The medical field has natural and synthetic remedies for practically every ailment, and good sleep is considered one of the most appropriate natural remedies for the majority. Quality sleep measures how long a person rests and how well the body system is revived after.

Sleep can never be overrated, as it’s synonymous with the natural workings of the human system. The National Sleep Foundation recommends adequate sleep for proper body functioning, reinforcing the earlier claim. Diabetics are another set of people that need good sleep due to the negative implication of poor quality sleep on blood sugar.

This guide outlines different stages of sleep, the importance of a good night’s sleep, and how sleep disorders can generally affect health.

Stages of Sleep

stages of sleep

There are different stages of sleep, and knowing them can help determine how the sleep cycle works and when a person can assert that he’s gotten enough rest. Let’s have a look at them.

Stage 1


This stage is known as the NREM (non-rapid eye movement) stage and is characterized as the moment between wakefulness and sleep. It’s what is otherwise known as dozing.

At this stage, there’s decreased heart rate and muscle movement. The brain waves are typically slow as well. This stage lasts a few minutes, within which one is easily triggered awake as they’re still trying to fall asleep.

Stage 2


This is considered the second NREM sleep stage and is simply a progression from the first. Moreover, it’s the deepest sleep stage.

At this stage, body temperature and blood pressure decrease. Also, there are no small eye movements, and a person at this stage won’t wake up when there’s no contact or loud noise from an external source. Additionally, muscles and brain activity are more relaxed.

People at this stage are considered to be having quality sleep.

Stage 3


Stage 3 of sleep is one where a very good night’s rest is guaranteed. At this point, breathing is at an incredible low, and muscles are at their most relaxed rate. Suffice to say, there’s no slightest understanding of the external environment at this point.

At this stage, the sleep is quite long at first. However, over time, there’s a drift to previous stages or advancement to the last stage.

Stage 4 (REM / Active / Paradoxical Sleep)


The REM (rapid eye movement) stage is the last stage of sleep, and the body is temporarily paralyzed at this stage. This is the stage where dreams occur. There’s usually an increase in breathing, and there could be sudden wakefulness as well.

How Much Sleep Do Humans Need?

Sleep is essential for proper immune system functioning, and it’s recommended that every age category meets a particular threshold of sleep daily to enjoy the best benefit. Proper sleep can help ensure healthy body weight when coupled with a standard lifestyle.


Below are the recommended hours of sleep for each age group:

Age GroupAge RangeRecommended Sleep (hours per day)
Newborn0-3 months14-17
Infant4-11 months12-15
Toddler1-2 years11-14
Preschool3-5 years10-13
School-age6-13 years9-11
Teen14-17 years8-10
Young Adult18-25 years7-9
Adult25-64 years7-9
Older Adult65 years and above7-8

Benefits of Sleep for Health

health benefits of sleep

Sleep provides many benefits, with the most obvious being proper mental health functioning. If you have less sleep than required, it may negatively impact your brain function and optimal health. Below are other ways sleep quality affects a person’s health:

Improved Mental Functioning


Sleep is both physical and psychological. This suggests that the benefits of good sleep aren’t limited to physiological attributes but also tell on a person’s mental capacity. Sleep puts the conscious mind in a state of relaxation that eventually boosts cognitive abilities otherwise inhibited by deprivation.

Various research conducted on how good sleep boosts cognition and general productivity yield results consistent with one fact. Anyone deprived of sleep is more prone to shallow efforts professionally and impaired academic output, especially among children and adolescents.

Good sleep has also been proven to enhance the memory of both children and adults, with a resultant upsurge in psychomotor facilities.

Builds the Immune System


Patients in or out of hospitals are advised to get quality sleep because it’s a natural remedy for a depleted immune response. Consequently, after medical treatments, good sleep is required to naturally return the body to a state of active immunity.


This even applies to already healthy persons as studies have shown that a survey of people who get less than 5 hours of sleep are more prone to immunodeficiency ailments—such as cold—than those who achieve over 7 hours of sleep.


Finally, getting good sleep goes a long way in improving medical procedures and treatments, and there’s no known similar substitute.

Improves Mental Health


Studies show depression and anxiety to be aggravated by sleep deprivation. Reports on medical procedures show that quality sleep is part and parcel of treatments for any mental health-related condition. It’s a fact that individuals deprived of sleep are more prone to anxiety, as they can’t give adequate rest to their conscious minds.

Furthermore, it’s safe to say that good sleep and mental health recovery are intertwined. Studies have also shown that people with sleeping disorders like insomnia and sleep apnea suffer a higher rate of depression than those without these conditions.

Aids Weight Regulation


Facts gathered from extensive studies postulate that adults with less than 7 hours of sleep have a 41% increased risk of going obese. The relationship between sleep and weight is believed to lie in hormonal reactions and other numerous factors, including the energy to exercise.

Quality sleep helps maintain body mass, as sleep deprivation is known to increase ghrelin levels. Ghrelin is a hormone known to increase appetite for food, which will, in turn, facilitate rapid weight gain. The rationale gets clearer when you consider that sleep-deprived people typically crave food with high sugar content — a major contributor to rapid weight gain.

Enhances Athletic Tendencies


Quality sleep is a long-known secret of athletes who flourish in physiological activities. Numerous studies confirm that athletes who practice quality sleep have an outcome of increased motor skills, reaction time, and muscle power. On the other hand, athletes deprived of sleep are prone to sluggish responses and decreased general motivation.

The benefits of good sleep to athletes can’t be overemphasized as an agile mind breeds a strong body. As a result, athletes are among the most observant persons when it comes to practicing quality sleep.

Promotes a Healthy Heart

Quality sleep reduces the risk of heart-related ailments. Certain studies prove that individuals who get less than 6 hours of sleep have a 20% higher risk of a heart attack. Short rest coupled with obstructive sleep apnea is known to facilitate high blood pressure too.

Surveys among elderly persons have also confirmed a 13% increase in the risk of death from heart disease for individuals with less than 7 hours of sleep.

Enhances Social Presence


Quality sleep helps relax both the conscious and the subconscious mind, which plays a pivotal role in a person’s social aura. Investigations prove that individuals deprived of sleep tend to be sluggish with speech. This happens when stress hormones that should have been adequately doused by good sleep abound.

The individual is consequently affected socially as stress hormones are one of the most common causes of nervous reactions and aphasia.

The Relationship Between Sleep and Diabetes

sleep and diabetes health

Considering the benefits of sleep outlined above, it’s apparent that a lack of it could lead to mental health problems as the body would be left to overwork. For people with diabetes, however, sleep deprivation can cause worse complications.

Another important thing to note about the relationship between sleep and diabetes is that it’s a bidirectional one.

This implies that a lack of sleep can lead to high blood pressure, heart disease, and other cardiovascular problems. On the other hand, diabetes makes it considerably difficult for the body to maintain comfortable temperature settings, making it difficult to fall asleep. Moreover, consistent high blood sugar spikes can cause chronic sleep deprivation and trigger sleep apnea — a sleep disorder that makes it difficult for the body to rest properly.

Diabetes translates into a poor sleep cycle and vice versa. Notably, continuous lost sleep makes it significantly difficult for the body’s immune system to ensure disease control, and diabetes can trigger this.

According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society, full-grown adults require 7 hours of sleep every night. A paper jointly released by the two bodies revealed that adults who sleep less than 7 hours daily had higher risks of developing type 2 diabetes.

Other research proves that poor sleep quality negatively affects blood sugar, triggering an increase. One important finding when studying sleep and high blood sugar was that sleeping for a short duration was linked with reduced insulin sensitivity. Also, there’s increased insulin resistance associated with sleep deprivation.

Speaking about sleep and type 2 diabetes, Dr. Gregg Faiman, an endocrinologist at the University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, asserted that sleep is essential to those with type 2 diabetes. According to him, getting a low amount of sleep can negatively affect blood sugar levels in the short and long term. He further acknowledged the need for a better night’s rest for people who have diabetes.

The endocrinologist went on to further reveal that little amount of sleep puts the body through stress, causing it to release the hormone cortisol. The hormone cortisol causes an increase in blood sugar levels and insulin resistance. In the same way, people with type 2 diabetes who sleep too much could be exposed to health dangers.

A Diabetologia research published in July 2020 showed that people with diabetes who slept less or more than 7 hours were exposed to health dangers. The study showed that these diabetic patients were expected to have a higher mortality rate than those who slept for 7 hours daily.

Dr. Kingman Strohl, a sleep specialist at the University Hospitals Case Medical Center Cleveland, made some revelations about the relationship between sleep and diabetes. He stated that sleep disorders like sleep apnea are prevalent in people who have type 2 diabetes. According to the doctor, diabetes could also increase the chances of people developing sleep apnea.

Research on adults diagnosed recently with pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes showed that sleeping less or more than the recommended hours is linked with an increased A1C level – an important blood sugar marker.

A paper published in the Current Diabetes Reports journal in November 2016 suggests that sleep deprivation and physiological change can cause people not to follow a healthy lifestyle. According to the research, a lack of sleep triggers an increased craving for unhealthy high sugar foods, increasing their risk of obesity and diabetes.

Research published in the Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome journal from October to December 2016 showed a link between diabetes and sleep problems. The study was conducted on 7,239 older adults and people of middle age with diabetes. Notably, 77% of them complained of having sleep issues like daytime sleepiness, sleep apnea, and difficulty falling asleep, while 25% claimed they had a sleep disorder.

Experimental research showed that people following a particular sleep schedule where they don’t sleep every night could experience reduced insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance. The study showed that insufficient sleep, irregular sleep, excessive sleep, and waking up repeatedly at night cause glucose intolerance.

