Balance Your Blood Sugar

Why is blood sugar balancing important?

At any one time, the ideal amount of glucose to have in the blood is about 2 teaspoons.

When you eat starchy/sugary foods or drink alcohol, they are broken down in the body into a sugar called glucose.

This is carried around in the bloodstream and taken to cells for energy production.

The level of glucose in the blood is carefully controlled by the hormone called insulin.

After we eat, the amount of glucose in the blood rises. Insulin is released to bring blood glucose levels back to 'normal' levels.

However, if the blood sugar rises too rapidly, the body can end up releasing too much insulin.

This causes the blood sugar to swing too low making us feel tired and hungry again.

This is sometimes referred to as the blood sugar rollercoaster.

Your blood sugar levels can impact your energy, concentration, ability to lose weight, mood, and much more.

Symptoms associated with blood sugar imbalance can be irritability, mood swings, fat storage, brain fog, insomnia, cravings (especially for sweet foods), addictions to caffeine-containing drinks, drowsiness during the day, excessive sweating, and difficulty losing weight.

If your blood sugar is imbalanced too frequently for a prolonged period of time, the body cells can become insensitive to insulin leading to a condition called insulin resistance.

This can eventually lead to type 2 diabetes.

How can we improve blood sugar levels with food and lifestyle?

• Don't skip meals, especially breakfast. Skipping meals can lead to blood sugar to drop and lead to sugar cravings. Great options for breakfast are soaked oats with berries, omelets with rye bread, chia pudding etc.

• Limit or avoid refined carbohydrates and added sugars eg. white rice, bread, and pasta, and opt for wholemeal instead. These are too quickly broken down providing a fast release of glucose into the blood followed by a crash.

• Avoid stimulants such as coffee, tea, and fizzy drinks. Caffeine may increase your metabolism and may cause rapid fluctuations in blood sugar. Fizzy drinks are pure sugar and may cause a dramatic spike and subsequently fall in blood sugar.

• Avoid high glycaemic foods such as commercially produced cakes, biscuits, and energy bars.

• Avoid alcohol. Alcohol contains its own sugar making it high in "empty" calories. It can disrupt blood sugar balance and may lead to sugar cravings, increase appetite, and overeating.

• Avoid artificial sweeteners. They can trick your body into expecting sugar and therefore, still release insulin.

• Eat complex carbohydrates such as whole grains, brown rice, oats, rye bread, beans, and lentils. These foods take longer to break down, providing a slow release of energy.

• Eat plenty and a good variety of fruit & vegetables (think eating in rainbow colors)

• Eat plenty of fiber - it can promote satiety, slow down digestion and reduce sugar cravings. Good sources are chia/flaxseeds, nuts/seeds, legumes, beans, chickpeas, etc.

• Eat good quality protein with each meal and consume snacks rich in protein. This can help with cravings by providing sustained energy release.

• Include healthy fats with your meals eg. olive oil, avocado, nuts, seeds, grass-fed butter

What about lifestyle?

Exercise - 30-60 minutes of exercise three times per week can improve insulin sensitivity, help burn fat and balance blood sugar levels. The best options are walking, dancing, swimming, gardening etc. Care needs to be taken with strenuous exercise as this can drive stress response and ultimately raise blood glucose levels.

Stress - long-term stress releases adrenalin and cortisol which raises blood sugar and releases insulin, which then leads to further release of cortisol, and so on. Some of the ways you may choose to relax are meditation, yoga, swimming, walking in nature, or just simply making time for 'me time'.

Hydration- drink at least 2L of water daily. When your blood sugar levels are high your body will try to eliminate excess sugar through urine. As a result, the body will need extra fluid to rehydrate.

Sleep - get at least 7-8 h of sleep. Sleep deprivation increases the stress hormone cortisol and consequently rises glucose levels and reduces insulin sensitivity

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/how-to/bring-down-high-blood-sugar-levels.html

https://www.nutrition.org.uk/health-conditions/type-2-diabetes/

https://drhyman.com/blog/2022/02/02/podcast-ep489/

https://www.sleepfoundation.org/physical-health/sleep-and-blood-glucose-levels