3 Lifestyle Tweaks for Better Blood Sugar

Whether you’re living with prediabetes or diabetes—or just want more balanced blood sugar—what you eat is pivotal. However, it’s not the only thing that impacts your blood glucose numbers. Your habits can play a major role, too. The good news is that small, simple everyday lifestyle tweaks can be surprisingly powerful—no drastic measures required!

To make blood sugar management as easy as possible, we asked health experts to share their three top lifestyle strategies for healthier blood sugar. Here’s what they told us, plus easy, realistic ways to put these tweaks into action.

Add Movement to Your Day

“Consistent physical activity is key,” says certified diabetes educator Michelle Routhenstein, M.S., RD, CDCES. “Both aerobic exercise and strength training can improve insulin sensitivity and help the body utilize glucose more efficiently.”

And you don’t have to spend hours in the gym or on the bike to see a benefit. Research has found that even a short, 15-minute walk after eating can lower blood sugar.  

If you could use some strategies to work more movement into your day, try these expert-backed tips.

• Avoid Prolonged Sitting: The more time you spend on your computer or tablet, the more time you’re likely to spend sitting. The fix? Try setting a timer on your phone or watch to remind you to get up and move. At work, consider scheduling walking meetings or try a standing desk.
• Take the Stairs: This old piece of advice has withstood the test of time for good reason. Short bursts of activity throughout the day, like taking the stairs, are not only accessible, they’re also highly effective. 
• Get a Change of Scenery: If you need motivation to get moving, explore your neighborhood, town or city for new spaces to walk and enjoy the sights.
• Try a Home Workout Video: There are countless workout videos online, and many of them are free to access. To make things even easier, look for short, no-equipment exercise videos that you can easily incorporate into your daily routine.
• Mix Activity into Your Commute: If it’s safe and available, try walking or riding a bike for all or part of your commute. Or, if you typically take public transportation, and can get off one stop earlier and walk the rest of the way, give it a try. You’ll add steps to your day and you’ll feel more energized, too.

Prioritize Quality Sleep

Without high-quality sleep, every function in the body suffers, including blood sugar management. “Individuals sleeping less have irregular eating habits, snack more and tend to eat more unhealthy foods,” says Juan Ramirez, APRN, a nurse practitioner specializing in endocrinology. “Insomnia can [also] affect hormones like cortisol that secondarily increase [blood] sugar levels and put you at risk of gaining weight.” 

These little adjustments can help you get the rest you need.

• Add in Small Increments: If you’re not getting the recommended nightly seven to nine hours of sleep, try turning in five or ten minutes earlier each night (or sleeping a little later in the morning, if you can swing it). Once your body adjusts to that, continue adding on a few minutes every night until you reach the seven- to nine-hour sweet spot.
• Break Up with Your Screen: Adjusting screen-time habits can support healthy sleep. This might mean avoiding screens an hour or so before bed, moving your phone to a spot across the room, or turning on your phone’s Do Not Disturb feature to help you unplug in the evening.
• Create a Calm Environment: If your sleeping space induces stress, then it’s time to make some changes. Try decluttering your room, add a white noise machine to block outside noise, or change your bedding for more comfort.
• Make Your Room Dark and Cool: A cool, dark room makes it easier to get quality sleep. Consider using blackout curtains, if possible. If not, a sleep mask can also help block light. Before lights-out, lower the thermostat to make sure your room is nice and cool.
• Get Checked Out: “It is not just about how many hours you sleep; how well you sleep matters too,” says Routhenstein. “If someone wakes up a lot during the night, snores loudly or still feels tired in the morning even after getting a full night’s sleep, it might be a sign of a sleep issue like sleep apnea, which should be looked into further.”  If you’re chronically exhausted despite good sleep habits, speak with your health care provider to rule out sleep apnea or other sleep-robbing conditions.

Manage Stress

Stress happens to all of us. But when it becomes chronic, it can spell trouble for your blood sugar. “Chronic stress elevates hormones like cortisol, which prompt the liver to release glucose into the bloodstream,” says Routhenstein.,

When this becomes a regular event, the ongoing increase in stress hormones can have a negative and continuous impact on blood sugar levels, explains Ramirez. This can make you more prone to weight gain and fatigue, he adds. That lack of energy can even translate to less motivation to exercise. 

Research has found that chronically high stress hormones may also increase the risk of developing insulin resistance. So, unchecked, chronic stress can adversely impact your blood sugar, even if you’re not living with diabetes.

Stress management doesn’t need to be time-consuming or complicated. Try these easy tweaks for less stress:

• Adjust Your Breathing: Research shows that simple breathing exercises can be highly effective for reducing stress. If you’re not sure where to start, check out one of the many deep-breathing apps that you can download to your phone.
• Practice Mindfulness: Simple prompts to practice gratitude can go a long way in restoring the calm in your day. Consider starting a gratitude journal, or make a short list of things you’re thankful for to quickly revisit throughout the day.
• Take a Meditation Break: Studies have found that even short meditation sessions can offer stress-management benefits.
• Connect with a Friend or Loved One: Research shows that social connection is a powerful tool for reducing stress. For a double bonus, try combining physical activity and social connection by taking an exercise class or going for a walk with a friend. 

Our Expert Take

When it comes to blood sugar management, we often focus on what we eat. However, our habits can also have a decided impact on blood glucose levels. And these habits don’t require extreme, time-consuming measures or overhauling your life. Experts say simple lifestyle tweaks like moving more often, prioritizing sleep and managing stress can all promote healthier blood sugar. Not sure where to start? Pick the habit that you think will be easiest to tackle and add on from there. Paired with a blood sugar–supporting eating plan, these easy-to-follow tweaks can double your odds of blood sugar management success.