High blood sugar levels are harmful. For people living with diabetes, high blood sugar is especially dangerous and damaging to nerves and blood vessels. However, high blood sugar has a negative effect on everyone’s overall wellness. And, it can limit our body’s ability to heal.
The first signs of high blood sugar include a headache, sleepiness or difficulty concentrating. For most people, these symptoms go away as our bodies naturally regulate the amount of sugar in our blood. For people living with diabetes, their body isn’t able to regulate blood sugars as well so medications may need to be added to help control the amount of sugar in the blood. In both cases, wound healing stops while blood sugar levels are at 200 or higher. This is because high blood sugar reduces the amount of oxygen and nutrients in our blood, reducing our ability to heal wounds.
It’s important to eat a well-balanced diet that is low in sugar to help your body heal. People who are living with a chronic wound need extra calories, protein and Vitamins A and C. Your doctor may have prescribed a special diet for you. If so, follow their recommendations to ensure you are getting the right nutrition.
There are many websites that offer free low-sugar and sugar-free recipes. One of our favorites is DiabetesFoodHub.org, from the American Diabetes Association. That’s where we found this low-sugar cookie recipe.
Ingredients:
Directions:
Nutritional Information:
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 30
Serving Size: 1 cookie
Amount per Serving
Calories: 55
Total Fat: 2g
Saturated Fat: 0.5g
Cholesterol: less than 5mg
Sodium: 30mg
Total Carbohydrate: 8g
Dietary Fiber: 1g
Protein: 1g
You can find more information to help improve your overall health and wellbeing at our 2021 The Year of Healing webpage.