Conclusion

Getting enough sleep is incredibly effective in ensuring better mental health function. Sleep is meant to come naturally for humans as the body seeks to recharge after performing numerous daily functions. However, many people have developed poor sleep habits by consistently denying themselves sleep at the appropriate time, and the negative effect has been evident in terms of overall health.

A lack of sleep is proven to trigger physical and mental deterioration. Also, it’s been linked with worsening blood sugar levels in people with diabetes.

As outlined in this guide, the relationship between sleep and diabetes is bidirectional, with a lack of the former worsening the ill effects of the latter and vice versa. The good thing is that people with diabetes can live healthily with healthy sleep habits and a diabetes-friendly lifestyle. Diabetics will need to watch what they eat as that’s the only way they can successfully cut blood sugar.

A diabetes meal app can be incredibly effective in helping people with diabetes eat the right food. For example, Klinio app can help people with the condition know the right foods to eat and when to eat. Our food library consists of the best foods and is regularly updated to work for people who seek to control their blood sugar and reduce weight gain risk.

The blood sugar level is a common concern among people of any age category due to its impact on human life. A blood sugar level on the wrong end of the spectrum (high or low range) can lead to different consequences and conditions that can alter normal living. It can also become permanent and result in life-threatening complications.

As such, the American Diabetes Association recommends that people take random blood sugar tests periodically to know if they’re at the normal range and take proactive steps if there’s a cause for concern. Due to the possible consequences that blood sugar levels could cause, it’s important to attain and maintain a healthy normal blood glucose level. However, to stay within the healthy range, there’s a need to engage in many healthy choices and lifestyle changes.

The scope of this article is to highlight what level constitutes a healthy blood sugar range (in mg/dL) among different age groups. It also considers different basic factors influencing the measurement results and explains why there’s an unusual rise at specific times without any real risk. Finally, it outlines the consequences of low and high blood sugar levels.

What Are Normal Blood Sugar Levels?

The ideal blood sugar level is one that isn’t in the low or high range. People in this range are considered to have healthy normal blood glucose levels.

Generally, maintaining a normal blood sugar range isn’t exactly difficult under optimal circumstances where people maintain healthy lifestyle choices, inherit healthy genes, and exercise regularly. However, this is mostly not the case, and as such, millions of people experience low and high blood sugar temporarily and permanently.

The main factor responsible for blood sugar levels is glucose — a simple sugar obtained mainly from carbohydrates. Most carbohydrates have this sugar save for a distinct few that fall under the fiber class.

Regarding blood sugar levels, starchy carbs and sugary carbs are categorized as “bad carbs” because they’re the main source of glucose. On the other hand, fiber is grouped as “good carbs” because not only do they not contain glucose, but they also regulate high glucose.

Glucose is generally a necessity and a major source of energy. As long as a person eats just enough glucose, they’re highly unlikely to have low blood sugar levels. However, there’s also the task of not consuming the so-called “bad carbs,” as that’ll lead to too much glucose in the bloodstream and cause high blood sugar.

Measuring blood sugar or glucose level can be done at different times. It could be before a meal, after a meal, or before sleep. However, different tests exist with respect to the time choice. For example, the fasting blood glucose test is a blood sugar test performed before eating.

Determining whether you have a normal blood glucose level depends on certain factors at a particular time. For example, a person that just finished an exercise and performed a test will have a significantly different blood glucose range from what they’re supposed to have due to that activity at a particular time. So, one must consider these factors before performing a test.

Some of the major factors that affect blood sugar and could cause a shift in a low or high mg/dL measurement include:

  • Food consumed, the time, and the quantity
  • The physical activity level
  • Drugs and medications
  • Medical conditions
  • Stress (majorly physical)
  • Age
  • Dehydration (poor water consumption)
  • Menstruation and hormonal change in women
  • Illness
  • Alcohol

Considering these factors, the best time to have a blood sugar test is in the morning, around 9 a.m. More importantly, you should ensure you have woken about two hours before the test time, haven’t done any exercise, nor had any meal.

Understanding the Blood Sugar Level Chart

chart for normal blood sugar level
The average blood sugar level for all ages is 100 mg/dL, and this is the expected range in the morning before food intake. There’ll be a fluctuation in the range as other factors mentioned above come into play, so experts suggest this range is the average for a normal human.

However, for specificity, the following sections consider blood sugar level ranges for different age groups:

Healthy Blood Sugar Levels in Children Younger Than 6 Years


For children below 6 years of age, their healthy blood sugar levels range between 80 to 200 mg/dL, depending on the time of the day and the particular activities they must have undergone. The chart for a normal healthy blood sugar level is outlined below:

Testing Time | Blood Glucose Level (mg/dL)

Fasting | 80–180

Before Meal | 100–180

1–2 hours after Eating | ~180

Bedtime | 110–200


Healthy Blood Sugar Levels in Children Aged 6–12 Years


The adolescence category comprises children of age 6–12 years. The normal blood sugar level for adolescents differs slightly from that of kids, as seen below:

Testing Time | Blood Glucose Level (mg/dL)

Fasting | 80–180

Before Meal | 90–180

1–2 hours after Eating | Around 140

Bedtime | 100–200

Healthy Blood Sugar Levels in Teenagers Aged 13–19 Years


Teenagers have an age range of 13–19 years. This age category’s normal blood range levels are as follows:

Testing Time | Blood Glucose Level (mg/dL)

Fasting | 70–150

Before Meal | 90–130
1–2 hours after Eating Around | 140

Bedtime | 90–150

Healthy Blood Sugar Levels in Adults aged 20 Years and Above

The normal blood range level for people in the age category of 20 years+ ranges from 100 to 140 mg/dL. Anything lower or higher than that falls under low or high blood sugar, respectively.

This particular age category experiences the highest fluctuations in blood sugar more than any other category. Therefore, people in this category are often advised to take a test. Here’s an overview of what the standard blood glucose values for this age group look like:

Testing Time | Blood Glucose Level (mg/dL)

Fasting | <100

Before Meal | 70–130

1–2 hours after Eating | <180

Bedtime | 100–140

Keeping a normal blood sugar level is essential to living a healthy life free from many sugar-related issues. However, in reality, most people find it challenging to maintain a healthy blood glucose range because of their meal choice and certain healthy practices.

In the United States alone, the number of people with abnormal blood sugar sits in the millions, further underscoring the severity of abnormal sugar levels, especially high blood sugar levels. Namely, the CDC reveals that up to 100 million US adults have diabetes or prediabetes.

As stated before, people who have problems maintaining a healthy blood sugar level either experience low blood sugar or high blood sugar. The two conditions have health effects with varying complications, significant enough to be life-threatening.

The subsequent sections consider the effects of these two abnormal blood sugar cases, their effects, and why people should seek to maintain a healthy normal blood sugar level.

Low Blood Sugar — Hypoglycemia

low blood sugar

Low blood sugar, also called hypoglycemia, is an abnormal blood glucose level that falls below the standard outlined for the different categories at different times. It generally ranges from 70 mg/dL down to 0 mg/dL.

Hypoglycemia isn’t as prevalent as hyperglycemia, and it’s often easier to experience the latter than the former. Nevertheless, it does happen and usually demands serious medical concern.


Causes of Low Blood Sugar


As already stated, hypoglycemia is one of the abnormalities of blood sugar levels, and it holds many risks. Generally, hypoglycemia occurs due to certain medical and deliberate factors that the following sections highlight.


Genetics


Genetics is the major cause of hypoglycemia in people. A person who has a relative or a long ancestry of hypoglycemia could also be vulnerable to the condition. This particular concern is why it’s crucial to conduct a blood sugar test as often as possible because the effect of low blood sugar may come as a shock when it happens.


Medications


Several drugs and medications usually hold the risk of causing low blood glucose. These drugs may initially be administered to drop blood sugar for people that struggle with spikes, e.g., insulin and sulfonylureas like glimepiride. However, due to consistent and lack of adherence to time schedules of taking the drugs, people may experience a drop below the recommended range.

Other drugs can also lead to a fall in blood sugar levels, even if they aren’t meant to minimize spikes in blood glucose levels. These drugs could trigger a dip when they interact with other drugs. They include beta-blockers like propranolol (when taken in overdose) and antiarrhythmic drugs like quinidine.

Apart from oral drugs, other forms of medications like injections can also cause a decrease in blood sugar levels.


Avoidance of Calorie-Rich Food


If blood sugar spikes are a challenge, avoiding calories is an incredibly effective option. However, for a person that naturally has a good blood range, consistently slashing out simple sugar can lead to a drop in sugar.

For people that struggle with maintaining the minimum healthy range of blood sugar levels, the most effective option is to moderately include foods that have simple sugars with more healthy food.


Symptoms of Hypoglycemia


There are several symptoms that people with low blood sugar get to experience, and they include:

  • Lightheadedness
  • Dizziness
  • Irritability
  • Shakiness
  • Nervousness
  • Anxiety
  • Chills
  • Sweating
  • Pale Skin
  • Clamminess
  • fast heart rate/beat
  • Pale Skin
  • Hunger
  • Fainting
  • Sleepiness
  • Tingling lips
  • Shock

Among these symptoms, sweating, lightheadedness, and dizziness are the early signs of excessively low sugar. If you experience multiple forms of these conditions, the next step will be to conduct a test to determine what you’re experiencing.

High Blood Sugar — Hyperglycemia

high blood sugar

High blood sugar level is the more popular condition that people with blood sugar range abnormality experience. This condition is characterized by a rise in blood glucose levels that lasts for hours and even days. High blood sugar is typically something to worry about because it can trigger more serious conditions, like diabetic retinopathy, among others.


