Why Blood sugar level is high in the morning on an empty stomach? and what to do?

Have you ever noticed that during a blood test in the morning on an empty stomach, your blood sugar is high? 

Normally this blood glucose level increases after a meal during digestion. So why is it on the rise when you wake up, after such a long period of fasting?

This high blood sugar level in the morning on an empty stomach can be a sign of diabetes or prediabetes. This is due to the phenomenon of dawn, coupled with insulin resistance.

The temperature of our body, our vigilance, our fatigue... And our hormones vary with time. While we sleep around 4 a.m., we secrete growth hormone, cortisol, glucagon and adrenaline. These hormones raise blood sugar by releasing glucose into the blood. This phenomenon is called the phenomenon of Dawn. The secretion of these hormones decreases around 8 a.m.

This means that everyone is prone to the phenomenon of dawn, and releases glucose into the blood during the night. Not just diabetics or prediabetics.

So how can we explain the high blood sugar in the morning on an empty stomach for some, while others get up with normal values?

There is a glycemic homeostat. That means, our body regulates its blood glucose levels constantly in order to stay within a certain healthy range.

During prolonged fasting, the body secretes hormones that instruct the liver to release stored glucose or create it to raise blood sugar. In the morning, the body reacts to this rise in blood sugar by secreting insulin. Insulin asks the liver to stop releasing glucose and other organs to use or store this blood glucose, which lowers blood sugar.

 Why blood sugar is high in the morning on an empty stomach in for people?

This rise in blood sugar in the morning is due to insulin resistance. This is an important feature of diabetes. The more resistant we are, the more effective insulin becomes. Glycemic homeostat is then compromised because the body has the ability to increase its blood sugar if necessary (which it does during the dawn phenomenon), but it has trouble lowering it so that when the phenomenon of dawn occurs, the liver releases glucose because of the ineffectiveness of insulin, blood sugar remains high in the morning on an empty stomach

Is it normal to see your blood sugar high in the morning on an empty stomach?

Unfortunately, this abnormality detected during the blood test is the result of insulin resistance and therefore a potential type 2 diabetes (or prediabetes). However, it is important to understand where this glucose that accumulates in the blood comes from and why it is there. Insulin resistance is the result of excess glucose stored as fat or glycogen in adipose tissue (fat), muscles and liver mainly. Concretely, these organs are full to bursting!

When we eat too much compared to our expense, we fill them constantly until we reach this stage of too much. They then resist insulin and refuse to accept the glucose sent to them, which stagnates in the circulation: blood sugar rises.

Lorsqu’on mange trop par rapport à notre dépense, on les rempli constamment jusqu’à atteindre ce stade de trop plein. Ils font alors de la résistance face à l’insuline et refusent d’accueillir le glucose qu’on leur envoie, qui stagne dans la circulation: la glycémie augmente.

Hyperglycemia can occur in two situations.

- Situation 1: a meal with many calories and especially carbohydrates. During the digestion of glucose is released into the blood and can lead to hyperglycemia. This situation strengthens insulin resistance and causes diabetes to develop because it continues to accumulate.

-situation 2: prolonged fasting or the phenomenon of dawn. However, this time the blood glucose comes from the organs: we get rid of the too full! This has the effect of lowering insulin resistance and thus, regressing diabetes.

But as we have seen, high blood sugar in the morning on an empty stomach is the result of the release of glucose in the liver. We are in the opposite process, we do not accumulate, we get rid of!

This hyperglycemia is therefore healthy and rather positive.

What to do to avoid hyperglycemia when you wake up?

Rushing to a drug would only cancel the destocking process which would be a shame. Above all, it would mask the problem without solving it.

The only way to avoid fasting hyperglycemia is to adopt hygienic-dietary measures. The goal is to reduce insulin resistance little by little, by emptying stocks day by day.

1- Get enough sleep, aim for at least 7 to 8 hours a night.

2- Reduce your carbohydrate and sugar intake during the day, even more so in the evening.

3- Reduce your daily calorie intake.

In the morning:

1- Drink a large glass of water

2- Walk or practice a physical activity (gardening, cycling ...) of at least 10 minutes.

3-With your blood sugar already high, limit carbohydrates at breakfast that could cause it to rise further.