Are You Having Trouble Lowering Your A1C?

If you have Type 2 diabetes, you need to be concerned with lowering your A1c. Have you been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes? If so, you need to know that checking and tracking your blood glucose levels is critical for your health. Tracking your A1c is one good way to do this. 

How often should your doctor recommend that you check your A1c? Generally, doctors recommend checking your A1c a few times per year.

What does testing your A1c tell you? 

Your A1c number tells you what your average blood glucose has been over time. Generally, this is over the past three months. Here is an article we wrote about what this A1C number means. It is often called “Hemoglobin A1C” on your lab tests. 

A1c is a way to see the bigger picture. This test result is a great way to track your progress as you make healthy changes. Lowering Your A1c shows overall long-term improvement in your health.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) track important data about Americans and their health. 

CDC estimates that 96 million—or more than 1 in 3—US adults 18 or older had prediabetes in 2019. This number includes over 37 million adults aged 45 to 64 and over 26 million adults 65 or older.

A higher percentage of men (41.9%) had prediabetes than women (34.3%)¹

Elevated fasting blood glucose levels likely show Type 2 or prediabetes. If your A1c level is between 5.7 and 6.4, you may be at risk. 

An A1c level of 6.5% or higher can determine Type 2 diabetes.²

A good target is an A1c of 7 or below. Talk with your doctor about your unique health and how to set personal goals.

Are You Having Trouble Getting Your A1C Lower? Here Are Some Helpful Tips To Get Your A1C Lower:

Here are some tips to lower your A1c if you are having trouble getting it lower:

• Increase your level of physical activity. Exercise has many health benefits beyond improving your blood glucose levels. It is a solid way to bring these down and improve insulin sensitivity.
• Cut out carbs and high-sugar foods. Carbohydrates and sugar spike your blood glucose levels. They cause damage to your body and ruin your progress while working to reverse Type 2 diabetes.
• Losing even 5% of your weight can have a dramatic impact on your health and blood glucose levels. Loss of 5% to 10% of your body wrong improves insulin resistance.³ This will help drop your A1c levels.
• Cut out stress from your daily life as much as you can. Yes, we all have stress but, there are things you can do to lower its impact on your body. Research shows that mindfulness practices are helpful. Taking a short 2-minute break a few times a day to relax your muscles and breathe deeply is a powerful way to decrease overall stress. Using a breathing app can also help, some of these apps have alarms to remind you to take a break. This can improve your health and Type 2 diabetes.

Creating a plan to reverse your Type 2 diabetes is the best thing you can do after your diagnosis. It will also improve your health. Unlike other diseases, Type 2 diabetes is reversible!

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Anna

Founder and Author at Help For Your Diabetes

Anna has worked for several big functional health practitioners as a writer, editor, training specialist, customer service manager, summit coordinator, and affiliate screener.

She helped start and managed a supplement company and has consulted on targeted supplement creation.

She has also served for over 7 years as an admin for very large Facebook groups about health and autoimmune issues.

Anna has years of unique experience seeing which protocols and treatments work for which people, having seen hundreds of thousands of patient experiences and testimonials.

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1. https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/library/reports/reportcard/prediabetes.html#:~:text=CDC%20estimates%20that%2096%20million,prediabetes%20than%20women%20(34.3%25).
2. https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/managing/managing-blood-sugar/a1c.html#:~:text=Diagnosing%20Prediabetes%20or%20Diabetes&text=A%20normal%20A1C%20level%20is,for%20developing%20type%202%20diabetes.
3. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/endoscopic-weight-loss-program/conditions/diabetes.html#:~:text=How%20much%20weight%20do%20I,developing%20diabetes%20by%2058%20percent.