Vinegar is another approach that has some good theory going for it and works for some people. Vinegar and other acidic foods can reduce blood glucose, as I have written in “Acidic Foods: Another Way to Control Blood Glucose” .

Pure vinegar is a bit strong. So a correspondent, Renee, uses tablets of vinegar at bedtime to control the dawn phenomenon. Recently she wrote that for best results she uses five to six tablets. Earlier I tested this approach with two tablets at bedtime and got mixed results, as I wrote in the September 2005 issue of my “Diabetes Update” newsletter.

I haven’t started taking the larger dose of vinegar tablets at bedtime, but I will soon. As John Walsh and Ruth Roberts point out, the morning reading is the most important one of the day. A typical complaint, they say, is “If I wake up high, my whole day is shot!” I don’t need that and you don’t either.

Check out a similar post from Dr. Bill Quick entitled, "High at Dawn."

Read more about the dawn phenomenon on the Mayo Clinic website by clicking here.