Maintaining a normal blood glucose level in diabetes mellitus is considered the main goal of treatment. Reducing and stabilizing blood glucose levels is provided by an integrated approach and often requires the patient to change lifestyle and nutrition. Compliance with a diet, rational physical activity helps stabilize blood sugar levels and reduce the dose of hypoglycemic drugs or insulin.
How to lower blood sugar?
Drug treatment helps to quickly reduce glucose levels. The choice of medication depends on the form of diabetes and sugar levels. Compensation for changes in carbohydrate metabolism is achieved by the use of hypoglycemic drugs, incretin mimetics, and insulin.
The main groups of hypoglycemic drugs:
- Biguanides (metamorphine, glucophage) - these oral tablets help reduce glycogenolysis, increase glucose uptake by peripheral tissues, improve lipid metabolism and fibrinolysis processes. Taking drugs allows you to maintain total cholesterol and sugar within normal limits, reduce the risk of thrombosis and hypoglycemia.
- Sulfonylureas (glimepiride, glibenclamide, gliquidone) - these drugs act by stimulating insulin production, often provoke hypoglycemia, weight gain, hepatotoxicity.
- Glitazones (pioglitazone, rosiglitazone) - increase insulin sensitivity in the liver, adipose and muscle tissue, suppress the production of glucose by the liver.
- Glinides (nateglinide, repaglinide) - work by high stimulation of insulin production, allowing you to control glucose levels after eating.
- Incretinomimetics (exenatide) - act by restoring insulin secretion and suppressing glucagon production.
insulin therapy
With the ineffectiveness of the use of hypoglycemic drugs, insulin is prescribed:
- ultrashort action (apidra, novorapid) affects about 3-4 hours;
- short-acting (humulin regular, actrapid) affects about 6-8 hours;
- medium duration (insuman, protofan) has an effect of up to 15 hours;
- long-acting (levemir, lantus) duration of action 24-29 hours.
How to stabilize blood sugar levels without pills?
In the absence of the effect of the use of one group of drugs, combination therapy is prescribed.
To maintain adequate glycemic levels without the use of medication, it is necessary to keep a diet, reduce the effects of stress, and receive adequate physical activity.
Features of physical activity
Patients with diabetes are recommended the same type of daily physical activity in the form of swimming, hiking, yoga, cycling. Physical activity ensures the utilization of glucose in the body during training and 2-3 hours after it. The intensity and duration of training is selected individually, depending on the general condition and concomitant diseases. It is worth noting that you can train at a glucose level of 5-15 mmol / l. Exercising with a glycemia of more than 15 mmol / l leads to an increase in glucose levels, and below 5 mmol / l cause hypoglycemia.
The main conditions of diet therapy:
- balanced, fractional 5-6 meals a day, in small portions;
- low-calorie diet for overweight;
- maximum restriction of easily digestible carbohydrates;
- consumption of foods high in fiber;
- reducing salt intake to 3 g;
- increase in protein intake in food up to 0.8 g/kg.
When choosing eligible foods, you should choose foods with low and medium glycemic index values. It is important to understand that the same product can lead to an increase in sugar to a different degree in each patient. You can optimally select products for the diet using regular glucometry after meals and the introduction of a diary. 
Products that lower blood sugar:
- chicory;
- Jerusalem artichoke;
- green onions;
- garlic;
- parsley, celery, spinach;
- cinnamon;
- rosehip infusion.
Food for diabetes should be varied and fully satisfy the body's needs for proteins, carbohydrates, fats. Featured Products:
- poultry and lean meats;
- fish (saury, trout, tuna, mackerel);
- eggs, with high cholesterol, it is advisable to use only protein;
- seafood (crabs, lobsters);
- vegetables - cabbage, zucchini, cucumbers, eggplant, green beans, mushrooms;
- dairy products - cheese, heavy cream, cottage cheese, whole milk yogurt;
- nuts and seeds - hazelnuts, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, walnuts, almonds;
- berries and fruits of acidic varieties, subject to a low-carbohydrate diet, fruits are recommended to be excluded completely or added to the diet after glucometry.
When choosing products, it is important to pay attention to calorie content; with high calorie content, consumption should be limited. The menu can be diversified by using recipes for diabetics in cooking, which correctly combine allowed products.
How to lower blood sugar home remedies
Traditional medicine to reduce blood sugar values offers the following recipes:
- cover half a glass of oats with half a liter of water, steam the mixture in a water bath for about 20 minutes, leave for about 1 hour. Take half a glass before meals up to 3 times a day for 1 month;
- Pour 5 g of crushed flax seeds with boiling water in a volume of 200 ml, leave for about 40 minutes, add the juice of half a lemon. Take 2 hours before the main meal;
- Pour 20 g of chopped buckwheat with 1 glass of kefir, insist overnight. Take on an empty stomach one hour before breakfast;
- Cover 40g of internal partitions from walnuts with 400 ml of water, cook until tender for an hour, over low heat. Decoction to use a tablespoon before meals;
- mix 1 raw egg with lemon juice, take for 3 days on an empty stomach an hour before meals, take a break for 10 days. The number of courses is not limited;
- mix 100 ml juices of potatoes, beets, cabbage, take half a glass before meals 2 times a day;
- herbs such as dandelion, nettle, blueberry leaves, lime blossom help to reduce sugar levels. From these herbs, ordinary decoctions are prepared at the rate of 30 g per 250 ml of boiling water.
The use of folk remedies and adherence to a low-carbohydrate diet is especially important during pregnancy, when many medicines are contraindicated for use.
