Stress and blood sugar are intimately connected. When I discovered an opportunity to find out for myself, I discovered just what an impact managing stress can make. It’s worth the effort for anyone interested in keeping blood sugar levels healthy.
My stress and blood sugar experiment:
I became interested in managing my blood sugar when I got a surprise high reading. I had a CT/PET scan scheduled during my treatment for breast cancer. To prepare for my scan, the nurse measured my blood sugar level. It was alarmingly high! My blood sugar had been high one time before, right on the borderline to being prediabetic. This number was worse. I was sure that it had to do with stress. The morning of this scan, I had managed with great difficulty to get my two small children to school. They had squabbled and resisted, I had not had coffee or food, and time was crunched. I was stressed.
After this scan, I decided to try an experiment. I enlisted the help of my fiance, and exempted myself from kids the morning of my next scan. He agreed to feed them and get them to school. All I had to do was get up and slip out. No squabbling, no resistance, no stress. My blood sugar levels that day were well within the normal range.
Stress directly causes blood sugar spikes.
When you face a stressful event, your body goes into a fight or flight reaction, causing an immediate surge in blood sugar to give you the fuel you need to react to a threatening situation. Whether it’s a critical boss, traffic, or racing for the bus doesn’t matter. Your body prepares to fight or flee, and a spike in blood sugar is required.
A diet that manages blood sugar will also help you manage stress.
What you eat also impacts your blood sugar, and the kinds of foods that even out your blood sugar, like complex carbohydrates, fiber and protein, will also help you feel more naturally energetic. Good, healthy, whole food has the nutrients that your body needs to metabolize stress chemicals, like B vitamins for example. Stress, poor eating, high blood sugar, stress……it’s a vicious cycle that can be interrupted.
Chronic stress contributes to insulin resistance.
When you are under constant stress, your body produces cortisol and adrenaline, causing you to crave simple sugars and to store fat around your belly. This sets the stage for insulin resistance and diabetes. Add cholesterol and blood pressure problems and you have metabolic syndrome, which contributes to diabetes. Managing your stress is key to interrupting this cycle before it starts.
Managing your stress will also help you avoid emotional eating.
Do you reach for potato chips or cookies when you are under duress? Here’s the indirect link to stress and blood sugar. When you want to eat to ease the pressure you’re feeling, do something calming instead, like take a pleasant walk, do some yoga, listen to some Guided Imagery, or meditate. The urge will pass.
Chronic stress undermines your health on every level.
Stress is a major health challenge for all of us. It affects every system of your body, and over time will wear it down. If you are diabetic or prediabetic, managing stress is a critical component that often doesn’t get enough attention in the strategy to control your blood sugar. Manage your stress instead of letting it manage you. Your body will thank you.
Source:
personal and professional experience
medicinenet.com
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