Feel like you are always running around, stressed, and trying to just stay in control? Are you constantly tired, snap at others easily, and run out of patience often? Did you know these feelings and symptoms can all be related to your blood sugar?
Blood sugar regulation is one of the foundations of health I work on with my clients. In case you were wondering, the other foundations include a nutrient-dense diet, digestion, hydration, minerals, fatty acids, sleep, and stress management. I find that MANY of my client's symptoms and complaints are quelled when we work on blood sugar regulation. Dysregulated blood sugar in the form of insulin resistance and pre-diabetes is one of the most common things I see when I review my client’s blood work from a functional lens.
Functional ranges for lab markers are different than what you see on your lab reports and what your doctors are using. Conventional lab ranges are based on statistics and averages for our general population (which happens to be pretty sick). These ranges are designed to help catch major issues and diagnose disease once a problem is already there and are not designed to optimize our health outcomes. When your doctor says your labs are normal or fine, this doesn’t mean your labs are optimal at all.
Oftentimes clients will tell me they don’t feel like their blood sugar is dysregulated, but they are coming to me with symptoms like fatigue, sleep issues, shaky or irritability between meals, mood, and energy issues. These can all be symptoms of blood sugar issues and while your blood sugar markers may be “in range” via conventional standards, you may be headed in a problematic direction. Working on your blood sugar, and focusing on habits to support it now, before it becomes a problem that is hard to come back from will serve you so much better in the long run. Read on to learn more about this topic and what you can do to support your own and find your healthy balance again.
So what is blood sugar?
Blood sugar or glucose is created when the body breaks down carbohydrates and sometimes protein too. The hormone insulin is released by the pancreas into the bloodstream to regulate the glucose and transfer it to our cells for energy, but the more processed and refined carbohydrates we consume, the more insulin is needed to transport the glucose into our bloodstream and cells. The pancreas ends up working harder, causing stress to the body over time, and eventually, the pancreas can become worn out and produce lower quality and/or less quantities of insulin. When this happens, glucose no longer gets into the cells where it is needed, staying in the blood and creating chronically high blood sugar or insulin resistance and eventually diabetes.
How does blood sugar work?
The brain is the first organ involved in blood sugar balance. It coordinates with the adrenal gland (which governs our stress hormones like cortisol) to maintain homeostasis or balance in the body, monitoring blood sugar and signaling when it gets too high or too low. The pancreas is the organ that produces insulin and another hormone, glucagon which does the opposite of insulin, letting glucose out of our cells when it is needed. The liver plays a key role in the whole process as it stores excess glucose for later use and also coordinates messages that impact the interaction and hormone releases by both the adrenals and the pancreas.
The goal isn’t to necessarily have completely stable blood sugar all the time where there is never a release of insulin or glucagon and we just stay in homeostasis, it is ok for our blood sugar to have some ups and downs based on our stress levels and what we are eating. This is normal. It is when the peaks and valleys get too big over long periods of time that the organs involved begin to tire out and the dysregulation becomes problematic.
Why does balanced blood sugar matter?
Consistent high blood sugar wreaks havoc on the body. You can feel tired all the time, have brain fog, low focus and concentration, feelings of anxiety, and more. It can affect your vision, kidney health, circulation to the feet and legs as well as your brain. Long-term the other hormone involved in blood sugar regulation like the pancreas and adrenals can be impacted too and lead to type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and sex hormone imbalances.
What are the symptoms of blood sugar imbalances?
Here are some common signs of dysregulated blood sugar:
You get “hangry” when you don’t eat regularly
You are constantly hungry
You are often moody or irritable without reason
You crave sweets, especially after meals and in the afternoon
You have a hard time focusing on tasks
You often feel tired but wired
You have energy crashes where you begin to sweat and your heart rate goes up
You have to pee pretty often
You get headaches or shaky when you go too long between meals
You wake up between 1 and 3 am fairly regularly
You’ve got hormonal issues like estrogen dominance or PCOS
You are struggling with fertility
You’ve tried to lose weight, but haven’t been successful
You’ve got painful periods
You feel like you are addicted to sugar
How does blood sugar get imbalanced?
