If you’re living with type 2 diabetes, your doctor has probably told you time and time again that maintaining control over your blood sugar is essential.
“Controlling blood sugar is important for two main reasons,” says Lynn Grieger, a registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator in Prescott, Arizona. “On a day-to-day basis, people just feel better when their blood sugar stays in a healthy range. Over the long term, it’s the best thing you can do to prevent complications of diabetes from occurring.” Diabetes complications include nerve damage, kidney disease, skin conditions, eye damage, high blood pressure, stroke, and more, according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA).
One of the main contributors to high blood sugar is a diet too rich in carbohydrates, which once digested turn into sugar (glucose). Certain high-carb foods (for example white bread, white-flour pasta, sugary drinks, and french fries) can send your blood sugar levels soaring.
“Many people with diabetes also get into trouble with processed foods, which have added sugars they may not know about,” adds Gregory Dodell, MD, an endocrinologist in New York City. The good news is that by sticking to a diabetes-friendly diet, incorporating physical activity into your day, taking medications (if recommended by your doctor), and regularly measuring your blood sugar levels, you can gain better control over type 2 diabetes.
There are some triggers of high blood sugar, however, that are out of your control and can even sneak up on you. If you have the flu, for example, or if you're menstruating, you may experience a sudden rise in blood sugar. Because of such triggers, it can be difficult to keep blood sugar under control even when you think you’re doing everything right.
Here are 11 common causes of high blood sugar.
Artificial Sweeteners
Regular soda is off-limits for many people with type 2 diabetes, but diet soda is okay, right? Maybe not, according to recent research. A study published in the journal Nature in 2014 reported that the consumption of zero-calorie artificial sweeteners, like the ones found in diet sodas and those that are often added to coffee and tea, actually led to glucose intolerance and increased blood sugar levels and could potentially increase the risk of type 2 diabetes.
The study may have been too small to warrant a significant change in how people view artificial sweeteners, however, and overall findings on such sweeteners are still mixed. Some diabetes experts have claimed that diet soda has benefited people with diabetes because it has helped them cut down their consumption of sugary drinks.
“Diet soda is probably better than regular soda,” Dr. Dodell says. Still, he stresses that moderation is key, and he recommends ditching soda — both regular and diet — for healthier beverages. The ADA’s recommendation on artificial sweeteners is to proceed with caution until further research is conducted.
Fatty Foods
When it comes to type 2 diabetes, carbohydrates get a lot of attention. But carbs aren’t the only food that people who have the disease need to watch closely. Although foods high in fat don’t directly raise blood sugar levels, they can contribute to insulin resistance, and — because they take longer to digest — they can affect the timing of blood sugar spikes. While high-fat meals may be okay in moderation, it’s important for people with diabetes to know that large amounts of fat — 40 grams or more, for example — can make their ability to control blood sugar more difficult.
“Sometimes a food that you’d never expect can affect your blood sugar,” Grieger says. That’s why it’s important to pay attention to the way in which each food affects you. “Keep track of what you eat,” Grieger says, “and what it does to your blood sugar levels.”
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