Causes of High Blood Sugar


There are many factors responsible for a rise in blood sugar, and they include:


Genetics


People with an ancestral history of diabetes are more likely to have diabetes than people with healthier ancestry. Many studies, including twin studies, prove this possibility, making genes a major cause and risk factor of diabetes.


Excessive Carb Intake


Eating carb-filled foods consistently is one of the major causes of high blood glucose. Simple sugars usually lead to a rise in blood glucose, and most carbs that are available for food have many simple sugars.


Lack of Exercise


An unhealthy lifestyle and lack of fitness in people with weight could lead to blood sugar spikes. Exercising helps the body use glucose faster and leaves the heart circulating blood more effectively.


Irregular Eating Time


Irregular eating time can cause a blood spike. Eating just anything at any time usually leads to a shock in the body system, which could cause a sudden rise in people vulnerable to blood sugar increase.


Stress


Stress could be physical, psychological, or emotional. However, the strain it causes usually leaves the body responding with a rise in glucose levels.

Stress-induced blood sugar rise is often temporary. However, continuous exposure to the cause of the stress can build up a particular pattern of blood sugar rise.


Negative Medication Interaction


Certain medications could interact badly and cause a blood sugar spike. While these effects are temporary and are only a concern as long as the two drugs are taken, it can be dangerous if the medications are needed for a long time.


Hyperglycemia Symptoms


The symptoms of high blood sugar include

  • Fatigue
  • Frequent urination
  • Headaches
  • Blurred Vision
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Thirst
  • Weight gain

A rise in high blood sugar can trigger more severe complications, the most common being diabetes.

The Link Between High Blood Sugar and Diabetestes

Consistent high blood sugar increases will generally develop into worse complications such as prediabetes and diabetes. Diabetes is one of the major conditions that people who experience high blood sugar can develop.

Namely, diabetes as a condition could be a pathway for worse complications like heart disease, kidney disease, or stroke. On its own, it’s the cause of death for millions of people globally, triggering approximately 1.5 million deaths worldwide and ranking as the ninth leading cause of death in 2019. Moreover, the world saw a 5% spike in premature mortality due to diabetes between 2000 and 2016.

Diabetes is considered by experts a growing concern, and the continuous rise in unhealthy lifestyles and foods has only seen the number of diagnosed diabetics grow higher. The main age category that experiences diabetes from high blood sugar are adults above the age of 44. However, other younger populations are also open to the condition, provided they’re genetically vulnerable and lead an unhealthy lifestyle.

Diabetics diagnosed at the earlier stage can enjoy proper management if diagnosed patients stick to doctor recommendations and proactively take steps that curb blood sugar rise. One of the important steps that people with the condition can take is eating healthy meals that are incredibly low in carbs and simple sugars.

An endocrinologist or dietitian can help people with the condition adopt a healthy eating pattern. It’s also possible for people with the condition to use expert digital diabetes meal planner, like Klinio , designed to help diabetics live a healthier life through healthy eating.

Apart from eating healthy meals, insulin therapy is critical for people already in the advanced stage of diabetes. Most diabetics have significantly low insulin levels, and as such, they generally need to support their bodies with enough insulin to regulate blood glucose and lower blood sugar levels. Medical experts can help patients with the proper insulin therapy as it uniquely applies to their health.

There are other important steps that people with diabetes can take to reduce the symptoms and possible complications of the condition. Fortunately, they’re the same health steps that someone already experiencing blood sugar spikes should take, and the subsequent sections highlight them.

Preventing Hypoglycemia and Hyperglycemia

preventing blood sugar level spikes and drops

When blood glucose level falls, it triggers many complications, and this is the same with a spike in blood sugar range as both abnormalities have their respective consequences.

There are multiple steps that people with low or high blood sugar can implement to prevent them from happening or at least drastically reduce their effects. However, it’s important to know that it demands a lot of determination. This section highlights how people can prevent the abnormality of low and high blood sugar levels.


How to Prevent Low Blood Sugar


The following tips minimize the risk of hypoglycemia.


Diagnosis


Getting a diagnosis on whether you have low blood sugar is the first step to preventing and managing its effect. There are multiple at-home blood test kits available for customers to check their blood glucose levels by themselves. On the other hand, visiting a doctor offers you more detailed results with the added benefit of counselling and certain management tips.


Quick Self-Help Treatment


A quick and effective way to handle low blood sugar if you’ve been diagnosed with it is to gulp on a quick-dissolving glucose tablet to maintain awareness and stability. You should immediately call or visit a health expert afterward.

This option is only desirable if you don’t have any of the needed tools to self-check your blood sugar level, and meeting an expert isn’t feasible immediately.


Use Blood Sugar Spikes Regulating Medications Appropriately


One of the major populations that usually end up with low blood sugar is those diagnosed with hyperglycemia and are effectively taking treatment. The fact that this group of people suddenly end up with low blood sugar outlines the inappropriate use of blood spikes regulatory medications.

If you experience blood sugar spikes, you need to ensure that you only take your medications at the right time and with the right drugs. Don’t take drugs that could cause a drop in your blood range alongside your regulatory drugs.


Eat More Sugar Inclined Food


An important step to decrease the risk of having low blood sugar spikes is eating more carbs. However, it doesn’t have to be out of line. Simply include more carb and quick sugar sources into your meals to help you maintain a normal healthy range.

Furthermore, it’s vital to have blood sugar-checking tools to maintain balance and not eat too much sugar.


Preventing High Blood Sugar and Diabetes


Here’s how you can successfully preclude a case of high blood sugar and, by extension, diabetes.


Stick to Healthy Life Choices


Lack of exercise is one of the serious risk factors for diabetes. In light of this, religiously including physically-demanding activities like exercise can help reduce blood sugar levels and control the symptoms of diabetes.


Taking a Test


This should be the first step to take if you experience high blood sugar levels, as that’ll determine if you have the condition as well as the proper management and preventive measures to take.

There are different tests that people with high blood sugar levels can take, including oral glucose tolerance test and fasting blood sugar test, among others. Your health professional should determine the best blood test for you to enable you to effectively handle the condition.


Take Medications at the Appropriate Time


Insulin therapy is one of the best management processes for people with diabetes. However, it’s crucial to take this medication as recommended by your health professional. This is because inappropriate medication application can lead to health-threatening low blood sugar.

Conclusion

Abnormal blood sugar level remains a serious health risk that could develop into bigger complications when not properly handled. This guide outlines what it takes to maintain a healthy blood range and the health risks of low and high blood sugar levels.

Key among these recommendations is the need to stick to healthy eating, and one of the best ways to go about this is using digital meal planners like Klinio. It doesn’t stop at that; the Klinio app also affords you other blood sugar-regulating practices like no-equipment beginner workouts as well as a detailed progress tracker.

Weight management is one of the major concerns among people in modern times. Many diseases and vulnerabilities are linked to excess weight, and many health experts have searched for ways to ensure people lose extra pounds.

With many studies on the best ways to manage weight, several landmark methods have been proven to work over time. One of these methods is maintaining regular eating intervals.

Regular eating interval is simply a weight management plan that comprises maintaining consistent mealtime such that the first and last meals of the day allow enough time for the body to use the majority of consumed calories as fuel before bedtime. Maintaining regular time has been proven to help lose weight and encourage a healthy lifestyle. However, for these gains to happen, there are other factors one must consider.

In this piece, you’ll find out about the best appropriate meal timing for weight management, if it’s recommended to skip breakfast and if the decision to eat at regular intervals as a weight loss plan is worth it.

The Science Behind Interval Meal Times

The practice of eating intervals has been around for a very long time, with the method extremely common among athletes and top figures. The definition of this weight management method comprises scheduled times that people are expected to take meals. This time is consistently followed and helps track how much food a person is eating and when they also stop eating for the day.

Many people have adopted the plan in modern times due to its success level when done right. So how does the meal times method work? This section will provide a detailed answer.

According to health experts, the human body and mechanism learn things and can get used to a pattern. This is usually seen in the form of the undeniable need to go to sleep at night and wake up in the morning.

We usually maintain this schedule until a change in sleep pattern is triggered, which disrupts the body system. This disruption explains why a person who usually works a day job feels the after-effects of changing to a night shift.

Possible consequences and reactions could range from extreme tiredness to dullness and serious illness. However, an adaptation would occur with time, and the new change will begin to feel normal.

Just like the body adapts to sleep, so does it adapt to regular eating meal times. The most popular mealtime is the three meals a day pattern that most people widely adopt. There are other patterns, depending on a person’s weight goal.

The three main goals for keeping to a regular mealtime is to:

  • eat enough for sustenance,
  • eat to meet up daily nutrition goals,
  • ensure weight management, and
  • control the effect of an underlying condition.

The first option concerns regular eating habits and defines how much people will eat to satisfy their hunger. By doing so, some people may end up skipping meals when they don’t have the luxury to eat at a particular time and won’t put much effort into it because there’s no consequence.

The second option is a more targeted and dedicated attempt to keep to certain meal and meal times to meet daily nutritional requirements. People may want to meet their nutritional requirements for a day to keep their health at the optimal level.

The third option is the major reason people adopt mealtimes — to achieve some desired weight. Some people maintain a time interval that allows them to eat two, three, or six times a day. The major aim is to ensure that they’re not eating too many calories and their last meal gives them the luxury of three hours before they go to bed.

