What Is Blood Sugar?
Your blood sugar level, or blood glucose level, refers to the concentration of sugar (in the form of glucose) in your blood. The unit of measurement is millimoles per liter (mmol/L).

Why is there sugar in the blood?
Every time you eat food, your body has the task of breaking that food down into a useable form of energy it can use to keep you functioning properly. All foods are (generally) made up of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, fiber and water. Carbohydrate rich foods give your body its main form of energy. They get broken down into glucose and move into the bloodstream where they are absorbed by cells for use or storage. Glucose, or “blood sugar”, is likened to “the gasoline that is essential to make your car run”.

Why would i need to manage my sugar blood levels?
Your body needs a constant supply of carbohydrates during the day and you should be aware of your blood carbohydrates levels.
During the day there are two types of problems that can occur that are carbohydrate related.
a) your blood does not have enough carbohydrate during the day : your body will start break down the fat that you have stored to produce carbohydrate. This is done at the expense of releasing toxins which are not good for you. This is also tapping in your body mass and the fat stored in your muscles.
b) you blood has too much carbohydrate : Probably after a big meal or you’ve eaten too much sweets. Your blood now has too much sugar which risks to harm your body, so Insulin is released in your blood to bring down sugars to an acceptable level. Producing insulin is a tiring experience and during this time you will feel sluggish.

Why Blood Sugar Levels Change During The Day
Your blood sugar levels vary during the day/night. The direction it varies (up or down) is due to a number of factors such as those listed below:
1. Eating food :  As the carbs in food break down, glucose is released into the bloodstream ready to be absorbed by cells. Increased glucose in the bloodstream = higher blood sugar level.
2. Exercise : Exercise provides many benefits to your body, including burning excess sugar and reducing insulin resistance (by making cells more receptive to insulin, so rather than requiring more insulin to facilitate glucose uptake, the insulin you already have becomes a bit more effective). However the effect on blood sugar depends on the type of exercise, the duration of exercise, glucose and insulin levels before you start exercising.
During long, intense workouts the body may release adrenaline which counteracts the efforts of insulin. The normal process for blood sugar would be to be absorbed by cells (via insulin) for utilization or storage. Adrenaline causes the glucose to be redirected to where it is required for use immediately rather than for storage. Read more here.
3. Your physiology : The fitter you are the better. More specifically, if you have a greater muscle to fat ratio, you will burn energy at a faster rate and therefore be more effective at reducing your blood glucose level. Also, muscles do not rely on insulin to absorb/use blood glucose – same goes for the brain.
(My sister gave me this great analogy – imagine a small muscle and a large muscle contracting at the same time. Which one would use/burn more energy to contract? The big one, simply because it is a bigger muscle!)
4. Emotions : Stress increases your blood glucose level. It also causes some people to forget to take their medication, turn to comfort foods, overeat and therefore introduce a higher than normal amount of glucose in the blood.
5. Sleeping : People often talk about “dawn phenomenon” with regard to diabetes, where your blood sugar level spikes in the mornings as a result of the body releasing hormones which increase insulin resistance (perhaps). The cause of this is unknown. However, another explanation could be a slow metabolism of dinner from the night before. Some research also suggests that not getting enough sleep causes the liver to produce/release more glucose, hence increasing your blood sugar levels.
6. Medications : Obviously, the medication you take regulates your blood sugar level and therefore your readings during the day, depending on when you took the medication.

Juggling jobs, relationships, social obligations, bills, and staying on top of a healthy gym routine is a lot to handle. As a woman, trying to find the time to eat better seems to be the last thing on my list and it can’t be much easier for men. Here are a few tips for making men’s lives a little bit better from morning to night:

Do not miss your Breakfast
Eating breakfast everyday keeps your metabolism in check, your weight down, and your cravings at bay. Filling up on fiber early on keeps you satisfied throughout the day. Dr. Oz recommends oatmeal with dried fruits, nuts, and his own personal touch…flaxseed oil.

Work through Pain
Sometimes taking the load off of a sore back, neck, or legs is worse for you than if you work through the pain. Experts suggest that nursing your pain isn’t always the best course of action because resting can weaken your muscles and you may lose strength over time. If you haven’t pulled any muscles or slipped any discs, take an anti-inflammatory pain reliever and stay on your feet.

Snack on Nuts
You don’t have to hoard nuts for the winter, but grabbing a handful during the middle of the day can actually keep you healthier than eating a bag of chips or waiting until dinner to satisfy your food cravings. Full of omega-3 fatty acids, these are the type of proteins we look for in our diets from fish, also known as good fats.

Sweat is good for you
While walking to the office or public transit is eco-friendly and cost efficient, chances are you don’t get the full cardio effect until you do your time on the treadmill. Sweat away your toxins and reduce your blood pressure and risk of heart attack by switching up your routine; the wetter the better. Tacking on weight training makes your body work harder to bulk up and lose any extra pounds that may be damaging to your frame. Aside from looking better to your partner, you may feel better and be able to get more sleep, more on that later. For more stamina, find a workout buddy!

Be Friendly – open yourself – you need it
When men get stressed, they often clam up and don’t tend to talk about their problems. Women, on the other hand, can usually tell a story until their lips bleed. With more stress in the world than ever, it’s no wonder your body may not be feeling up to par. Grab a beer—or your partner—and tell them what’s on your mind, sharing may just save your life or keep the stress away.

