By Kathy Sinkin, RN, CDE
People often ask, “If my glucose meter has a memory that records all my blood sugar values, why should I keep a blood sugar log?” Blood sugar testing and tracking your numbers provide useful information for managing your diabetes. This helps you see changes in your blood sugar levels to better understand how what you eat, exercise, and stress affect your blood sugar.
Certain foods can spike your blood sugar. Testing before and two hours after a meal can alert you to any foods that may cause your blood sugar to rise too high. You might try to avoid or limit those foods. Exercise usually helps to lower blood sugar, and stress usually makes your blood sugar rise. Testing your blood sugar will also help to determine if the diabetes medicine you take is effective. Some diabetes medications may cause you to have a lower than normal blood sugar level, and logging that with other information (such as timing of meals or snacks) can be helpful in avoiding such episodes. Some insurance companies require blood sugar records in order to get monthly supplies of test strips.
Whatever the reason, testing and logging your blood sugar values can help you make daily changes to your lifestyle, and help you to achieve the best possible care in managing your diabetes.
Kathy Sinkin is a Registered Nurse and Certified Diabetes Educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County’s Family Health and Wellness Program. She can be reached at kas239@cornell.edu