Managing blood sugar can be challenging when busy schedules, physical limitations or health conditions prevent regular exercise. Although physical activity helps the body use glucose efficiently, it is only one part of the picture. Balanced nutrition, quality sleep, stress management and appropriate medication also play important roles in maintaining healthy blood sugar levels. The good news? A few simple changes to your daily routine can help you take control of your health.
Build a Balanced Plate
When exercise is limited, paying attention to food choices and portion sizes becomes particularly important. Instead of eliminating carbohydrates completely, choose fibre-rich options such as whole grains, vegetables, beans and lentils. A simple strategy is to fill half your plate with non-starchy vegetables, one-quarter with protein sources such as eggs, dal, tofu or lean meat, and the remaining quarter with carbohydrates such as whole-wheat roti or rice. Fibre can slow digestion and help manage post-meal glucose levels. Including protein in meals may also keep you feeling fuller for longer.
Rethink Sugary Drinks and Snacks
Sugary beverages, packaged juices, sweets and refined snacks can contribute to sudden increases in blood glucose. Choose water, unsweetened tea or other drinks without added sugar more often. Replace frequent snacking on biscuits or sweets with options such as nuts in modest portions, roasted chickpeas or plain yoghurt. Choose whole fruit instead of fruit juice to benefit from its fibre. You don’t need to eliminate every favourite food. Moderation and consistency matter more than perfection.
Move Whenever Possible
If your health permits, small amounts of movement throughout the day can help muscles use glucose. Stand up regularly during long working hours, take short walks around your home or office, or try gentle seated movements if walking is difficult.
Even brief activity may be helpful. However, consult a healthcare professional about safe alternatives if pain, disability or another medical condition limits movement.
Prioritise Sleep and Stress Management
Poor sleep and prolonged stress can affect hormones involved in blood sugar regulation. Aim for seven to nine hours of sleep each night and maintain a consistent bedtime. Simple practices such as slow breathing, meditation, relaxing hobbies and short breaks from work can also help manage stress.
Monitor Glucose and Follow Your Treatment Plan
Monitoring blood sugar as recommended can help you understand how meals, sleep and daily habits affect your readings. Take prescribed medication consistently, and never change doses without medical advice.
If you use insulin or certain diabetes medicines, speak to your healthcare professional about managing blood sugar safely when your routine changes.
Junk food rewires children’s brains, study finds
A new study has given the most direct evidence yet that ultra-processed foods (UPFs) change how children’s brains respond to food, and that this change helps drive weight gain.
It comes as the Supreme Court weighs warning labels on junk food, and as nutrition policy experts say the government has not acted on a proposal to restrict advertising of these products to children. Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the latest study was led by researchers at the University of Southern California and Kaiser Permanente. It followed 46 healthy-weight children, with a mean age of 8.7 years, and used functional MRI to measure how their brains reacted to food cues.
Children who ate more UPFs, foods that are made industrially with typically high sugar, salt and fat, have little nutrient value and contained one or more additives, showed stronger responses in the dorsal striatum, the brain region linked to habit formation and reward-seeking.
A stronger response predicted a rise in body mass index (BMI) and body fat percentage over the following year. When the researchers accounted for this brain response, the link between UPF intake and weight gain weakened, which suggests it is a key pathway.
The authors say added sugar alone is unlikely to explain the effect. Experimental work indicates that the fat-and-carbohydrate combinations typical of UPFs trigger more reward signalling than either does alone.
“This study moves the debate from obesity to addiction,” said Dr Arun Gupta, convenor of the Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest (NAPI) and co-author of the 2025 Lancet Series on Ultra-Processed Foods.
UPFs, he said, “are not just making children fat,” they are “changing the way their brains respond to food.” The finding adds to a growing body of research showing the health toll of UPFs. A BMJ meta-analysis of 8.8 million adults linked UPF consumption to a 24 per cent higher risk of cardiovascular events, 12 per cent higher cancer risk and 18 per cent higher all-cause mortality.
A BMC Medicine study of 4,000 children found that UPF intake at age 3 predicted greater weight gain by age 10-11. In India, the Indian Medical Council Research (ICMR)- INDIAB study found that one in four Indians is diabetic, pre-diabetic or obese, and attributed 56.4 per cent of the disease burden to unhealthy diets.
The Supreme Court is hearing a PIL by 3S and Our Health Society seeking mandatory front-of-pack warning labels on foods high in sugar, salt and saturated fat. In February, it asked the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to consider such labels.
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