Altering our body’s sugar profile directly (such as by improving our diet or doing more exercise) is a key first step in improving diabetic health. But we can boost the impact of these changes on our health by altering how our body responds when we do eat sugar.

First, we can encourage our gut to absorb less sugar from the food we eat, and our liver to produce less new sugar, helping to reduce our blood sugar levels directly. (1)

But we will always have some sugar in our blood, which is where insulin comes in. Insulin is the key hormone which regulates your blood sugar. It is our body’s natural weapon in the battle against high blood sugar – but over time, sustained high blood sugar levels lead to us building up tolerance to insulin, so it becomes less effective in regulating our blood sugar. This is called insulin resistance and leads to high blood sugar levels.

A key way of treating high blood sugar is therefore to focus on restoring the body’s response to insulin by reducing insulin resistance. (2) Carrying too much fat can also contribute to insulin resistance, which is why losing weight is another key way to support healthier blood sugar levels. (3)

Reflecting this, the two most common drugs precsribed for controlling high blood sugar levels are:

1. Metformin, which helps to improve your blood sugar responses and reduce insulin resistance.
2. Semaglutide (Ozempic), which repairs our metabolism and supports weight loss.