How to Lower AIC Overnight: 9 Tips to Reach Your Goal

Diabetes affects over 100 million people in the US. It's a serious condition that can lead to life-threatening complications if not managed properly. That's why people with diabetes need to make smart lifestyle decisions, like following a healthy diet and getting plenty of exercise. One way to help manage your diabetes is by lowering your A1C level. Some people with diabetes are looking for how to lower A1C overnight. While there's no magic overnight cure, you can take steps to improve your A1C during the day that will work quickly. For example, along with regular exercise and healthy eating, choosing diabetic friendly protein bars for your nighttime snack can help you achieve your goals. 

Understanding Low Blood Sugar at Night

A1C is a test to measure the average blood sugar levels in your body. Other names for it include glycated hemoglobin, glycosylated hemoglobin, HbA1c test, or hemoglobin A1C. The blood sugar readings are used to diagnose prediabetes and diabetes. Also, it's a tool to monitor diabetic treatment. It shows the average level over the past 90 days. While everyone's numbers vary and different factors can lower and raise it, a healthy A1C reading for most adults is less than 7%.

Why it's Important to Maintain Normal A1C Levels

Diabetes is a serious condition that can lead to long-term complications and even death when not treated. To improve your quality of life and even achieve remission for type 2 diabetes, you need to maintain normal A1C levels. The higher the numbers of your HbA1c test, the higher the risk of significant complications. If you have pre-diabetes, you'll need the testing yearly. For people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes who maintain low blood sugar at night and throughout the day, twice a year, testing is recommended. Individuals that aren't controlling their blood sugar or who take insulin need regular screenings to monitor their condition, with A1C checks four times yearly. 

Here are 9 natural ways to achieve low blood sugar for a happier, healthier you.

A diabetes diagnosis can be scary. But it doesn't have to limit your life or slow you down. You can take steps to lower blood sugar at night and keep it low throughout the day. 

1. Daily Exercise for Low Blood Sugar at Night

One of the most critical steps for lowering blood sugar is exercise. Hitting the gym seven days a week or running a few miles a day is a great way to stay in shape and keep blood sugar levels down. However, you don't need to throw yourself into an extensive workout routine. 

Simply being active daily is enough to get levels down and help you lose weight if you're overweight or obese. Start by taking a mile walk every day. Individuals that can't get outside or go for a long-distance walk can try walking in place for 15 minutes several times a day. Do you have problems with sore ankles or knees that make walking or running difficult? Consider low-impact exercises, such as an elliptical trainer or recumbent bike. If you have access to a pool, consider swimming laps a few times weekly. Water therapy is a great way to exercise and reduce stress. 

2. Normal A1C Levels Overnight with a Healthy Diet

A diabetes diagnosis doesn't mean an end to sugar and sweets. But it does require strict changes in your diet. Once you have your diet under control, you can make smart choices that allow a few extra carbs some days. Start by cutting out processed foods that are high in fats, starches, and carbs. Then, learn how to read product labels and pay close attention to the daily percentages. Finally, try to keep your carbs as low as possible. 

An excellent choice is a ketogenic diet, which reduces carbohydrates to 15 or less daily. It's a low number, but it's the best way to eliminate excess sugar. Carbs are sugar. The more you eat, the higher your blood sugar levels go. So replace bread, pasta, and grains with good carbs, such as vegetables and proteins. Notice there's little mention of fruits in a healthy diet. That's because as yummy as fruits are, they're high in sugar, which puts them on the list of foods to avoid. When you keep the carbohydrates low, your body burns fat instead of carbs for energy, which helps reduce weight.

3. Practice Portion Control

A considerable part of your diet is portion control. Unfortunately, many people eat more than a serving at each meal. To reduce how much you eat, try using smaller dishes and measuring out portions. These steps can not only help you lose weight but help you keep it off.  A great way to practice portion control is to throw out the old rule of not eating before dinner. Instead, a healthy snack between meals is ideal for reducing how much you eat during your next meal. For example, choose a small salad, a handful of berries, or a diabetic-friendly protein bar. 

4. Actively Work to Lose Weight

You won't achieve normal A1C levels unless you actively work at it. Going about the same routine as before your diagnosis will leave you with a similar or even higher blood sugar reading at your next doctor's visit. Start small. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Park further away from your work building or any place you go for a few extra steps in your day. Change at least one meal a day to something healthy. For example, replace your morning bagel with a healthy protein shake. Need something more? Try low-carb powdered peanut butter to mix into it. 

5. Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate

You can feel better all-around by drinking more water. Strive to drink 15.5 cups of water daily for men and 11.5 cups each day for women. Remember to increase water intake when you're exercising and on hot and humid days. Along with improving your overall health, water dilutes blood sugar, lowering your numbers, and helping you feel better. You can check if you're drinking enough fluids by looking at your urine. If it's colorless or light yellow, you're doing good. The darker it is, the more you need to increase fluid intake. 

6. Limit Stress

Stress is a killer. Keeping your stress levels low can help reduce blood sugar levels and improve your health. Unfortunately, when people get a diabetes diagnosis, stress tends to increase quickly. The emotional roller coaster can throw off your routine and make it difficult to eat the right foods, reduce emotional eating, exercise, and sleep well at night. Once you return to healthy habits and maintain normal stress levels, your blood sugar numbers should even out. 

7. Stick to a Routine

Routine is something mentioned several times throughout this blog. That's because when you stick to the same schedule, it's easier to keep a regular eating schedule, exercise plan and reduce stress. Choose meal plans to lower AIC levels. You'll notice you make more poor food choices and skip workouts when you're on vacation or during other times when your daily routine is off. That's not to say you can't go on vacation or have an off day. It only means you have to do your best to stick to regular eating, working out, and sleeping schedules. Keep a few Extend Nutrition Bars in your carry-on luggage. When your hungry and want a snack, grab the nutrition bar. It will help you stick to regular meal plans to lower A1C levels.

8. Get a Good Night's Rest 

Sleep is vital to staying healthy. Studies show that people who don't get enough sleep at night have an increased chance of diabetes. Additionally, when blood sugar is high, it can cause you to urinate more, keeping you awake. So, blood sugar levels can interfere with your sleep, causing you to have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, and waking up refreshed. Work to maintain normal A1C numbers to get a better night's rest. In return, it will help you keep your levels safe. 

9. Choose Diabetic Friendly Snacks & Meal Supplements

A common cause of excess calorie intake is hunger. When you don't stick to a routine or something changes your plans, missing a meal can make you ravenously hungry and lead to poor food decisions. An ideal way to avoid these costly diet errors is with a protein bar.  Extend Nutrition bars can help curb sugar cravings and reduce your appetite, so you don't make bad food choices based on hunger. Keep one or two bars with you at all times, at work, in your gym bag, and your car. These delicious bars are excellent foods to lower AIC levels and keep your blood sugar readings low for your next checkup. 

A variety pack gives you the option of a gluten-free, low-fat, low-carb way to control your hunger and cravings until your next meal. By managing your blood sugar for up to nine hours, you can be sure that eating one as your nighttime snack can prevent middle-of-the-night cravings and help you maintain normal A1C levels. 

While you're looking for how to lower A1C levels overnight, there are no magic ways to go from high blood sugar to low in a few hours. Instead, it takes dedication to a healthy lifestyle with the right foods, exercise, and stress management. However, small changes can add up to help you achieve low blood sugar at night. An excellent way to stick to your diet is with Extend diabetic-friendly protein bars. They're ideal for curb appetite and hunger cravings and control blood sugar levels for up to nine hours.