How can you tell if you’re living a healthy life when there are so many different diet trends and people on the internet telling you what you should and shouldn’t eat? You can’t just change your whole life and start over, whether you’re in your 20s or your 60s. You don’t have to, though. The five easy ways to start living a healthier life now that are backed by science are listed below.
1. Use a CGM program
A Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) can help you lose weight or get your health under control if you are having trouble. Most people find it easy to use CGMs, which is great because these tiny devices can do a lot. They keep track of how what you eat, how much you sleep, how stressed you are, and how much you exercise affect your blood glucose levels in real time. With this information, you can figure out what’s causing your levels to go up and come back down.
NutriSense is just what you need if you want to keep track of your blood sugar levels around the clock and improve your health. NutriSense will give you a CGM and pair you with a registered dietitian to help you get the results you need quickly.
2. Cut back on the amount of refined carbs you eat
Sugars, starches, and dietary fiber are all types of carbohydrates. Your body breaks them down into glucose, which gives you energy. But there is a limit to how many carbs you can eat. Eating too many refined carbs, like those in processed foods, can hurt your health. If you eat less of these refined sugars and flours, your LDL-P levels will go down1, which can lower your risk of heart disease.
If you’re looking for low-carb foods, you should shop around the edges of the store. The best foods to eat to cut down on carbs are berries, non-starchy vegetables, meat, fish, eggs, and cheese. But don’t forget how important whole grains are. Good carbohydrates are important for a healthy lifestyle.
3. Consume more fiber
By eating more foods with fiber, you can reduce your chance of getting diabetes2. Because your body has to work harder to break down fiber, fiber-rich foods don’t cause your blood sugar to rise quickly like carb-rich foods do. You can add oats, chia seeds, lentils, chickpeas, bananas, avocados, and strawberries to your diet because they are high in fiber.
4. Improve your sleep
Sleep can help you do well during the day and make you feel less stressed.
Stress is common and unavoidable, but in the long run, it’s not good for your body. Diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease can all be caused by stress that isn’t treated.
It might not be as hard to fix your sleep schedule as it seems. If you do these few things, you should see an improvement.
Set a regular time to go to sleep. Every day, go to bed and wake up at the same time. For example, you could get up every day at 7 a.m. and go to bed at 11 p.m.
Work out every day. Exercise can help you feel better and sleep better. Try to find 30 minutes a day to do things like walking, lifting weights, or riding a bike.
Lessen how much caffeine you drink. Even if you love coffee, you might want to cut back on how much you drink or stop drinking anything with caffeine after a certain time every day. When you drink coffee or an energy drink late at night, it can be harder for your body to relax.
Don’t use screens too much at night. Even though you might want to scroll through your phone as you get ready for bed, the constant blue light can be more stimulating than relaxing. Blue light looks like the light the sun gives off during the day. Try putting away your phone 30 minutes before bed and reading a book instead.
5. Learn about your blood sugar
Do you feel sleepy most days around 2 p.m. in a strange way? This is common, as are solutions that aren’t perfect. You might think that drinking an energy drink will help you get through the last few hours of work. Instead of reaching for caffeine right away, you might want to check your blood glucose, or blood sugar, levels first.
Different foods can have different effects on your blood sugar. If you usually eat a sandwich on white bread for lunch, that could be why you’re crashing. Try using a heartier, whole-grain bread or a salad instead of the sandwich.
Glucose levels can also tell you if the way you exercise, eat, and do other things is good for or bad for your body. The best way to make these kinds of observations is with tools that can tell you your levels anytime, anywhere.
