Blood Sugar + Your Health

When you hear a practitioner talk about balanced blood sugar, it means that the amount of glucose circulating in the blood is within optimal range—it’s not too high nor too low (both pose problems). When blood sugar is balanced, glucose levels have gentle rises and declines, not spikes and crashes. Blood sugar levels that are constantly up high and then swing down low can lead to anxiety, carb cravings, and irritability.

It is important that blood sugar levels remain in a certain range to maintain life, and to feel healthy and well. When blood sugar is not in range, symptoms start to surface. When blood sugar is out of range for an extended period of time it can lead to chronic health issues.

The biggest things impacting your blood sugar levels include:

DIET

Your diet has an enormous impact on the body’s blood sugar levels. A diet high in processed foods, simple carbohydrates,  and sugar will lead to elevated blood sugar levels. What you put into your body must be processed by the body. If the majority of food that you consume is broken down into glucose, your body will experience a rise in blood glucose levels.

EXERCISE

Moving your body is one of the best things you can do to regulate your blood sugar levels. 

Research has proven that just 30-minutes of moderate activity three times a week can improve blood sugar control and insulin resistance. In fact, muscles that get used can use up to 10x more glucose than non-active muscles. If exercise is not in the cards for you, you can positively impact your blood sugar levels by taking an after dinner walk (added bonuses: fresh air and you’ll support your digestion). 

SLEEP

Lack of sleep or poor quality sleep is directly correlated with overall elevated cortisol levels. It is during sleep that the body enters repair mode and lower cortisol.

Excess cortisol from stress leads to elevated blood sugar levels. Excess cortisol due to lack of or poor quality sleep can contribute to raised blood sugar levels. Studies have found that even a few nights of sleep deprivation can have a negative impact on your body’s ability to process glucose (thus making your more insulin resistant).

STRESS

When your body is in fight-or-flight (stress), it thinks you need energy (read: glucose) to run away from whatever danger your are facing. This means your body increases the blood sugar levels by dumping glucose into the blood. When glucose is dumped into the blood, it temporarily makes both the liver and the muscles insulin resistant.

Simply put, chronic stress can lead to chronically elevated blood sugar levels.

Do you know what your glucose levels are?