4 Natural Tricks to Help You Control Your Blood Sugar in Minutes
Keeping blood sugar steady doesn’t just help prevent (and even reverse) type 2 diabetes, it also boosts your stamina, focus, and happiness by 80 percent! What’s more, it’s been shown to reduce the risk of covid-19 complications by 61 percent. Thankfully, it takes only a few minutes a day for long-lasting results to control blood sugar…
Rub Your Hands
Massaging your hands and fingers for one minute before each meal — using firm pressure and small, circular motions — cuts the risk of daily blood sugar swings by 30 percent, British scientists say. Stimulating pressure sensitive nerves in your hands relaxes and opens arteries, helping blood glucose more quickly reach the cells that need it. More good news: Hand massages prompt the release of dopamine, a hormone that boosts focus for up to 90 minutes per squeeze!
Crunch on Walnuts
Nibbling on 1⁄3 cup of walnuts daily lessens the odds of blood sugar troubles (including type 2 diabetes for folks who are prediabetic) by as much as 68 percent , a UCLA study shows. Explains endocrinologist John Hakimi, MD, walnuts brim with nutrients like vitamin E and oleic acid that help muscle cells soak up and burn blood glucose for fuel.
Drizzle Some Oil
A teaspoon of flaxseed oil has 2,000 mg. of alpha-lipoic acid, a plant fat that helps the pancreas release insulin, plus encourages cells to use this sugar-controlling hormone. No wonder Canadian scientists say adding one to two teaspoons of flax oil to your daily diet improves blood-sugar control by 50 percent.
Cover Your Eyes
Donning a sleep mask (Buy on Amazon, $5.99) for sound slumber boosts all-day blood sugar control by 45 percent, reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes by 33 percent, a study in Diabetes Care found. Endocrinologist Fran Coletti, MD, says when you’re well-rested, you produce less cortisol, a stress hormone that damages insulin-producing cells.
A version of this article originally appeared in our print magazine, Woman’s World.