The fourth option is for people with serious conditions like diabetes. Diabetes is one of the serious underlying conditions whose symptoms and possible complications effective meal choice and time control can effectively mitigate. Diabetes symptoms include a rise in blood glucose levels and could lead to serious complications like kidney and cardiovascular disease.

Following a strict regular mealtime coupled with a serious reduction in high-sugary meals and snacks can help people with diabetes control the risk of complications accompanying their condition.

The Three and Six Times Food Interval

Successfully maintaining a regular eating interval actually depends on your eating patterns. The 3 times a day meal method is the most popular and highly recognized among national traditional eating patterns.

While there are several patterns to adopt, certain populations prefer to eat their food based on certain factors like costs and work schedules. The three times a day meal plan is globally recognized and accepted by both experts and the global population.

The three times a day plan comprises breakfast, lunch, and dinner and is considered the standard for healthy eating. All three meals are expected to be almost equal, though breakfast and dinner might be slightly lighter as they’re eaten in the morning and just before sleep, respectively.

Lunch is usually recommended to be the heaviest of the three regular meals as that’s when the body needs peak energy levels to function appropriately.

Health experts recommend the three daily meals pattern because it provides enough non-eating breaks to burn out extra calories consumed. This particular pattern enhances the chances of keeping and maintaining the desired weight.

However, in reality, the three-meal plan won’t always help prevent weight loss as the type of food that people eat in that window is important. With the three meal plan, one can achieve weight management if calories lost are equal to that consumed. A significant drop in weight will occur if there’s a consistent drop in calories expended compared to intake.

While one can achieve this weight loss phenomenon with the three-day meal plan, many people find it difficult to maintain a good interval between meals and usually end up with extra calories than their ideal daily intake. For example, most people eat dinner and go to bed in less than 3 hours — 3 hours is the recommended stay-awake time for the body to effectively use a significant amount of calories as energy.

With the real challenge that the three-meal course plan presents, it’s quite difficult for people with a poor regular eating interval time to achieve effective weight management.

Some health experts suggested a new plan that’s believed to handle this condition following the subjective challenge of the three-day meal. However, this new plan didn’t gain popularity until health expert, Jorge Cruise, introduced it in his new book, The 3-Hour Diet. This book introduces the six-course daily meal plans.

According to Jorge Cruise, the six meal plans mean that a person should eat as much as 6 times daily, contrary to the three meal plan. He stated that eating 6 small frequent meals will help control weight better than eating three heavy meals.

Cruise claimed that eating that much forces a person’s body to remain in a working state, keep metabolic rate high, and utilize more calories. The plan is rooted in the belief that eating more often—but a much lesser meal plate—has a higher effect on calorie burning compared to eating heavily and less often.

The 6-day meal plan followed strict regular eating interval rules, and breaking them could lead to serious negative weight management. The mealtime plan was as follows:

  • First meal: One hour after rising from the bed
  • Second meal: Three hours after the first meal
  • Third meal: Three hours after the second meal
  • Fourth meal: Three hours after the third meal
  • Fifth meal: Three hours after the fourth
  • Sixth meal: Three hours before going to bed

Cruise claimed that following this plan strictly increases the body’s basal metabolic rate (BMR), increases energy levels, and decreases appetite for high-sugar snacks that the three-day meal plan could leave room for.

Cruise suggested a 6-hour meal plan has been consistently tested over the years by nutritionists and health experts of underlying conditions to check if it does aid weight management as stated. The findings, however, highlighted certain difficulties that came with maximizing this plan.

Firstly, many nutritionists agreed with the need for people to maintain regular intervals as that helps the body get used to the time that food comes in. However, nutritionists cited certain difficulties in following Cruise’s plan.

The first difficulty cited was the ability of people to actually follow through with the pan for the long term. The plan was criticized as extremely stringent, making it difficult to achieve its purpose as an alternative to the three-day meal plan.

A good example is the difficulty of supposedly eating at regular intervals 6 times daily. This method is most likely achievable if a person eats the last meal at 8 pm. Staying awake for an additional 3 hours before going to bed implies one would need to sleep by 11 pm — a time most people would be asleep.

With the last meal booked for 8 pm, the respective meal plans in ascending order would be 5 pm, 2 pm, 11 am, 8 am, and 5 am. Obviously, waking up very early at 5 am to eat the first meal of the day wouldn’t work for many people.

Shifting the morning meal to 6 am means that the last meal would fall to 9 pm. In this case, the sleep time automatically becomes 12 pm, which many people will find difficult to follow still.

Apart from the difficulty of following the 6 meal plan course, the school of thought stating it leads to a higher metabolic rate and better calorie burnout hasn’t been fully accepted. Surprisingly, experts believe that the 6-day meal plan doesn’t burn more calories per day. The result from the 6-day meal plan is equal to that of the 3-day meal as weight management is only achieved when calories intake is either equal to or less than calorie burning.

So, instead of focusing on the method of eating, the concern should be on food choices. Also, many experts believe that the 6-day meal plan requires more work. If not properly watched, it’s more likely to add more weight gain and increase the consequences of underlying conditions.

Summarily, the 6-day meal plan isn’t more beneficial than the 3-day meal plan for those that want to maintain regular eating intervals and manage weight.

The Role of Intermittent Fasting

This is a type of regular eating interval time. However, it has a direct role and can be effectively followed compared to the 6-day meal plan.

This section will consider this form of fasting, how it helps people commit to a regular eating interval, and why it could be adopted by people who seek to lose weight without skipping meals.


What is Intermittent Fasting?

This form of fasting is the way or pattern a person eats, which involves regular minimal food consumption and periods of no food intake. It’s also referred to as short-term fast.

This can help people lose weight over time as they indulge in a short period fast, leading to the intake of fewer calories. Nevertheless, intermittent fasting can also help reduce blood sugar and cholesterol levels, thereby lowering the risk factors of diseases like cardiovascular disease and diabetes.


Types of Intermittent Fasting

There are different methods of intermittent fasting, with the following being some of the most commonly used types:

  • 5/2 diet
  • Warrior diet
  • 16/8 method
  • Eat stop eat 

5/2 Diet

This is a simple type of intermittent fasting diet plan. In this plan, you normally eat for five days a week without restricting your calorie intake. Conversely, you consume only 1/4 of your daily calorie intake in the remaining two days of the week.

People who usually consume about 3,000 calories daily would consume only about 750 calories over two days, weekly. This restriction of your calories intake for two days isn’t easy to follow and isn’t ideal for everyone. It’s best to see your doctor to know if this diet plan will be good for you.

Warrior Diet

Ancient warriors adopted this diet pattern, which Ori Hofmekler developed in 2001. In this diet plan, you eat a small quantity of food during the day for 20 hours and eat as much as you want at night for a four-hour window period.

On the one hand, the warrior diet plan encourages people to eat little hard-boiled eggs, dairy products, vegetables, fruits, and drinks that don’t contain calories for 20 hours. On the other hand, people are encouraged to eat more organic, healthy, and unprocessed foods during the four-hour window.

No research has proven that a warrior diet can help weight loss. However, several studies demonstrate that time-restricted feeding plans can slow down tumor growth, increase lifespan, delay aging, and prevent diabetes in rodents.

16/8 Method

This is a popular intermittent fasting diet used effectively for weight loss. In this diet plan, people consume food and beverages containing calories eight hours daily and fast for 16 hours every day.

The 16/8 diet plan is considered flexible, using the time-restricted feeding pattern. In this plan, you can choose the eight hours suitable to consume the calories.

In some cases, the person could skip breakfast or avoid eating late. However, restricting your food intake to a few hours daily can help reduce your blood pressure and lose weight.

One of the best 8 hour times for eating is the 11 am to 7 pm schedule. This window allows a person to start eating by 11 am, again at 3 pm, and finally at 7 pm. With this, a person can sleep by 10 pm, allowing for enough time (3 hours) for the body to use consumed calories.

Eat Stop Eat

This intermittent fasting approach was made popular by the Book “Eat Stop Eat” written by Brad Pilon. In this diet plan, you’ll find a suitable day or two where you’d fast for 24 hours, and you’re allowed to eat freely in the remaining days of the week. However, people on this diet plan are advised to avoid overconsumption and eat a properly-rounded diet.

Abstaining from food for 24 hours can cause your body to use fat as an energy source instead of glucose, resulting in a metabolic change. Hence, your doctor is best positioned to determine if this diet plan will suit your weight loss journey.

Is Intermittent Fasting an Effective Meal Time-Regulating Method?

Intermittent fasting is a trusted mealtime planning method that requires only a moderate level of discipline to obtain a satisfactory result. However, it’s important to note that Intermittent fasting doesn’t just focus on ensuring proper distancing of food break periods. It also encourages eating smaller meals with small calories for effective weight loss.

Apart from helping with weight management, it also helps reduce the symptoms of underlying conditions accompanying high fat and sugar intake. The ability of this plan to ensure caloric restriction makes it a standout option that most people can go for.

Is Regular Eating Time Interval Also Good for Gaining Weight?

The six-day meal plan would be more effective than any intermittent fasting option for anyone who wants to add weight healthily. All the person needs to do is ensure that they eat more calories with every food intake. However, it’s also important for people who desire weight gain to consider the type of food they eat as healthy eating is a priority.

They should go for whole grains and meals rich in all the nutrients medical practitioners know. They should also include good foods like fresh fruit and some calorie-filled vegetables.

Finally, they need to get a clinical nutrition plan from a health expert for the best benefit as the risk of blood pressure spikes is high when gaining weight.

The Importance of Breakfast

importance of breakfast
A very important debate associated with regular eating time intervals is if skipping breakfast helps reduce weight. Studies on this claim have shown that it’s not advisable to skip breakfast.

