How to lower blood sugar quickly at home

A person with diabetes can use various techniques to lower high blood sugar levels and reduce their risk of complications.

1. Monitor blood sugar levels closely

High blood sugar typically refers to levels over 180 mg/dl. However, a person often does not experience symptoms until the levels exceed 200 mg/dl. As such, it is essential for a person with diabetes to check their blood sugar several times a day. Doing so should mean that blood sugar levels never get excessively high.

A person with diabetes can use an at-home glucose monitor to check their blood sugar levels. One option is a continuous glucose monitor, which is a medical device that easily enables a person to check their blood sugar levels.

The recommended number of times to check glucose levels during the day will vary from person to person. A doctor can make the best recommendations regarding the frequency of testing.

2. Reduce carbohydrate intake

A low carb diet is one that limits the amount of carbohydrate a person consumes. Carbs raise blood glucose more than other foods, and evidence suggests that a low carb dietary pattern may help a person stabilize and manage their blood sugars.

However, this type of eating pattern may not be suitable for everyone. Therefore, before reducing their carbohydrate intake, a person may wish to consult a healthcare professional or a dietitian.

Learn more about a low carb diet for diabetes.

3. Eat the right carbohydrates

There are three main types of carbs:

Sugars and starches raise blood sugar levels, but fiber does not cause a blood sugar spike, as the body is unable to absorb and break down this type of carb. As such, people may consider including carbs that are richer in fiber in their diet.

People may also refer to sugars and starches as simple and complex carbs. Simple carbs primarily consist of one type of sugar. The body breaks these carbohydrates down very quickly, which causes blood sugar to rise rapidly. Complex carbohydrates consist of three or more sugars that are linked together. They result in a more gradual release of sugar into the body, meaning that blood sugar levels do not rise rapidly after a person eats them.

Some people may use the glycemic index (GI) to help them monitor how much sugar and carbohydrate they eat, which will, in turn, help them manage their blood sugar levels. The GI measures and ranks various foods by how much they cause blood sugar levels to rise.

Low GI foods describe those that score 55 or lower on the index. These foods include:

• sweet potatoes
• quinoa
• legumes
• low fat milk
• leafy greens
• nonstarchy vegetables
• nuts and seeds
• meat
• fish

4. Maintain a moderate weight

Reaching a moderate weight can help a person better manage their diabetes. The ideal weight range for a person varies among individuals, but a doctor can help provide guidance.

Evidence notes a link between obesity and type 2 diabetes. Research also highlights the relationship between obesity and insulin resistance. Insulin is the hormone that is responsible for allowing glucose in the blood to enter cells. Losing 5–10% of body weight can help those with excess weight improve their blood sugar levels.

5. Control portion size

At most meals, a person should follow portion guidelines. Eating a suitable portion size can make it easier to manage weight and control blood sugar levels. Many factors, such as weight, body composition, and activity levels, play a role in determining the ideal portion sizes. A doctor or dietitian can offer more specific advice on appropriate portion sizes for a person.

6. Exercise regularly

Exercise has many health benefits and can help a person manage their blood sugar levels. Notably, exercise can help by increasing insulin sensitivity, allowing muscle cells to use the hormone more effectively to take up glucose and use it for energy. This can help lower blood sugar in the short term. In the long term, regular exercise can help lower a person’s A1C test result.

7. Hydrate

Proper hydration is crucial for health, and it can help a person control their blood sugar levels. Dehydration is the term for the body having less water than it requires. It can cause blood sugar levels to spike, as less water in the body means that there is a higher concentration of sugar in the blood. Therefore, taking on more fluids can help lower blood sugar.

However, it is important to hydrate with water, as other beverages — such as fruit juices and sodas — can cause blood glucose to increase further.

8. Try herbal extracts

Some people may consider using herbal supplements to help control their blood sugar. Although some research suggests that they may have a positive effect, more evidence is necessary to support these claims. Additionally, some herbs can interact with other medications and result in side effects. As such, a person should discuss any supplements with a doctor before taking them.

Some supplements that may help include:

• certain teas
• ashwagandha
• ginseng
• fenugreek
• turmeric
• bitter melon
• cinnamon

9. Manage stress

Stress has a significant effect on blood sugar levels. The body releases stress hormones when it is under tension, such as when a person is ill or experiencing emotional stress, and these hormones can raise blood sugar levels.

Evidence notes that managing stress through exercise and allowing time for rest and relaxation can help lower blood sugar levels.

10. Get enough sleep

Getting adequate sleep can help with diabetes management. Evidence indicates that most adults should aim for 7 or more hours of sleep per night.

Insufficient sleep can have various effects on the body, including:

• increasing insulin resistance
• increasing hunger
• causing cravings for foods high in carbs and sugar
• making it more difficult to maintain a moderate weight
• raising blood pressure
• impairing the ability of the immune system to fight infection
• increasing the risk of depression and anxiety

Multiple factors, such as dietary patterns, health, and medications, can influence a person’s blood sugar levels. A person can seek a doctor’s advice on the best strategies to manage their blood glucose. As an individual’s blood sugars can fluctuate and go down quickly, it is important to monitor them closely.

