If your blood sugar is spiking and crashing throughout the day, every day, it’s going to be hard to reach your hormone, weight, and health goals. Blood sugar balance, also called glycemic control, is foundational for health and healing. Often, it’s a good place to start if you desire lasting, sustainable change. 

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Today’s article will explore the importance of balancing blood sugar levels and how to achieve normal blood sugar with nutrition and lifestyle habits. We’ll discuss:

• Blood sugar levels
• What is glycemic control? And why it’s important 
• Poor glycemic control and what causes high or low blood sugar
• How to balance blood sugar
• Foods and meal timing for balanced blood sugar

What are Blood Sugar Levels?

Blood sugar refers to the levels of glucose in the blood. Glucose primarily comes from the food you eat, specifically carbohydrate foods. After eating, blood sugar goes up. The body releases insulin in response, which helps shuttle glucose into cells, allowing blood sugar to go back down. The body can also make glucose (from amino acids or fatty acids) or release stored glucose (glycogen) when it doesn’t have enough from food or in response to stress. 

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Normal blood sugar levels have some variation throughout the day, rising moderately after meals and returning to baseline about an hour or two later. Balanced blood sugar refers to a typical pattern where blood sugar levels resemble gentle rolling hills throughout the day. 

Why Balanced Blood Sugar is Important for Healing, Hormone Balance, Weight Loss, and Long-Term Health

Blood sugar dysregulation or poor glycemic control promotes inflammation, insulin resistance, and long-term health issues, including diabetes. High blood sugar levels over time damage small capillaries in the body, which can impact the function of the heart, kidneys, eyes, brain, and nerves. Balancing blood sugar, on the other hand, helps to prevent insulin resistance and chronic disease.

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Many patients at The Fork may not be thinking about long-term health yet and instead come to us for weight loss and hormonal symptoms. Blood sugar dysregulation will also make achieving these health goals challenging. Large blood sugar spikes and dips will affect hormone levels and create an environment where it’s difficult (or impossible) to lose weight. 

Symptoms and Causes of Blood Sugar Dysregulation 

Blood sugar dysregulation and elevated blood sugar are primarily a result of unhealthy lifestyle habits. These include:

• A diet high in ultra-processed foods, refined carbohydrates, and sugar
• Sedentary behavior and under-exercising 
• Poor sleep 
• High stress

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Other factors that contribute to elevated blood sugar include excess body fat, a family history of diabetes, and a history of gestational diabetes or polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

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High blood sugar symptoms may include: 

• Fatigue 
• Increased thirst
• Increased urination 
• Poor focus
• Headaches

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High blood sugar often results in low blood sugar symptoms too. Signs blood sugar is low may include:

• Intense hunger
• Cravings for sugar and carbs
• Dizziness
• Anxiety
• Irritability 

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Simple Strategies for Blood Sugar Balance

How to lower blood sugar comes down to how you live your life. Here are some daily strategies that help balance blood sugar naturally:

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• Reduce ultra-processed foods and added sugar (more on nutrition below)
• Dedicate time to strength training and zone 2 cardio (such as walking) each week 
• Break up sitting time with movement breaks
• Move your body after eating 
• Prioritize sleep and get 7 to 9 hours nightly 
• Reduce stress like your life depends on it 
• Limit or eliminate alcohol 
• Support hormonal health, especially in perimenopause and menopause 
• Consider supplements to balance blood sugar levels
• Work with The Fork to achieve a healthy body composition for you 
• Try using a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) to learn more about your individual blood sugar response

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The Best Foods and Timing for Glycemic Control 

What foods lower blood sugar immediately? It’s not that simple. While there aren’t necessarily foods to lower blood sugar, nutrition can help you improve glycemic control. It comes down to meal composition and timing. 

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Begin by eating balanced meals composed of whole, high-quality, unprocessed or minimally processed foods. Balanced eating means including protein, vegetables, complex carbohydrates, and healthy fats when you eat a meal or snack. 

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Choose whole grains (like quinoa or millet), legumes (lentils or black beans), starchy vegetables (sweet potato or pumpkin), or fruit (berries or apples) instead of products made from refined flour and sugar. Pair these fiber-rich carbs with the other macronutrients to slow carbohydrate digestion and produce a smaller blood sugar spike. 

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Timing matters too. Aim for three balanced meals daily: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Eat enough at meals to tide you over until your next one, minimizing snacking. When you need a snack, make sure to balance any carbohydrates with protein and fat, such as putting almond butter on an apple. 

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Then, finish eating at least 12 hours before you’d eat breakfast the next day. A gentle overnight fast supports insulin sensitivity and metabolic flexibility, where you tap into fat for energy instead of relying on blood sugar. 

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It’s easy to skip over blood sugar basics and think that it’s only important for people with diabetes or older adults. The truth is that blood sugar is foundational to health, and it should be one of the first areas of focus, whether you’re working on weight loss, hormonal balance, another health issue, or want to optimize health and prevent disease. 

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If you’re ready to explore blood sugar and other root causes, The Fork can help! 

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References:

1. Lee, S. H., Park, S. Y., & Choi, C. S. (2022). Insulin Resistance: From Mechanisms to Therapeutic Strategies. Diabetes & metabolism journal, 46(1), 15–37. 
2. Mouri MI, Badireddy M. Hyperglycemia. [Updated 2023 Apr 24]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK430900/ 
3. Buffey, A. J., Herring, M. P., Langley, C. K., Donnelly, A. E., & Carson, B. P. (2022). The Acute Effects of Interrupting Prolonged Sitting Time in Adults with Standing and Light-Intensity Walking on Biomarkers of Cardiometabolic Health in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 52(8), 1765–1787. 
4. Engeroff, T., Groneberg, D. A., & Wilke, J. (2023). After Dinner Rest a While, After Supper Walk a Mile? A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis on the Acute Postprandial Glycemic Response to Exercise Before and After Meal Ingestion in Healthy Subjects and Patients with Impaired Glucose Tolerance. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 53(4), 849–869. 

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