Skipped breakfast leaves people with a higher reliance on snack food later in the day. Conversely, starting your day with a good healthy meal—especially one filled with fiber—will leave you more satisfied with less urge to eat junk food outside.

From a 2017 study published in Circular— an American Heart Association (AHA) journal—74% of people who end up not eating breakfast in the morning (versus 41% who do) fall at risk of not meeting up to two-thirds of their daily nutrition requirement for both minerals and vitamins. This leaves them exposed to high diabetes and cardiovascular risk due to an unhealthy higher dependency on sugary foods.

Also, another study shows a high correlation between eating at irregular times and skipping breakfast. This means that people are much more likely to keep poor eating habits when they continuously don’t eat breakfast in the morning.

The decision usually makes them less time conscious with their eating time, triggering an increased urge to consume more food accumulated over the day. People who miss breakfast have a higher chance of eventually becoming overweight.

From the above studies, it’s clear that eating breakfast is vital to keeping a consistent regular mealtime, increasing the possibility of effectively managing weight and controlling other underlying conditions.

Final Words

Eating at regular intervals is vital for weight management and preventing possible complications in underlying conditions like diabetes. Once the body gets used to a standard mealtime interval, it stores fewer calories, subsequently implying less chance of weight gain.

This article extensively considers the importance of maintaining regular meal time while also touching on other related issues. Clearly, for people to reap the full benefits of eating on time, they need to ensure they aren’t consuming food that causes aberrant weight gain.

For people with diabetes, food with a high glycemic index will always affect blood sugar temporarily and in the long run, so it’s critical to consider food choices just as much as sticking with a regular time interval. This way, the full benefits of adopting the latter will become evident.

Apparently, with meal choices significantly affecting the success of implementing great regular mealtimes, you should contact your nutritionist or get a meal planning app that helps you determine the best healthy meals that work for weight management. If you have diabetes, then a digital diabetes meal planner will work better.

Our Klinio app is one of the top meal planning apps you can go for due to its amazing benefits in managing diabetes and related conditions. Notably, this virtual caregiver introduces you to lifestyle and diet options that are great for your health and reduce your dependency on drugs.

Klinio team with the Head of Nutrition, Christine Zalnieraite, went through over 20,000 Klinio meals and recipes, looking for the most saved items by users.

“These are the meals and recipes our users have indicated they enjoy the most,” Zalnieraite explained.

And one of them was Vanilla Energy Bites – 244 calories and 15 grams of carbs.

This Vanilla Energy Bites recipe was ranked as number four on the most saved list of recipes. Christine Zalnieraite, Klinio’s Head of Nutrition, said that this snack is just like the name, providing an energy boost without the sugar that can spike glucose levels. 

Ingredients: 

  • 1 tbsp dried coconut flakes 
  • 1 tbsp Isolated Soy Protein  
  • 4 drops of vanilla extract 
  • 1/2 tbsp dry oats
  • 1 tbsp peanut butter

Serving size: 4 bites per day for a snack, other save for further days.

Preparation:

1. Place all ingredients into a high-speed blender and blend until smooth.

2. Divide the mixture evenly between the molds.

3. Chill in the fridge (or freezer) for a few hours or until completely set. Serve and enjoy!

One of the most popular lunch options among Klinio users is Turkey Tortilla Wrap. This particular recipe was found among the most saved recipes by Klinio users. 

Therefore, we’d like to share with you this unique and straightforward recipe for your next lunch idea. 

Turkey Tortilla Wrap – 251 calories and 30 grams of carbs 

The Turkey Tortilla wrap was another top-5 favorite meal saved by Klinio users. Christine Zalnieraite, the Head of Nutrition at Klinio, said that this meal is a different take on the traditional wrap, integrating cucumber, black pepper, and hummus. 

Ingredients: 

  • 1 tbsp of hummus 
  • 1 handful Salad green 
  • 1 small sliced cucumber 
  • 1 large corn tortilla 
  • 1 pinch of salt 
  • 1 pinch of ground black pepper 
  • 1 raw turkey breast 
  • 1 handful spinach 

Here are the instructions: 

  1. Season turkey breast with salt and ground black pepper.
  2. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Add turkey and fry for 5-7 min on each side until brown. Cut turkey breast into slices.
  3. Spread hummus in the centre of the corn tortilla. Layer the tortilla with turkey breast slices, cucumber, spinach, and salad greens. 
  4. Wrap up the sides of the tortilla like you would wrap a burrito and enclose the filling. Enjoy!

Klinio has identified the most popular meal options consumed by diabetes patients in their daily lives, assisting them in managing their condition.

Christine Zalnieraite, the Head of Nutrition at Klinio, says these meals have been shown to help diabetes patients keep their glucose under control.

One of these recipes is The Blueberry and Raspberry Smoothie, one of the most favored snacks on Klinio. Berries, according to Zalnieraite, are a healthy ingredient for people with diabetes because they are low in sugar and help balance their glucose levels. This particular smoothie contains 199 calories and 22 grams of carbohydrates.

Ingredients: 

  • 3 tbsp of raspberries
  • 2 tbsp of blueberries 
  • 1 tbsp of chia seeds
  • 1 tbsp of dry oats
  • 2 drops of vanilla extract 
  • 1/2 cup of ice cubes
  • 1/2 tbsp of hemp protein powder 
  • 1/2 cup of unsweetened oat milk
  • 2 drops of stevia liquid  

​​   Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Enjoy!

*NOTE: feel free to substitute our suggested protein powder with any other protein powder you have.

**NOTE: feel free to substitute our suggested sweetener with any other sugar-free sweetener you have.

Brussel Sprouts are the most reviled vegetable of the produce world. The mere mention of these mini cabbages can make people’s tongues curl. Americans and Europeans alike actively despise them. It’s very true that if you boil them too much they end up a horrid grey mush and crispy brussels sprouts that haven’t been cooked for long enough are as equally unappetizing.

Why is it then, that though brussels sprouts were once the most hated vegetable in America, we seem to have a newly-developed ongoing love affair with them? They seem to be on the menu of every high-end restaurant and TV food programs are awash with ways to eat them.

It’s All in The Science

There is the debate that your love or hatred of brussels sprouts is in your genes and your ability to identify glucosinolates – the compound that gives cruciferous vegetables their distinctive taste.

Scientists and agriculturalists hit this issue head-on and in recent years, the brussels sprouts varieties we see in the supermarkets are much less bitter.

They Lack Versatility But …

Unlike many other vegetables, there is not a great deal you can do to sprouts to make them attractive to people who don’t like them. Invariably, brussels sprouts appear as a side dish basted with butter and a dash of black pepper.

Then some bright spark decided to see try roasting brussels sprouts and they gained a taste that was more appealing to some palates. Someone else came along and shredded their sprouts and instead of boiling or steaming them, then sauteed them in olive oil over medium-high heat. This way cooks them evenly and quickly and a quick, simple veggie dish to add to any dinner was born.

By far the greatest revelation in the culinary journey of brussels sprouts was when some unknown person combined them with bacon. We all know everything tastes better with a bit of bacon but this veggie/pork combo seriously took off. It is now firmly cemented as a side dish for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The Brits, in particular, really embraced brussels sprouts with bacon. Previously, plain boiled sprouts were a part of the traditional Christmas dinner, even if it was the only day of the year the vegetable was ever served in a household. Roasted Brussels sprouts with bacon is the second most popular side dish at a UK Christmas dinner.

If you want to learn to love brussel sprouts, try this recipe.

Basic Recipe for Brussels Sprouts and Bacon

Ingredients:

  • 2 dozen brussels sprouts trimmed and halved
  • 1/2 lb diced bacon
  • salt and black pepper to taste


Method:

  1. Cook the bacon in a dry skillet over medium-high heat until it is crispy
  2. Leaving the grease in the pan, remove the bacon and put aside
  3. Add the brussels sprouts to the skillet and stir to coat them evenly in the bacon grease.
  4. Put the lid on the pan and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  5. When the brussels sprouts are close to being as tender and browned as you want, add the bacon back to the pan and stir.
  6. Stir to mix then cook uncovered until they are ready
  7. Season with salt and black pepper
  8. Serve immediately

Brussels sprouts with bacon is one of the great tastes to have hit the food world in recent times and they can be prepared in more ways than you might imagine. It should be easy to adapt the basic recipe to develop a number of healthy and delicious side dishes your family will love.

If you’re a type 2 diabetic patient who requires a daily dose of insulin, you’ve got three choices. You can either use a disposable insulin pen, use a smart pen that comes with reusable insulin cartridges, or use an insulin pump.

In this article, we’ll be focusing mainly on reusable pens and how people with diabetes can use them to manage diabetes.

A while ago, people with diabetes only had two ways to take their multiple daily injections of insulin. They either make use of a disposable pen or get an insulin pump that would be permanently attached to them.

However, a few years ago insulin pens that could deliver multiple daily injections with reusable insulin cartridges entered the market. These pens are called smart insulin pens and are one of the most exciting developments in the treatment of diabetes today. In fact, according to the American Diabetes Association, these pens provide many benefits and improvements for diabetics.

In this article, we’ll be looking at these pens, and how they can make the life of diabetics easier.

Here’s a short rundown of the things we’ll be looking at.

  • What Is A Smart Insulin Pen
  • How Insulin Pens Got Smart
  • How Insulin Pens Work
  • How Reusable Pens Are Helping People Living With Diabetes
  • Should You Switch From Disposable Insulin Pens To Reusable Insulin Pens
  • Commonly Asked Questions
  • Bottom Line



What Is A Smart Insulin Pen

An insulin pen is a device that helps diabetes patients inject insulin into their subcutaneous tissue. This tissue is the barrier between your skin and your muscle. The subcutaneous tissue, which is also called the sub Q tissue, can be found all over the body.

