People with blood sugar readings above 100 but below 126 are called pre-diabetics. About 80 million Americans fall into this camp.
Excess blood sugar is an issue because it will probably result in quite a lot of health problems, including heart, eye, kidney and nerve disease.
Control blood sugar
What in case your blood sugar is higher than normal? There is nice news on this area: You can lower your blood sugar by exercising and, if needed, reducing weight. Switching to a healthier weight-reduction plan with more vegetables, fruits and whole grains and cutting back on highly refined grains may also help.
Try to get 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity activity, resembling brisk walking. If that is difficult, know that even a bit of activity could make an enormous difference in lowering blood sugar levels. Short but frequent walking breaks– as short as one minute and forty seconds every half hour – can lower blood sugar. So you'll be able to. Take a walk after eating.
And it doesn't all the time must be an official “exercise.” Try taking the steps more often, parking away from the shop, and take a look at to stand up and move in the event you've been sitting for long periods of time. “It's common sense,” says Dr. Nathan. “The more active and less sedentary you are, the more likely your muscles can take up glucose, and the more effective the insulin you make will be.”
It can be helpful to cut back your intake of highly refined carbohydrates, especially foods with added sugars resembling sucrose, high fructose corn syrup, and molasses, cane sugar, corn sweetener, raw sugar, syrup, honey or fruit juice. too The American Heart Association recommends 100 calories from sugar, or six teaspoons of sugar per day for girls, and 150 calories or nine teaspoons of sugar per day for men. If you might be pre-diabetic or pre-diabetic, you could need to work with a nutritionist to find out your exact needs.
Making these changes is an investment, of course. But the payoff—higher physical and mental health—is certainly price it.