Blood sugar becomes a problem often as a result of chronic stress, but it can also cause stress to the body. Believe it or not, blood sugar dysregulation isn’t just about the food we eat – it’s about stress too. Dysregulated blood sugar both causes stress and is impacted by stress. A diet high in refined, processed foods will cause dysregulation – a situation that causes a stress response. But, the opposite is also true - when we experience something stressful. During stressful situations - physical or emotional cortisol will be prioritized over insulin, which may naturally increase your blood sugar as it is not getting into the cells. The body prioritizes cortisol because it wants our body to use glucose immediately for fuel to prepare us for whatever stressor is coming our way. Unfortunately over time if we have sustained stress in our lives our bodies can’t keep up and higher blood glucose levels result so that we have it readily available for fuel to fight off stressors. Once insulin-resistant, chronic stress can continue to promote it further by sending signals to our ovaries to produce more testosterone which leads to other hormonal issues.
What can I do to improve my blood sugar and get it balanced?
The good news is, there are a lot of habits we can incorporate to improve our blood sugar regulation that doesn’t really take a lot of work, time, or money. That being said, it isn’t always easy - you still have to put in the work and be consistent about it.
Aim to eat consistent and balanced meals. Eating a meal every 3-4 hours and within an hour of waking up in the morning and making sure they include all three macronutrients (carbs, fat, and protein) will help to keep your blood sugar more stable throughout the day. Make sure to include plenty of whole-food carbohydrates, healthy proteins, and fats in each meal to help stabilize blood sugar levels throughout the day. If you are a snacker, that is ok, but make sure you are eating balanced snacks as well.
Start savory in the mornings. When you start your day with a high-sugar smoothie, a pastry, or some pancakes and maple syrup, your meal may taste delicious but will spike your blood sugar and contribute to a roller coaster of energy and mood that will continue all day long. It’s definitely ok to eat these yummy foods for breakfast on occasion, but consume these foods for breakfast on the regular and you may feel some of the symptoms I listed above. Ideally, we are more even-keeled and avoid jumping on the blood sugar roller coaster in the first place by eating a balanced breakfast of all three macronutrient ratios. Read this post for more details and some ideas for easy, balanced breakfasts.
Eat a wide variety of foods. A wide array of foods, especially high-quality proteins, fruits, and vegetables, supplies many of the micronutrients needed for balanced blood sugar. Specifically, look for foods high in chromium like chicken and turkey breast, mussels, grapes, brazil nuts, legumes, broccoli, and dark leafy greens. Foods are high in B vitamins like salmon, liver, and other organ meats, eggs, beef, shellfish, yogurt, sunflower seeds, and nutritional and brewer’s yeast are also great for blood sugar support.
Work on managing your stress. Find ways to manage your stress daily whether that be through meditation, exercise, journaling or simply taking out time just for yourself each day. One of my favorite ways to get into a relaxed state is to lie with my legs up to the wall for about 5 minutes. If you’ve got limited time, don’t discount just taking a few deep breaths. I also really love the Insight Timer app for its variety of meditation types, session times, and teachers. You could also try an orienting exercise or an NDSR meditation.
Get moving after meals. Movement can really help to reduce stress and anxiety. Even if you can’t get to the gym every day, 20 to 30 minutes of walking outside can provide you with immense physical and mental benefits. A 10-minute walk directly following a meal is very supportive of stable blood sugar. The more we exert ourselves, the more energy our muscles need, and the way they get that energy is by uptaking glucose into them. So when you walk after a meal, your body is more efficiently taking in the glucose and converting it to energy.
All of these strategies are really great, but sometimes there is something else that is stressing the body and contributing to blood sugar regulation that is harder to see and isn’t always so easy to figure out on your own. This is where I come in! I work with my clients all the time to see WHAT is stressing the body - it can be chronic infections, toxins, deeper emotional work, mold, poor drainage/detox, low vagal tone, dental infection, structural issues and more. If you want to begin your journey of getting to the root cause of why you don’t feel well and struggle with your blood sugar, set up a FREE initial consult today. I can help you!