These pens usually come with a disposable needle, a cartridge, and a dial that helps the patient’s measure dosage.

There are two types of insulin pens. There are disposable pens that must be thrown away after use, and there are also reusable pens that have cartridges that can be filled.

These reusable pens are usually called smart pens and often come with a software component. This software component means that the pens can help patients with diabetes manage insulin delivery. The software component of these smart pens also helps calculate and track insulin doses. Asides from that, this software component, which is usually just an app, provides reminders, alerts and reports.

Today, the popularity of smart pens has grown rapidly. Nowadays, a lot more people use smart pens because they are easier to use, affordable, and just safer.

Since they help people living with diabetes accurately measure their correct dose of insulin injections, it’s easy to make reach these conclusions. With these pens, people with diabetes will no longer run the risk of rapidly increasing or decreasing their blood sugar because of inaccurate doses.

How Insulin Pens Got Smart

The very first insulin pens were disposable pens that were just good enough for diabetes management. They required an endless supply of diabetes cartridges to work and were a burden on the people who used them.

But at least they worked and were the de facto method of administering daily doses of insulin amongst diabetics. While the very first insulin pens weren’t comfortable to use, at least they ensured that no diabetic ever had to purchase a vial and syringe ever again.

Sure, the insulin cartridges they came with were not reusable, but they also reduced injection site pain, allowed for more accurate dosing, and improved adherence. With the rise of these pens, people with diabetes could now live longer lives and didn’t have to suffer complications as a result of inaccurate doses and non-adherence.

Over time, these devices evolved as most things do, and soon started coming with screens and a microchip that stored data from a previous dose of insulin. Before long, companies started developing data tracking apps that helped these pens keep track of doses and even predict doses.

Once that was incorporated into the original tech, other things like continuous glucose monitoring, dosage timing, reminders and glucose sensing followed. However, despite these innovations, the FDA didn’t approve the use of reusable smart insulin pens until 2017.

That means that the companies who made these innovations had to allow their pens to go under extensive testing to make sure they behaved just as advertised.

These insulin pens on the market now are quite exciting for several reasons. For one, they now can administer half-unit doses. This can be of great help to people who are sensitive to high doses of insulin, such as children and seniors.

Another exciting development with smart pens is the capacity to administer doses in higher concentrations. In the past, it used to be almost impossible to self-administer higher concentrated doses of insulin without endangering oneself. However, these pens make it super easy and comfortable for people to administer these doses.

How Insulin Pens Work

The capacity of an insulin pen varies wildly from one provider to another. Some pens can hold as little as 300 units of insulin, while others may hold as much as 900 units of insulin.

That’s a huge disparity, and if you’re looking to get an insulin pen, that’s something you should consider.

The standard concentration of insulin in an insulin pen is around 100 units per millilitre (mL) of insulin. This is also known as U-100. Now, there are other concentrations like U-200 and U-300, but the standard is U-100.

There are higher doses than this as well, but administering these doses without an insulin pump or a smart pen can be very dangerous. The reason is simple; these doses must be accurate to the last drop, and any variation in any direction could lead to impossible complications for the patient.

Most insulin pens can hold around 3L of insulin, so the difference is usually in the concentration of the insulin in the pen.

The insulin pen itself usually comes with needles that range anywhere from 4 to around 12.7 millimetres in length. Again, that’s another variable you should look out for when getting an insulin pen.

Some needles are thinner than others, with the range of needle thickness (which is also known as gauge) ranging from 29 (which is the thicker needle) to 32 (which is the thinner needle).

How Reusable Pens Are Helping People Living With Diabetes

If you’re a person living with diabetes and are taking daily insulin injections for your diabetes treatment, your biggest problem would be how to figure out the doses to take, what timing to take them in, and how to ensure that the insulin retains its quality.

With regular pens, those problems can be very difficult to solve. For example, you would have to be extra careful with measuring your dose of insulin, since too little or too much can be catastrophic for your health. You’d also have to be very careful with the timing of the doses too, since taking your insulin too late to too early could also have dire consequences for your health.

Taking your insulin dose too early, for example, could lead to insulin stacking. This is a situation whereby there is still too much active insulin in the body before the injection of another does. This can lead to hypoglycemia, which is also known as blood glucose.

However, a smart insulin pen reduces the risk of that happening by acting as a dependable dispensatory and a dosing calculator for people living with diabetes.

The smart pen comes with a dosing calculator that can calculate accurate dosing to be used by using variables such as carbohydrate amount, level of active insulin in the body, current blood sugar level, and settings that have been decided on by your healthcare provider.

The pen also protects you from taking bad insulin, since it has a system that alarms you whenever the insulin in the pen has reached its expiration date or exceeded temperature range. People who have disposable pens usually have to take a gamble on whether the insulin they are using is still good.

People with high blood sugar who use these pens, however, need not take that gamble. The pen also keeps track of your dosing data and tells you when you have to take a new dose. A disposable pen doesn’t do that — instead, you’d have to keep track of your insulin doses on your own.

A smart insulin pen also works as a liaison with your healthcare provider as it sends data to them whenever it’s needed. So if you ever need to get your pen recalibrated by your doctor, the data sent by the smart pen will let them know easily.

One of the biggest problems of people who have to take daily doses of insulin is that its kind of easy to skip doses. A smart insulin pen reduces that likelihood by always sending you reminders of when to take your dose, and when you’ve forgotten to take it. The pen also helps people with diabetes deliver half-unit doses.

Another part of daily insulin dosage that daily insulin users have to bother about is how to figure out the proper dose for their meal size. If you’ve got a problem figuring out mealtime insulin, you should probably consider getting a smart insulin pen.

If you’ve got a disposable pen, you have to figure out the dose to correct a high blood sugar reading. While the maths itself isn’t that difficult, mistakes aren’t uncommon and may lead to heavy or inadequate insulin doses. The smart insulin pen solves this problem by helping people with diabetes calculate their doses for special occasions.

If you’re frustrated with the maths of needless calculation, all you need to do is get a smart insulin pen. Some of these pens are so advanced that they could even offer different dose and therapy modes. This is inclusive of those on fixed doses with a sliding scale and meal based doses that are based on the timing and the size of the meal.

If you think that smart insulin pens are sort of like insulin pumps, you’re right. These pumps do everything an insulin pump does, and they do all of that without the discomfort of being permanently attached to your body.

Lastly, smart insulin pens are ridiculously simple to use. All you need to do is download the relevant app onto your smartphone, pair it with your pen via Bluetooth, and you’re good to go.

Cons Of Smart Pens

It isn’t all rosy, though. As with everything, there are also cons to using smart pens to administer insulin. While using these pens for insulin usage can eliminate the chance of making insulin dosing errors, it still doesn’t remove the inconvenience of using the pens themselves.

Taking insulin through pens every day can take a toll on you. For one, the pain of the injection site may be unbearable to some. That’s why some people just prefer to use an insulin pump, as it doesn’t require them to repeatedly inject themselves.

There’s also the price angle. These smart pens are generally expensive in the short run, even though they can be cheaper in the long run.

Should You Switch From Disposable Insulin Pens To Reusable Insulin Pens

Smart insulin pens have only been around in the United States since 2017, so a lot of people are still using disposable insulin pens. However, if you want to start using a smart insulin pen, you still have to talk the decision over with your healthcare provider.

Before you do that, there are a few variables that you would certainly have to consider.

Compatibility

The first variable you’ll have to consider is whether a smart insulin pen is alright for you. Your health comes first, and while smart insulin pens are a great product, they will only be good for you if they are compatible with the brand of insulin you currently use.

That’s right, there is more than one type of insulin and right now, there are no insulin pens that can be used with all types of insulin. So if you’re going to make that switch, you need to make sure your brand of insulin is at least compatible with one brand of smart insulin pens.

You also need to learn whether the smart insulin pen app is compatible with your mobile devices. This may sound like a lot of research, but you’ve got to be able to put that work in if you want to have a seamless switch to a reusable pen.

Support Of Health Infrastructure

You also need to know if your insurance provider and your healthcare provider provide smart insulin pens in your health coverage. Since they are the ones paying and administering the care, you need to speak to them and know if they support it.

If you aren’t sure of their stance on smart insulin pens, speak to a healthcare professional at your hospital to understand their stance on it.

Cost

One thing you’ll always have to consider is the cost of making that switch. While smart insulin pens are cheaper over the long term than disposable pens, they may round up to a higher cost in the short term. You also need to know about your insurance coverage. Will the switch be covered or will you have to pay for the cost of a new pen out of your pocket?

Patient Education

In theory, the process of using a smart insulin pen is easy. But despite how easy it is you’ll still need to learn how to use it. Since the system might depend on a lot of things you’re not familiar with, like carb counting for instance.

Commonly asked questions

Where can I inject myself with my insulin pen?

Insulin pens are usually injected subcutaneously. That means they go right to the fat layer beneath your skin. If you inject insulin daily, you need to rotate your injection sites to avoid lipodystrophy. This is a situation where fat builds up and interferes with insulin absorption.

Some of the places you can inject yourself with your insulin are the thighs, abdomen or arms.



How do I choose the right insulin pen?


There are a lot of things you need to consider before choosing an insulin pen to use. You need to consider how much insulin you need per day. Some Insulin pens can dose insulin in half-unit increments, while some can only do whole units. The maximum doses for insulin pens also vary depending on their capacity.