Typically, medications such as insulin can help reduce blood sugars quickly. Different types of insulin exist, and each type has a different onset and duration — meaning how long it takes to work and how long the effects last, respectively.

For example, rapid-acting insulin typically begins to work within about 15 minutes, has the strongest effect in approximately an hour, and lasts for a few hours.

Other methods, such as exercise, can help lower blood sugars for up to about 24 hours by making the body more sensitive to insulin. Generally, it is advisable to exercise 1–3 hours after eating, as this is likely when blood sugar levels will be highest. However, it is important to check these levels before exercising and to check them regularly, particularly after any grueling activity.

If a person takes insulin, their risk of experiencing hypoglycemia may be highest 6–12 hours after exercising. Additionally, it is worth noting that health experts advise caution if exercising with high blood sugars, as physical activity may cause them to rise even higher.

Managing blood sugar levels to prevent hyperglycemia is vital to avoid serious complications from diabetes. A range of lifestyle interventions can help a person lower their blood sugar levels and keep them within the target range. A person can work with their diabetes healthcare team to plan strategies and targets.

Everyone living with diabetes is bound to experience high blood sugars (hyperglycemia) sometimes. There are simply too many variables out of our control to prevent high blood sugars from ever happening.

But the best thing we can do when blood sugar spikes happen is to help them come down into a normal range as quickly as possible.

Here are four things you can do to bring a high blood glucose level down quickly.

For people with diabetes who take insulin, insulin will always play a major role in how you correct a high blood sugar. There are several things to keep in mind when you use insulin to correct a high blood sugar.

First, check your ketones

If you live with insulin-dependent diabetes, high blood sugars can put you at risk of developing ketones. Blood sugar levels over 250 mg/dL with too little insulin can quickly turn into diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) if it continues to rise.

Test your urine for ketones, and contact your doctor or visit an urgent care facility if you measure with “moderate to large” ketones.

When large ketones are present, correcting a high blood sugar with insulin via pump or injection won’t be effective. Instead, you’ll likely need intravenous fluids for a few hours to restabilize.

If you only have moderate ketones or less, you may be able to correct with insulin at home but you’ll likely need a larger dose than normal. Contact your healthcare team if you test positive for ketones and are unsure of how to safely manage the situation.

You can learn more in our guide: What Levels of Blood Sugar are Dangerous

Take a correction insulin dose

For those who take fast or rapid-acting insulin — Novolog, Humalog, Apidra, Fiasp, Admelog, Afrezza — you can take a “correction” dose to bring a high blood sugar down.

A “correction factor” is determined with support from your healthcare team. This number tells you how much 1 unit of fast or rapid-acting insulin will lower your blood sugar. For example, a correction factor of 1:50 means that 1 unit of insulin will lower your blood sugar by 50 points.

It’s important to keep in mind how much insulin you may already have on board in your bloodstream before taking an additional dose of insulin.

Most fast and rapid-acting insulin stays in your system for approximately 3 to 4 hours, which means taking an additional dose of insulin to correct a high could lead to a severe low blood sugar if you already have a significant amount of insulin from your most recent dose still in your bloodstream.

Also, remember to give that correction dose of insulin at least two hours to make an impact on your blood sugar before getting frustrated and taking another injection. You won’t see a significant improvement in your blood sugar until it’s been in your system for at least 1 to 2 hours (unless you use ultra-fast insulins like Afrezza).

Take an “intra-muscular” injection

Insulin was designed to be injected into body fat, but if your blood sugar is high, injecting that “correction dose” of insulin into muscle can help.

When you inject insulin into muscle, it’s absorbed more quickly. This is not something you should do on a daily basis — it will likely leave bruising and again, is not how insulin is supposed to be taken for your everyday insulin needs. But for those severe highs (blood sugar reading over 250 mg/dL), it could be a useful option.

Discuss “intra-muscular” injections with your healthcare team before adding them to your diabetes management regimen.

Consider using inhaled insulin

Afrezza is a rapid-acting inhaled insulin that some people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes find to be very useful for treating high blood sugar levels.

Inhaled insulin is as effective at lowering blood sugar levels as regular insulin but works a lot quicker.

It is probably not going to replace all of your insulin needs, but many are using it in addition to their normal insulin via syringe, pen, or insulin pump because of how quickly it starts working in your bloodstream.

It’s fairly easy to use but the results and experience of using it can differ from person to person.

Ask your healthcare team for more information about Afrezza.

Beware of low blood sugars

Remember, above all else, it’s very easy to over-treat a high blood sugar with insulin and wind up low. Then you’ll be tempted to binge-eat and wind up high again. This blood sugar roller coaster is exhausting — and dangerous, too.

Frequently finding yourself on the blood sugar roller coaster means your approach to taking insulin and/or how you treat low blood sugars isn’t working and needs some fine-tuning. Work with your healthcare team to reduce and prevent these wild swings to ensure your overall safety and quality of life!

