How to monitor your blood sugar and insulin

Tracking your blood sugar used to mean recording your numbers in a notebook or logging them by hand into your computer. Now, you can take your records with you, thanks to apps that let you track them on your smartphone or tablet. The bonus? Many systems also allow you to track meals, exercise, medication and even stress levels, so you can spot patterns sooner — and see whether your lifestyle choices and diabetes drugs are getting the results you want. Read on to learn more.

Some systems let you e-mail results to your healthcare practitioner or download them to a website where your doctor or diabetes educator can review them at your next checkup. Check with your smartphone or tablet manufacturer to see what's available for your device.  In one study, Web-based diabetes management programs helped people lower their blood-sugar levels in just three months!

The easiest-to-use online programs let you transfer readings automatically from your blood-sugar meter to your computer via a cable or a wireless connection. Results are displayed as charts and/or graphs that can help you spot trends over the past day, week, month or year — and share the info with your doctor. Several programs exist, and they work with a variety of meters.

Others link online diabetes management software and meters from the same company.

Wondering how much rapid-acting insulin to take before a meal? Inject your next insulin dose with confidence by tapping a few numbers into an insulin calculator first. These new tools factor in your planned carbohydrate serving intake and whether or not you plan to exercise or drink alcohol, and compute your current blood-sugar status.

There are many ways to monitor your blood sugar levels and insulin. This is key to maintaining a healthy lifestyle for those with diabetes.