Needle length and thickness are also variables that you need to look at before choosing a pen. The difference between these pens is mostly speed. While thicker needles may deliver insulin faster than thinner ones, they are also marginally more painful. It all depends on you.

Can I carry an insulin pen while flying?

Yes. According to TSA rules, diabetes-related supplies, including liquids are allowed on board as long as they’ve been screened and checked by officials. However, you still need to declare them and separate them from your other luggage when travelling.

Bottom line

Insulin pens are one of the most important developments in diabetes treatment in the last ten years at least. They are a huge improvement on the regular disposable pens and will make it easier for people with diabetes to use their insulin.

The fact that they can be easily calibrated for both short acting and long acting insulin shots means that they place even less pressure on users to get their insulin dose right.

If you need a professional to speak to or consult before switching from your disposable pens to a reusable one, the there are companies with years of experience in that mind of thing. Klinio, for example, is always available to provide diabetics with the necessary health support and advice they need to live complete and fulfilled lives.

Contrary to the opinion of many, alcoholic drinks are not necessarily forbidden for people with diabetes.

While it’s true that drinking alcohol may have unfavorable effects on the blood sugar levels of people with diabetes, it doesn’t have to be completely removed from the diet.

It could even be added to the diet of people with diabetes, as some evidence has shown that alcohol consumption may even help with blood sugar control.

So, who decides on whether you drink alcohol as a person with diabetes? Well, the first choice should be your healthcare provider.

But if you do have to drink, it’s important to know the risks and benefits that are associated with alcohol consumption by people with diabetes. And that’s precisely what we’ll be exploring in this article.

We’ll be looking at the different ways alcohol consumption affects your blood sugar levels, and whether or not it can lead to severe health consequences when one doesn’t pursue a policy of moderate drinking.

Here’s what this article will cover;

  • What The Body Does With Alcohol
  • How Drinking Alcohol Can Affect People With Diabetes
  • Alcohol and Diabetes; What You May Stand To Gain
  • How To Manage Diabetes And  Alcohol
  • Food Diabetics Should Avoid
  • Best food For Diabetics
  • Conclusion

What The Body Does With Alcohol

Before we can talk about what alcohol abuse can do to the body, we need to first understand what happens to alcohol once it gets into the body.

First off, the body doesn’t treat alcoholic drinks the same way it treats all other drinks.

When alcohol is introduced to the body, it first goes down to the belly. What happens there depends on whether it meets an empty stomach or not.

If it doesn’t meet an empty stomach, the pyloric valve, which is the valve that separates the stomach from the small intestine, will be shut to allow the food to be digested, which would trap the alcohol in the stomach.

However, if the stomach isn’t empty, the valve would be open and the pure alcohol would go directly into the small intestine.

Once in the small intestine, the alcohol is immediately absorbed right into the bloodstream. Since alcohol has very small molecules that can easily be absorbed, this ends up being no problem.

After that, alcohol travels all around the body through tiny blood vessels and eventually ends up in the liver, which is the only organ that can break down alcohol.

It’s when alcohol gets to this point that it can start affecting your blood sugar levels. This part is especially important for people with diabetes.

Now, the liver doesn’t just exist for breaking down alcohol. It also performs other important functions in the body.

The liver is where excess sugar glucose is stored as glycogen.

But stored glycogen has to be turned into glucose before the body can use it. When the blood sugar levels of the body lowers, the liver tries to balance the lower blood glucose level by turning some of that glycogen into glucose.

But here’s the problem; the liver can only do one of those things at once. And when given a choice, the liver would choose to abandon the low blood sugar problem, and would instead try to break down the alcohol.

Introducing alcohol into the body will give the liver extra work to do and will stop it from being able to deal with low blood sugar levels.

How Drinking Alcohol Can Affect People With Diabetes

Alcohol and diabetes have an interesting relationship. Firstly, diabetes refers to a situation where the body is unable to regulate high blood sugar levels.

The disease is divided into two types. The first type is type 1 diabetes, which means that the body doesn’t produce insulin, which is the main way for the body to lower high blood sugar levels.

The second type is called type 2 diabetes, which is what happens when the body produces insulin but it isn’t enough. It can also be a situation where the body doesn’t react to insulin as it’s supposed to.

Insulin is a hormone created by the pancreatic cells that helps the body absorb the glucose they need for energy. That’s why it becomes a problem when insulin production is nonexistent if the body isn’t making enough, or if the body is suffering from insulin resistance.

Since alcohol intake can have a huge effect on your blood sugar levels, people with diabetes who engage in alcohol consumption might have to deal with health complications that other healthy people might not have to face.

Some of these health complications are mild, while others are a bit more severe.

Excess Weight

People with diabetes who have high alcohol intake levels run the risk of getting obese.

Alcohol might not taste like it, but it’s quite fattening. Pure alcohol contains about 7 calories per gram, which is just a little lower than fat — which contains 9 calories per gram, and a lot more than carbohydrate, which is about 4 calories per gram.

When alcohol gets to the liver, the body converts it into pure fat. That means drinking a lot of alcohol can make one obese, which is one of the risk factors for developing diabetes.

Of course, this can be avoided with moderate drinking habits, but too much alcohol consumption would inevitably lead to excess weight gain.

Hypoglycemia

Hypoglycemia, otherwise known as low blood sugar, can be a by-product of heavy alcohol consumption.

Sustained drinking of alcohol will make it difficult for the body to increase blood sugar levels. Of course, hypoglycemia is its own disease and comes with its own peculiar set of symptoms. Some of which include tiredness, weight loss, and blurred vision.

Interestingly, even people with diabetes can suffer from hypoglycemia. It’s quite common with people who suffer from type 1 diabetes.

The cause is usually the insulin medication that these people take, as insulin taken in excess can lower blood sugar levels past the recommended level.

It’s less common amongst people with type 2 diabetes as they usually have better control over their blood sugar levels.

Thankfully, there are ways to manage hypoglycemia. There are glucagon kits that people with type 1 diabetes who suffer from blood sugar levels can use to quickly correct the problem.

Eating healthy food can also help them manage the problem.

According to The American Diabetes Association and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, people living with diabetes need to understand how to manage hypoglycemia, especially if they are using insulin medication.

Hyperglycaemia

Hyperglycaemia, which is the medical term for high blood glucose levels, can also be an effect of heavy alcohol consumption.

Several studies argue that acute alcohol consumption, even in well-nourished diabetics, can lead to insulin resistance and may make it harder for diabetics to control their blood glucose levels.

Of course, this can lead to a host of other problems like thirst, frequent urination, and blurred vision.

This means that even people with type 2 diabetes, who already have to deal with elevated glucose levels, have to be very careful with how they drink alcohol because it could quite literally make their symptoms worse.

Alcohol and Diabetes; What You May Stand To Gain

It’s not all gloom and doom for people living with diabetes who love drinking alcohol.

While alcohol can hinder insulin production in the body, it can also lower blood glucose levels by preventing the liver from creating glucose.

It may sound unlikely, but this is a position backed by many studies on the subject. For example, one study has shown that for people with type 2 diabetes, occasional drinks can help to lower their blood glucose levels.

Alcohol might not be the healthiest drink, but like many other classes of food, it does offer some benefits of taking moderately.

Some research has shown that people who drink red wine may be protecting their cells since red wine contains antioxidants that help prevent cell damage.

However, even this supposed benefit of alcohol is still a theory. There are still no concrete links that tie intake of red wine with reduced risk of cell damage. There’s also little evidence that alcohol intake makes it easier for people to deal with diabetes.

How To Manage Diabetes And  Alcohol

If you are the type that loves to drink alcohol but are living with diabetes, you don’t have to stop drinking totally.

As long as you don’t fall into the trap of alcohol use disorders, you can maintain great alcohol health without giving up the bottle entirely.

The only thing is that you’d have to adhere to some important rules.

Don’t Drink Alcohol While Hungry

The first is to ensure that you drink alcohol with only food. Stop drinking on an empty stomach, as that makes it more difficult for the liver to break down the alcohol.

And as you know, if your liver cannot break down alcohol in the system quickly, it could lead to your blood sugar level going haywire.

One easy way to do this is to make sure you have a snack or some fruit to eat as you take your drink. That way, you can always be sure that your stomach isn’t empty, and your body will be able to deal properly with the alcohol you’re ingesting.

When possible, try to ensure that the meals you consume right before drinking or during drinking are ones with carbohydrates. This lowers the chance of your blood sugar going so low that the body would have to produce glucose to raise the blood sugar.

Drink Safely

At this point, you should forget about drinking alcohol to get drunk. It’s just not healthy to indulge in binge drinking anymore.

Specifically, this means that you should limit yourself to one drink per day if you’re a woman, and never more than two drinks if you’re a man.

This may be a difficult lifestyle to adjust to, but it’s the only way to stay safe and still enjoy drinking. The transition from being heavy drinkers to being moderate drinkers may be hard for some people to make, but it’s still a lot easier than the health problems they might have if they continue to drink.

Importantly, this advice should be taken by everyone, irrespective of whether they are diabetic or not. Drinking too much alcohol is a risk factor for many illnesses, and even the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases claims that there’s an increased risk of developing kidney disease for diabetics who continue to drink alcohol.

Another thing to note is that all acholic drinks are not created equal. Some drinks are ridiculously high in carbs and sugar and may contribute to your high blood sugar more than others.

It’s your responsibility to figure out what drinks are low in carb, as such will be great for you, and which ones are high in it and thus should be avoided.

