Exercise also makes the muscles and other tissues more sensitive to insulin, so you need less of the hormone to move glucose out of the blood. If you exercise regularly, you may be able to eat a little more, or inject a little less insulin, or reduce your dose of oral diabetes medication. Also, by increasing blood flow, exercise speeds up insulin absorption. This can lower blood glucose even hours after you ve stopped being active. It s a good idea to monitor your blood glucose levels for several hours after exercise.
Alcohol lowers blood glucose levels.
Normally, when blood glucose levels drop too low, the liver converts stored glycogen into glucose. But alcohol interferes with this process, and may considerably lower glucose levels fairly suddenly. In some women, cyclic changes in blood levels of estrogen and progesterone wreak havoc on blood glucose around the time of menstruation. One survey of 400 women showed that nearly 70 percent had problems controlling their levels within a week before their periods. Depending on the individual, sometimes blood glucose may rise too high, or fall too low.