Save money for a Rainy Day
Like the harmful stressors everyone puts upon themselves at any moment, a lot of these have to deal with financial woes. If you are able, sock away some of your paycheck every month to save for a rainy day or an emergency by investing some of that worth in a separate savings account you can run to if you need to, but put your own limits on how you are allowed to spend it. Down the road, merely thinking about how to spend that extra cushion you set aside can make even the gloomiest day perk up a bit.

Go Between
We have all been conditioned to learn that brushing your teeth two times a day is the normal but in order to keep your oral health at its best, go deeper with floss. Your best bet is to floss before bedtime to clean the bacteria from the hard to reach spots in your mouth so it doesn’t grow into a problem overnight.

Sleep like a Baby
If you are a parent, you understand the importance of getting a child to go to bed at a certain time every night in order to keep their mind and body stable and free from grouchiness. You should treat your sleeping patterns the same way. Set a bed time and keep it—at least during the work week—and get at least seven hours of sleep. Professionals advise that sleeping regularly can stave off calories and stress because being groggy can incur bad decisions like eating greasy food or sucking down your usual morning coffee in half the time.

Gentle exercise can cut the danger of early heart disease, Britain’s biggest killer, according to reports of a scientific study.

As little as half an hour of aerobic exercise such as walking, rowing or jogging three times a week can make patients 60 per cent less likely to die, the research found.

The results of the study, carried out by the Department of Cardiology in New Orleans, Louisiana and reported in the American Journal of Medicine, have be welcomed by the British Heart Foundation.

More than 200,000 die each year from conditions related to circulation, including strokes and heart attacks.

One in five men and one in seven women die from heart disease in the UK.

The American study offered patients 12 weeks of exercise classes of 30 or 40 minutes of walking, rowing or jogging and were given advice on diet and lifestyle improvements.

A follow-up with the patients over six years found those who got fitter through the exercise regime were 60 per cent less likely to have died.

Exercise also helped to reduce levels of stress, according to a report of the study in the Daily Express.

The British Heart Foundation told the newspaper: “This study proves once again that exercise has both psychological and physical benefits for patients with heart disease.”
Many British patients with heart problems are put on drugs to lower cholesterol and reduce blood pressure.

Gentle forms of exercises which have grow popular have changed the way we think about exercise. Gentle forms of exercise come without shocks and impacts to the body and are accessible to all (the elderly, tired, unfit and stressed!). They are based on a global approach to the body that involves honing your body, making you flexibe and improving your posture, and because they’re so low impact it’s difficult to hurt yourself.

Here are the activities at the top of the list.

Pilates
- Pilates wes created by a German nurse who was looking for a form of exercise to stay in good shape and good health with limited space and means.
- The exercises (there are more than 500 in total) revolve around 8 key points: breathing (through the thorax, not the abdomen), concentration (thoughout the movements, from the centre of the body), control, alignment (straight and relaxed positions), flow (fluid, slow movements), centering (working the abs), order (sequences of precise movements) and relaxation.
- Although most exercises are done without aids, some exercises can be done with exercise bands, balls, weights, hoops, foam cushions or a Wunda chair.

Qi Gong
- Literally ‘energy work’, this discipline is a thousand-year-old Chinese tradition whose philosophy is that man should live in harmony with his environment, interior and exterior.
- Qi Gong is a real art of postures in sequence that root the body to the ground and open it to the world through wide, flowing movements.
- Often copying the attitudes of animals, requiring concentration, breathing and flexibility, it activates the flow of energy in the body.

Yoga
- This discipline originates from India and has existed for more than 500 years. It’s more of a global approach to health than a simple form of exercise.
- Several forms of yoga exist, but all bring fulfillment, self-knowledge, physical and mental wellbeing and serenity.
- The majority of yoga classes concentrate on the physical dimension of yoga, which is called hatha yoga. It is based on postures (of which there are over 1000 static and moving postures), breathing exercises (inseparable from the postures), and relaxation (the last phase of the session involves relaxation and breathing in a sitting or lying position).

Tai-Chi-Chuan
- A cross between a martial art and a sport, this discipline has existed for 500 years. It would have been used by Chinese warriors in training to develop the qualities necessary for combat (concentration, calm and balance).
- Tai-Chi combines precise movements (hundreds of sways, rotations and stretches to anticipate, push, pull and shoot) with breathing control. It is done slowly, with control. The exercises are organsied into sequences that can be long and complex.
- This art involves work on internal energy rather than on external muscle strength. The movements come from the centre of the body, the seat of vital energy, and are carried out with the feet deeply rooted to the ground, the body pulled upwards and a straight head and neck. Relaxation is essential to carry out the movements correctly.

Stretching
- Methods of stretching the muscles mix traditional practices such as gymnastics, classical dance and yoga.
- Stretching can be an exercise in itself (eg Body Stretch) or incorporated into other workouts (running, jogging, hiking etc.) either as part of the warm-up or cool-down, or both.
- It consists of stretching the muscles of the body one by one slowly. The stretches may look simple, but are actually quite complex, requiring concentration and control. You need to remain immobile, concentrate on the position and breathe deeply, trying to hold your breath a little longer each time. Your breathing dictates the movements by releasing tension to take you further into the stretch each time.