If you have reduced the intake of calories, but you simply gain weight instead, if you often have food cravings and your stomach is upset, or you often suffer from some other digestive discomforts, it may mean that your blood sugar levels are elevated.
Namely, not only diabetics are prone to high blood sugar, as all people may experience these health issues after the consumption of some foods, like refined sugars or foods rich in carbohydrates.
However, if your blood sugar levels remain elevated for long, you may experience numerous serious complications.
High blood sugar may be caused by several factors, including:
- Stress
- Certain medications
- Inactivity
- Some health issues
- Poor diet
Namely, as we already stated, not only diabetics can have high blood sugar issues. This condition is often manifested by the following 14 symptoms:
- Constant thirst
- Chronic fatigue
- Frequent need to urinate, especially while sleeping
- Stomach discomfort
- Dry mouth
- Dry and itchy skin
- Frequent infections
- Blurred vision
- Weight gain and excess belly fat
- Cuts and wounds which do not heal quickly
- Feeling hungry all the time
- Impotence
- Inability to concentrate
- Nerve issues
However, high blood sugar may be lowered with the help of the Glycemic Index (GI). It is a numerical index which ranks carbohydrates according to their glycemic response.
This means that they are ranked according to the level to which they elevate the blood sugar levels. The scale ranges from 0 to 100, and involves foods with high values of glycemic response, that is, foods that stimulate a spike in blood sugar levels.
For instance, the GI of pure glucose is 100, so it is considered to be a reference point.
The digestion and absorption of high- GI foods in the body are quicker and they cause oscillations in the blood sugar levels. On the other hand, the digestion and absorption of foods with low GI is slower, so they cause a steady rise in blood sugar levels.
Therefore, those foods with low GI lower insulin resistance and insulin levels, while inhibiting the signs of high blood sugar, so they are more beneficial for our health. These foods also promote healthy weight loss as they reduce food cravings and provide a feeling of satiety.
Hence, in case you experience some of the signs of high blood sugar levels, you should immediately start consuming a low glycemic diet, and replace foods with high GI foods with others which have lower GI values.
You can follow a low GI diet not only to reverse the high blood sugar symptoms, but to lose excess weight, to consume healthy foods, and to improve your overall health.
The following tables will show the foods together with their GI values:
However, it is important that you should be aware that individuals differently respond to certain foods, so it is advisable that you check your blood glucose levels 2 hours after you have consumed the food.
