Fill up on fibrous foods

Whole grains, fruits, and vegetables are all fiber-rich foods—complex carbs—that slow down how quickly you digest your food. (11) Instead of a quick spike, the glucose becomes a steady trickle. Because these foods are carbohydrates, they can still raise your blood sugar, but they do so at a more sustainable pace.

Add some healthy fat

Dietary fat, because of its digestive staying power, can also help regulate appetite and hence cravings. Good sources of dietary fat are nut butter, vegetable oils, seeds, fatty fish and avocado.

Did you know? It takes roughly 40 hours for your body to digest fats, although the exact time varies according to the fat. (12) The body converts foods mixed with fat more slowly into sugar, which is good for maintaining stable blood sugar levels.

Sprinkle on cinnamon

Although the research remains controversial, some studies suggest that cinnamon is an effective—and delicious—tool for lowering blood sugar. Many studies found that cinnamon mimics the effects of insulin and increasing glucose transport into cells. (13)

Get versatile with vinegar

Although the benefits of vinegar may be a tad bit exaggerated in recent years, vinegar may have some impact: Several studies show that apple cider vinegar may moderately lower blood glucose levels. (14)

Although how it works is still unclear, one theory is that vinegar’s acid changes the pH of food, which impacts how quickly something is metabolized and absorbed. While many recipes for homemade vinegar drinks abound on the internet, premade vinegar drinks, sold in health food stores and some conventional supermarkets, are also a trend.

Snack responsibly

Avoid being at the mercy of vending machines or fast food by never being caught empty-handed. Anticipate the unexpected and carry healthy snacks that can prevent blood sugar swings and restore normal blood sugar levels. (15) Hard-boiled eggs, cheese with whole grain crackers, apple with peanut butter, nuts, and yogurt with low sugar granola make excellent choices.

Become sugar savvy

Sometimes food ingredient labels make it hard to accurately assess how much added sugars a product has. Here are some common names for different kinds of added sugars:

• Brown sugar
• Corn sweetener
• Corn syrup
• Dextrose
• Fructose
• Glucose
• High-fructose corn syrup
• Honey
• Lactose
• Malt syrup
• Maltose
• Molasses
• Raw sugar
• Sucrose

To make it easier to detect added sugar, the FDA has plans to release a new Nutrition Facts label so that consumers can make better food choices. (16) Some large-scale manufacturers have already started using the new label that highlights the added sugar amount and percentage of recommended daily allowance.

According to the FDA, the rollout will be complete by 2021: The new label is already appearing on packages even before it is required to be used. “Manufacturers with $10 million or more in annual sales must switch to the new label by January 1, 2020; manufacturers with less than $10 million in annual food sales have until January 1, 2021, to comply,” says the FDA. (17)

Drink with moderation

The main rules for what to drink and what not to drink are threefold. Don’t drink on an empty stomach. If you haven’t eaten, drinking alcohol can wreak havoc with blood sugar. It can have a negative effect on blood sugar and can cause it to drop even up to 24 hours later. Because the body works so hard to get rid of alcohol, which it interprets as a toxin, it boosts insulin secretion, which lowers blood sugar. (18)

Soda is the new cigarettes. According to the CDC, the regular consumption of sugary drinks is a major cause of obesity in both adults (19) and children (20). A 12-ounce serving of regular soda has about 160 calories—about 10 teaspoons or 40 grams of sugar. Opt for water, flavored seltzer or low-fat milk instead of sugary sodas, sports drinks, or heavily sweetened coffee or tea drinks.

Limit artificially sweetened drinks

Artificially sweetened drinks can throw insulin and blood sugar levels out of whack. While artificial sweeteners have no calories, they’re a thousand times sweeter than regular sugar. According to Mark Hyman, author and the medical director at the Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Functional Medicine, “they stimulate your taste buds, it goes to your brain, affects your hormones and your metabolism and actually also affects your gut flora. This changes the bacteria in there to make it more likely to get diabetes, and it changes your hormones to make it more likely that you’re going to be hungry, and you’re going to eat more over the day.” (21)