in today's video I'm going to be giving you five steps you can take to lower your HB
A1C fast and spoiler alert these tips are super easy to implement
hemoglobin A1c is a test used to measure your average blood sugar over the past three months
this test is used to diagnose and monitor diabetes a healthy hba1c level is between 4
to 5.6 percent above 5.7 indicates pre-diabetes and above 6.5 indicates full-blown diabetes
now if your level is 5.7 or above Don't Panic it is entirely possible to bring that level
down to within a healthy range and that's what we're going to be talking about today [Music]
hey guys welcome back to my channel if you're new here my name is Kait I'm a certified health and
nutrition coach I post videos twice a week here on YouTube talking all things insulin resistance
weight loss sleep and more so if you're ready to take control of your metabolic Health make sure to
click that subscribe button and you can also find me on Tick Tock and Instagram or I share new posts
every single day lowering our fasting blood sugar is one of the best things we can do for our health
a high hba1c score increases our risk of type 2 diabetes heart disease Alzheimer's and other
diseases it also puts us at a greater risk of being overweight or obese the reality is our blood
sugar ties in with every aspect of our health and the more we can control it and bring our A1C down
the better off we're going to be so let's get into five steps you can take to do just that
number one is to intermittent fast the quickest and most efficient way to lower your A1C is to
incorporate some form of intermittent fasting into your routine to intermittent fast means you have a
daily fasting schedule you split your time up each day into a period when you don't eat and
when you do eat one of the most popular variations is 16 8. you fast for 16 hours every day and you
eat all of your food within an eight hour window so this can look like finishing your last meal at
6 p.m in the evening and not eating again until 10 a.m the next day and the reason that fasting
helps to bring your A1C down is that it improves insulin sensitivity this means your cells taking
glucose more readily and this brings your average down if you want to try intermittent fasting for
the first time I recommend starting only aiming for 12 hours a day stop eating at 8 pm in the
evening for example and don't eat again until 8 A.M and work your way up to 16 hours over time
now one tip that I can give you that will make intermittent fasting so much easier is to take an
electrolyte supplement during your fasting window fasting can deplete your body's electrolytes so
it's important to get them in but be careful about what brand you choose because a lot of
them contain added sugar and other artificial ingredients which can actually spike your blood
sugar and work against your gold to bring your A1c down I use sodi's everyday hydration salts because
they don't break a fast they have no added sugar or artificial sweeteners and they're specifically
formulated for intermittent fasting so you can get enough electrolytes to meet your needs
if you want to check them out you can head to hck.com forward slash Saudi and use code kate15
to save 15 off your order step number two is to drink apple cider vinegar before bed drinking one
tablespoon of apple cider vinegar diluted in water before bed has been shown to lower your
fasting blood sugar the following day you can also take it before meals to lower your blood
sugar response to that meal it has this effect because vinegar helps to slow down the rate at
which your food is broken down which means the spike in blood sugar is more gradual now if you
aren't a fan of the taste of apple cider vinegar I do recommend the drinks from good idea as an
alternative good idea drinks contain a blend of amino acids that help to control blood sugar in a
similar way to apple cider vinegar these drinks are lightly carbonated and they taste a whole
lot better than vinegar does I will also put the link to check them out in the description box step
number three is to take a walk in the morning take a walk in the morning before you eat breakfast
some people experience what is known as the dawn phenomenon where the liver dumps glucose into the
bloodstream just before waking causing fasting numbers to be elevated but by going for a morning
walk you allow your muscles to use some of that glucose even better is that when we're using our
muscles they can actually take in glucose without the need for insulin with less insulin needed this
helps our cells to become more insulin sensitive bringing our A1C down over time and this doesn't
have to be a long walk even a quick one around the block can make a difference so don't worry
about doing anything crazy it doesn't have to be extreme step number four is to get good sleep
poor sleep has a huge impact on blood sugar a recent study found that men who slept less were
2.8 times more likely to develop diabetes not only does poor sleep cause our fasting numbers
to be higher but it impacts our blood sugar the whole next day and promotes glucose intolerance
the blood sugar response to food you eat is more significant after a night of poor sleep versus
a night of good sleep on top of that your body is more insulin resistant following a night of
poor sleep and the cherry on top is that poor sleep also affects your hunger hormones ghrelin
the hormone responsible for Hunger is going to be higher and leptin the hormone that signals
when you're full is lower so you're going to be hungrier the entire day which only adds fuel to
the fire I won't get too into how to optimize sleep in today's video but I do have a bunch of
other videos on the topic on my channel so I'll link one up above if you want to know more and
finally step number five is to reduce stress I know I know this is easier said than done but
being stressed can actually raise our blood sugar and cause more fluctuations throughout the day
when you are stressed hormones such as cortisol and glucagon are released and these hormones
cause our body to release more glucose into the bloodstream which over time can can increase
our A1C now of course we're all going to be stressed out at some point or another but if you
can mitigate it and reduce your stress whenever possible that's going to make a big difference
I've recently started incorporating some breath work into my morning routine really only five
minutes and that has made a huge difference a few weeks ago I was starting to get really stressed
out I was out and then I got in my car and I could just feel the stress building up and I put into
practice what I'd been practicing I remembered one of the breathing techniques that I've been
working on I did it for a couple of minutes and I could just feel my stress reducing like I said
before easier said than done but any little changes you can make to reduce stress they're
gonna help anyways guys that's all I have for you today I hope you found this video helpful let me
know in the comment section down below what your A1C is have you been able to bring it down and
what have you done to achieve this let me know down below I love chatting with you guys in the
comment section so even if you just want to come and say hi comments really support my video they
show YouTube that you enjoyed it and they push it out to more people so yeah come and say hi
down below and anything I mentioned in this video including those electrolytes from Saudi will be
linked in the description box if you did enjoy this video you might also enjoy my video on the
best types of fasting you can check it out here if you want to catch up on my most recent upload you
can find it here and if you want to check out my coaching programs including my seven day insulin
resistance master class and meal plan you can find that here thanks guys I'll see you next time bye