Legs and feet are the "blood sugar meter" of the human body! Be alert if you see the following 5 signals

When blood sugar is high, the symptoms are usually not obvious, but the bad thing is that it never stops harming the body.

Your legs and feet are like the body’s own “blood sugar meters”. Changes in this part may be reminding you that your blood sugar is out of control.

So, why are legs and feet called the "blood sugar meters" of the human body?

High blood sugar levels can easily cause your legs and feet to release signals

When blood sugar levels exceed the standard, the "blood vessels" that transport sugar are often damaged first. Among them, symptoms caused by damage to small blood vessels usually appear before those of large blood vessels.

Under the constant attack of advanced glycation end products, the inner layer of the walls of small blood vessels is destroyed and glycoproteins are deposited inside, making the thickness of the blood vessel walls much thicker than that of ordinary people.

The legs and feet are farther away from the heart, so blood circulation is poorer. When high blood sugar causes the blood vessel lumen to become smaller and the lesions to become more severe, the symptoms of ischemia will be more obvious . Therefore, the legs and feet are more likely to release signals.

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In addition, for diabetic patients, "foot ulceration and necrosis" is a common cause of disability and one of the most costly chronic complications.

In addition to poor blood circulation in the feet, the risk of foot rot is increased due to the heavy loads on the feet, the easy breeding of microorganisms, and the friction caused by inappropriate shoes.

5 signs that your blood sugar is out of control

There are 141 million diabetics in my country, which means that one out of every 10 adults has diabetes.

There are also some people who do not meet the diagnostic criteria for diabetes, but their blood sugar levels are already above the standard without knowing it.

Chronic high blood sugar is like "soaking your internal organs in sugar water". When your legs and feet show the following signs, remember to check your blood sugar level.

1

Wounds that are difficult to heal

High blood sugar will prevent the wound from getting enough nutrition and reduce the skin's self-repair ability. Once skin lesions occur, they are often difficult to heal.

When blood sugar is out of control, painless blisters may also appear. These blisters are more likely to occur on the legs and feet, have thin outer walls, contain serous fluid, and generally disappear on their own within 2 to 6 weeks. Be careful not to scratch them.

2

Itching

Increased blood sugar stimulates the peripheral nerves of the skin, which can cause itching. This itching mainly occurs in the hands and feet, with a "formication" feeling, as if ants are crawling on the skin, which is often more obvious at night.

3

Numbness in legs and feet

Long-term excessive blood sugar levels will cause adverse stimulation to the inner walls of blood vessels, causing "stiffness", hindering normal blood circulation, and causing numbness in the legs and feet.

4

Sugar spots appear

Also known as pretibial plaque, it is characterized by clearly defined brown patches on the front of the calf that are painless and itchy. It is a relatively specific skin lesion of diabetes.

5

Skin cracking

High blood sugar can damage the autonomic nerves, causing the skin to become abnormally dry due to reduced sweating. Long-term excessive blood sugar levels can also cause some body fluids to be lost from the skin, causing skin dehydration and dryness.

The two cores of sugar control: lowering and stabilizing

To control blood sugar, we must not only “lower” blood sugar levels, but also pay attention to keeping blood sugar “stable”.

Because of large fluctuations in blood sugar, complications will occur faster, including large vessel diseases such as myocardial infarction and cerebral infarction, as well as small vessel diseases such as retinal hemorrhage and renal damage.

A simple evaluation method is: subtract the lowest blood sugar value from the highest blood sugar value measured in a day. If the difference is greater than 4.4 mmol/L, it means that today's blood sugar fluctuations are too large.

Of course, the lower the blood sugar level, the better. For adult type 2 diabetics, if their fasting blood sugar level is controlled at 4.4-7 mmol/L and their blood sugar level 2 hours after a meal is controlled below 10 mmol/L, the harm can be greatly reduced.

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The key to controlling blood sugar is persistence. The following methods can help lower and stabilize blood sugar levels.

1

Add whole grains to the staple food

Replacing some refined rice and flour with whole grains can help delay the increase in blood sugar after meals, such as potatoes, corn, yam, brown rice, etc.

2

Eat "hard" instead of "soft"

The finer and softer the food is, the faster the blood sugar rises; foods that are not soft enough and need to be chewed carefully are more conducive to stabilizing blood sugar.

3

Eat slower

Chewing your food slowly and eating for more than 30 minutes will help increase your sense of fullness and avoid large fluctuations in blood sugar after meals.

4

Adjust the order of eating

Eat vegetables and meat first, and then eat staple food when you are almost halfway through the meal. This will allow nutrients to reach the small intestine directly, and give you a sense of fullness, which is beneficial for controlling blood sugar after a meal. However, if you eat staple food first, then vegetables and meat, it is easy to cause blood sugar fluctuations.

5

Eat fruit healthily

For diabetic patients, they need to pay attention to both GI and GL values.

Glycemic index GI: The higher the GI, the faster blood sugar rises, the faster digestion and absorption, and the faster you get hungry.

Glycemic load GL: The higher the GL value, the greater the impact on blood sugar, and the less beneficial it is for diabetics. Common high GI/GL fruits include fresh dates, lychees, grapes, and hawthorns. In comparison, fruits such as apples, pears, and peaches raise blood sugar more slowly.

6

Keep cooking simple

For example, mashed potatoes have a higher glycemic index than simply boiled potatoes; white rice porridge cooked until it blooms is more likely to increase blood sugar than without cooking it until it blooms.

7

Eat breakfast and dinner early

Eating breakfast early can help prevent hypoglycemia, try to eat breakfast before 8 o'clock; don't eat dinner too late, it can help reduce insulin resistance, try to have the last meal before 7 o'clock in the evening.

8

Make exercise a habit

Exercise can not only lower blood sugar, but also improve the body's response to insulin. It is recommended to combine aerobic and resistance exercise.

Planning and production

Source: Life Times (ID: LT0385)

Reviewer: Tang Qin, Director and Researcher of the Science Popularization Department of the Chinese Medical Association

Editor: Wang Mengru

Proofread by Xu Lailinlin