Mix Your Drinks

If you insist on drinking more alcohol than is necessary, then you should learn to dilute the drinks with non-alcoholic drinks like diet soda, club soda, or even water.

This helps to reduce the concentration of alcohol you take in and would go a long way in helping you manage your blood glucose levels.

Identify Yourself

If you’ve got a medical bracelet, make sure you keep it on at all times, as it will help medical personnel help you if you ever have to deal with a medical emergency.

Alcohol’s Effects on Complications of Diabetes

Retinopathy

Retinopathy is a troublesome eye disease that’s usually a result of diabetes. Today, retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness in America.

Thankfully, it isn’t unavoidable. Good blood sugar control, when coupled with regular eye examinations and blood pressure control can make all the difference in the world.

However, some studies suggest that heavy drinking can be a contributing factor for developing this disease. Interestingly, these studies argue that heavy alcohol consumption negates all the benefits of good blood sugar and blood pressure control.

Alterations of Lipid Metabolism

People who live with diabetes usually have abnormalities in their lipid levels and metabolism. These abnormalities often contribute to their risk of developing cardiovascular disease. That’s why so many diabetics suffer from cardiovascular disease after years of battling diabetes.

Sadly, consumption of alcohol can further exacerbate these diabetes-related lipid abnormalities. That’s because drinking more than three drinks per day has proven to contribute to lipid abnormalities, even in non-diabetics.

This means that diabetics who drink alcohol are at a greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

Cardiovascular Disease

Despite cardiovascular diseases being the leading killer of humans worldwide, the relationship between the disease and diabetes is yet to be properly studied.

However, one study raises important questions about the effects of alcohol on the health of diabetics and their chances of developing cardiovascular diseases.

For example, a ten-year study of over a thousand men (and an unknown percentage of diabetics), showed that overall death rates, after adjustment for age, was lowest among men who drink about 0.1 to 34 grams of alcohol per day, which is around a drink per month and less than three drinks per day.

Interestingly, the death rate amongst men who drank more than three drinks per day and men who completely abstained was higher than that of the first group of men.

Another important thing to note is that the men who abstained from alcohol completely had the highest death rate from cardiovascular disease, while the ones that drank more than 34 grams of alcohol per day had the highest death rate from the non-cardiovascular disease.

This study seems to be suggesting that alcohol consumption could have a positive effect on cardiovascular disease.

However, this finding is not definite as correlation doesn’t necessarily mean causation. The fact that the men who drank alcohol in this study were less likely to die from cardiovascular disease doesn’t unilaterally mean that alcohol is great for diabetics who already have an increased risk of developing this disease.

Peripheral Neuropathy

Peripheral neuropathy is a condition that is characterized by the damage of the nerves that extend from the spinal cord to the different muscles in the body and control muscular function. It could also refer to the damage of motor nerves that transport different sensations from the muscles back to the brain.

Many patients who suffer from peripheral neuropathy have to deal with symptoms like pain, burning, and numbness.  Now, the thing about this disease is that diabetes and alcoholism are the two most common underlying causes of the illness.

Diabetics who have the disease tend to see their symptoms worsen over time, and research has reliably shown that diabetics who drank more than three drinks per day.

Excessive consumption of alcohol has also been revealed to be an underlying cause of the illness.

All this tells us is that diabetes and alcohol may work together to cause nerve damage, or exacerbate it.

Reduced LDL Cholesterol Levels

Not all cholesterol is bad for you. For example, having a high level of high-density lipoprotein is great for you. However, having a high level of low-density lipoprotein has been reliably linked to a higher risk of heart disease.

Interestingly, it has been proven that LDL cholesterol is usually higher in nondrinkers than in alcoholics. That means that drinking alcohol might have a beneficial effect on your LDL levels, even as a diabetic.

Elevated HDL Cholesterol Levels

HDL cholesterol is called good cholesterol as it has a good effect on the heart. It also has a protective effect against cardiovascular disease.

According to studies, the HDL levels in a person are usually elevated after chronic drinking and then return to normalcy after a period of abstinence from the bottle.

Asides from that, epistemological data has shown that drinking no more than three drinks per day is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases like heart attacks and high blood pressure.

Medication interactions

Asides from all the other diabetic complications that alcohol may worsen, or improve, there are also complications caused by medication interactions.

For example, chlorpropamide, a medication used to treat type 2 diabetes by increasing pancreatic insulin secretion, can cause an unpleasant reaction when used by patients who drink alcohol.

Another example is troglitazone, a medication that decreases insulin resistance. This drug must not be used by people with liver disease, and should also never be used by people who drink excessive alcohol. Asides from that, the drug itself could impair liver function, and drinking alcohol might make this problem even worse.

Conclusion

Diabetes is a very dangerous illness and is among the leading causes of death in the world. However, it isn’t a death sentence, and most mild cases can be effectively managed.

However, for it to be managed properly, people living with diabetes also have a part to play. For one, they have to remain physically active and have to take extra care with the meals they eat.

If they do not take this extra care and live recklessly, they would increase their risk of developing serious health complications as a result of their diabetes.

The great news is that diabetics aren’t alone in this fight. It might look like a lot, but the help they need to make the lifestyle changes that will help them live long and fulfilled lives even with diabetes is certainly not out of their reach.

For example, they can reach out to companies like Klinio that will not only help them manage their diabetes and plan their meals but will also help them lose unhealthy weight and live a fitter and healthier lifestyle.

Peanut butter and diabetes may not seem like they go together very well. After all, peanut butter is high in fat and calories, and it may not be the best option if you’re trying to manage your weight. Add in the fact that cupcakes tend to be high in sugar, and peanut butter cupcakes seem like they would be off-limits for someone with diabetes. 

Fortunately, this isn’t the case. It turns out that peanut butter cupcakes can be adjusted so that they fit within sugar–free desserts for diabetics. Below, find a recipe for diabetes cupcakes, made with peanut butter and a variety of diabetes-friendly ingredients. 

We’ll cover the following information:

  • What are peanut butter cheesecake cupcakes?
  • Peanut Butter Cupcakes for Diabetes Ingredients
  • Instructions for Making the Cupcakes 
  • Nutrition Facts 

What are peanut butter cheesecake cupcakes?

Traditional cupcakes may be baked in the oven, but diabetes-friendly cupcakes are actually among the no-bake diabetic recipes. This is because instead of having the cake-like texture that we typically associate with cupcakes, this diabetic-friendly recipe is actually for peanut butter cheesecake cupcakes.

This recipe produces a low-sugar dessert that takes on the texture and taste of a mini cheesecake. Instead of baking these cupcakes in the oven, you’ll mix up your ingredients and then place them in the freezer, producing a perfectly chilled peanut butter cheesecake cupcake. 

Peanut Butter Cupcakes for Diabetes Ingredients 

To make these peanut butter cupcakes, you’ll need the following ingredients:

  • 8 oz. softened cream cheese
  • ¼ cup powdered erythritol 
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
  • ¼ cup peanut butter
  • ¾ cup sugar-free chocolate
  • 2 tsp coconut oil

The above ingredients make for suitable diabetic cupcakes, because the primary sweetener, erythritol, is sugar-free. Sugar-free chocolate chips are also a key component of mastering diabetes recipes, as they add the chocolate taste without the high quantities of added sugars that can send blood glucose levels skyrocketing.

In addition to the ingredients above, you’ll need 6 silicone cupcake liners, which you can purchase online. 

Instructions for Making the Cupcakes

Not only are these peanut butter cheesecake cupcakes diabetes-friendly; they’re also incredibly easy to make. With the simple steps below, you’ll have a delicious low-sugar dessert:

  1. Mix cream cheese, erythritol, and whipping cream until smooth to make the cheesecake fluff.
  2. Next, mix in peanut butter and vanilla extract until all ingredients are well-combined, and set the fluff aside. 
  3. Melt the chocolate in the microwave, 30 seconds at a time. After each 30-second stint in the microwave, stir the chocolate, and return to the microwave until fully melted. Be careful not to burn. 
  4. Brush each of your silicone cupcake liners with some of the chocolate mixture, and place in the freezer for 5 minutes. 
  5. Remove cupcake liners from the freezer, brush them with the chocolate mixture once more, and return to the freezer for 10 additional minutes. 
  6. Remove liners from the freezer once again, place a few spoonfuls of the fluff in each liner, and then return to the freezer for another 15 minutes.
  7. Remove the liners from the freezer, and top with chocolate mixture to cover the fluff. Finally, freeze the peanut butter cupcakes for an additional 20 minutes, or refrigerator for an hour.
  8. Remove and enjoy! 

Nutrition Facts

These diabetic cupcakes come with the following nutrition facts:

  • 172 total calories
  • 15 grams fat
  • 7 grams carbs
  • 6 grams protein
  • 2.3 grams sugar

The above nutrition facts are for one peanut butter cheesecake cupcake. You can enjoy this treat with peace of mind, as it follows CDC nutrition guidelines for diabetes, which include limiting added sugars and keeping your carbohydrate intake within a reasonable limit. You’ll also get a nice dose of protein to keep you full and satisfied. 

Conclusion 

There are plenty of sugar-free desserts for diabetics, and peanut butter cupcakes are among them. These peanut butter cheesecake cupcakes may not be exactly what comes to mind when you imagine your favorite peanut butter cupcakes, but they are a suitable substitute, and they allow you to enjoy a sweet treat without wrecking your diet and elevating your blood glucose levels. 

Use the Klinio app for other no bake diabetic recipes, as well as healthy diabetes meal ideas. We provide countless recipes that fit within a healthy diabetes eating plan, and we are a trusted source for diabetes nutrition.