Take any missed medications

Your doctor may have prescribed other medications to help keep your blood sugar in a normal range. Check that you haven’t missed a dose.

If you have missed a dose, take it as soon as possible, as long as you don’t “double up” on your medication. This means that if your missed dose was several hours ago and your next scheduled dose is in 1 hour, you shouldn’t take both doses so close together.

Taking two doses on top of each other can cause adverse reactions with some drugs. Instead, just take your next scheduled dose now.

If in doubt, consult the guide on the packaging of the medication or contact your medical team.

Other things you can do

Even if you don’t take insulin, there are several things you can do to bring a high blood sugar down to a healthier range more quickly. Let’s take a look.

Exercise (even just 10 or 15 minutes)

Physical activity can be a very effective method of reducing a high blood sugar.

If you don’t take insulin, exercise can be a very simple approach to reducing high blood sugar levels. Even just a 15-minute walk can have a big impact on your blood sugar.

If you do take insulin, it’s important to know that exercising when your blood sugar is above 250 mg/dL and without enough insulin in your system can actually result cause your blood sugar to rise further and put you at risk of developing ketones.

If you already test positive for ketones using a urine strip, you should not try to lower your blood sugar by exercising. This will only increase your ketone level and put more stress on your body.

First, you’ll need a correction dose of insulin but if you plan to exercise, too, you’ll likely be advised by your healthcare team to reduce the correction dose by 50 to 75 percent to prevent a subsequent low blood sugar.

Drink some water!

Dehydration can cause high blood sugars, which means getting hydrated can help prevent and reduce high blood sugars.

Your blood consists partly of water. When you don’t drink enough water throughout the day, the other things in your blood (like glucose) become more concentrated! And thus, higher blood sugar levels.

You know that uncomfortable thirst you feel when your blood sugars are high? Give in to it. This is how your body helps flush excess sugar out through your urine, and how you replenish the necessary fluid balance in your bloodstream.

Can oral medications help bring down high blood sugar?

While any oral medications you take to help manage your diabetes (like Metformin) do improve your blood sugar levels, they are not something you would take an “extra dose” off to correct an occasional high blood sugar level.

However, if you realize that you forgot to take your dose of a daily medication, this should be part of the process of bringing your high blood sugar down.

Some medications can be taken late, and some medications may need to wait until your next normally scheduled dose. Contact your healthcare team to determine if the diabetes medication you take can be taken late after missing your usual dose.

If you have been skipping this medication altogether — for days or weeks — it’s very likely a significant contributor to the reason your blood sugar is high. These medications are designed to improve your blood sugar levels in a variety of different ways.

Talk to your healthcare team to better understand the medications you’ve been prescribed and the issues you’re having in taking them as directed.

When to go to the ER

If you have type 1 diabetes, blood sugar levels over 250 mg/dL accompanied by large ketones and/or symptoms of DKA is a medical emergency and will likely require a trip to the ER for intravenous fluids.

Let’s take a look at the symptoms of ketosis based on how high your ketone levels are.

Small to moderate ketones (ketone levels between 10 to 20 mg/dL):

• Increased thirst
• Frequent urination
• Lack of energy
• Craving sugar

Large ketones / DKA (ketone levels over 20 mg/dL):

• Severe nausea & vomiting
• Severe thirst
• Frequent urination
• Severe fatigue
• Blood sugar levels that won’t budge
• Craving sugar
• Rotten-fruit smelling breath

If you are puking from a stomach bug, along with high blood sugar levels, you should absolutely go to the ER.

Preventing high blood sugars

Everyone with diabetes experiences high blood sugars sometimes — there are simply too many variables in the human body out of your control to prevent them altogether.

That being said, there are a few blood sugar management guidelines we can all follow to minimize the frequency of high blood sugars:

• Avoid full-sugar beverages including soda, juice, coffee drinks, iced tea, etc.
• Choose your carbohydrates carefully — starchy carbs from pasta, candy, bread, desserts, etc. will spike your blood sugar the most
• Take your medications as prescribed — and contact your healthcare team if you miss a dose to determine if you can take it late
• Exercise daily — even a 20-minute walk makes a big difference on a daily basis
• Drink plenty of water to prevent dehydration

And of course, if you’re experiencing high blood sugars are a daily basis and you’re unsure of the cause, talk to your healthcare team about making adjustments in your diabetes management regimen. A slight increase in your medications can have a big impact!

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take for blood sugar to go down?

It depends on what you are doing to get it down. Rapid-acting insulins such as Afrezza will start to bring your blood sugar down in as little as 15 minutes while it takes about an hour for regular insulins to start lowering your blood sugar.
Oral diabetes medications take several hours or even longer to start working, which is why they are poor choices to treat urgent high blood sugars.

What foods can lower blood sugar quickly?

There are no foods that will lower your blood sugar. If you have to eat while your blood sugar is high, choose small amounts of protein or fat. Avoid carbohydrates like bread, pasta, or fruit that will increase your blood sugar even further.