Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Relaxation Lowers Blood Sugar

Another method that you can incorporate into your daily life as a method of lowering blood sugar levels is relaxation. In today’s rushed lifestyle, there is little hope of putting together a simple plan for relaxation. Yet, stress can do many things to our body’s including cause complications of diabetic conditions.

Stress hormones happen to be at the bottom of this condition. These are able to trigger the release of extra sugar into your bloodstream.

For some individuals, increased amounts of stress over a long period of time and coupled with other conditions can actually bring on the onset of diabetes. If you have high blood sugar levels and you aren’t sure why, it could be a life full of stress and brought them forward.
There is some good news here, though. As difficult as it may sound, reducing the level of stress that you are under can actually reduce your blood sugar levels significantly.

The best course of action is to take a step back and analyze the stressful factors in your life. What is it that brings tension to your shoulders and has you worried more times than not? Those are the conditions that need to be improved if at all possible.

Yet, you can also reduce your stress levels by carefully monitoring them and doing several key things to reduce them. Stress can be minimized in one of several ways, based on your need and your body’s reaction. Try any of the following tips to improvement in your body’s blood sugar levels by reducing stress levels.

• Deep breathing. Sit up straight and breathe from your lungs rather than your normal method. To do this, feel yourself letting your stomach muscles expand. Fully expand then and then exhale, slowly. Push the air out of your stomach. Do this again several times. As you exhale, imagine the stress leaving your body with the air. Try to do this about 20 minutes per day.

• Muscle relaxation. When you feel tension in your body, try this method of relaxation. Simply lie on your back with your arms at your side. Your goal is to relax each muscle group one at a time, imagining that the stress is leaving your body at the same time. Start with your toes, feet, ankles and work your way up your body, targeting each individual muscle group. Then, tense each group of muscles one at a time, hold for ten seconds and then release them. Work through your entire body in this manner.

• Calm your thoughts. For many, stress is not the only thing that causes harm. It is also the anxiety, worried and the feeling of being overwhelmed. Although it may feel very difficult to do at first, force yourself to think of the situation rationally. Ask yourself, “What is the worst case scenario?” Relax what the likely outcome will be, not the worst.

There are many other ways that you can reduce stress in your life too. Consider yoga, for example. Find something that you enjoy doing and make it a habit. Even something simple like gardening can help you to have an outlet of positive which will help to reduce your level of stress overall.

Reducing your level of stress can significantly improve your overall well being and help you to reduce blood sugar levels.

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