How Do I keep my blood sugar stable?
How Do I Keep My Blood Sugar Stable?
When you think of blood sugar (if you even think about it at all…) you probably think diabetes or think of it in terms of how you feel when your blood sugar crashes. But there’s really a lot more to it than that.
First, what is blood sugar? Well its pretty much just like it sounds - it’s the measure of the amount of sugar in your blood. Your body likes to keep your blood sugar levels in a pretty tight range.
The thing is, though, it can fluctuate A LOT throughout the day.
When you eat food with sugars or starches ("carbs"), your digestive system breaks them down into glucose, which then gets sent to your bloodstream. Because your body wants to keep your blood sugar levels balanced, insulin gets secreted to take that glucose to cells that can use it and this helps to lower your blood sugar back down to normal.
Why keep my blood sugar stable?
Your body wants your blood sugar to be at that optimal level. It should be high enough, so you're not light-headed, fatigued, and irritable. It should be low enough that your body isn't scrambling to remove excess from the blood.
When blood sugar is too low, this is referred to as "hypoglycemia."
When blood sugar is too high, it is referred to as hyperglycemia. Prolonged periods of elevated blood sugar levels (chronic hyperglycemia) can lead to insulin resistance.
Insulin resistance is when your cells are no longer responding to insulin the way they’re supposed to – this means that not only can the glucose/energy not get into the cells that need it, but your blood sugar is going to remain high as well.
Insulin resistance and chronic hyperglycemia can eventually lead to diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and difficulty losing weight etc. Current research is linking insulin resistance to a lot of the health issues we deal with today.
So let’s look at how you can optimize your food and lifestyle to keep your blood sugar stable.
Food for stable blood sugar
The simplest thing to do to balance your blood sugar is to reduce the number of refined sugars and starches you eat. One of the quickest easiest ways that you can do that is by dumping sweet drinks and cutting out (or at least cutting back on) desserts
Its important to remember though, that ALL carbs – whether they are from cookies, pasta or a banana will be broken down into sugar once it gets digested.
That’s not to say that they will all have the same affect, or that some of those foods don’t have more vitamins and nutrients than others, but when it comes to blood sugar its important to keep in mind that all carbs will have an impact.
A couple of things that you can do to mitigate that impact are:
Well the obvious one is just eat less of them – particularly the foods with added sugars or that are highly processed.
Focus on real whole food carbs. Foods that come in a form close to how they’d be found in nature. These will have more fiber that will help to slow the absorption of the sugars and you’ll also be getting more nutrients than you get from highly processed foods.
Don’t eat naked carbs. Eating carbs alone can be a straight shot of sugar to your bloodstream. But if you combine your (whole food) carbs with a protein and fat - like having an apple with some nut butter for example – it will slow down the sugar absorption.
The Lifestyle Factors That Affect Blood Sugar
Exercise. Exercise also helps to improve your insulin sensitivity; this means that your cells don't ignore insulin's call and they are ready and willing to take in that glucose and use it for energy. Building muscle is especially good for this because the more muscle you have the more muscle cells you have to take in and use that glucose. So get your body moving!
Stress. Would you believe that stress affects your blood sugar levels too? Yup! Stress hormones increase your blood sugar levels. If you think about the "fight or flight" stress response - that quick energy fuel that your body relies on so you can “fight” or “flee” is sugar! When you are stressed signals are sent to release stored forms of sugar back into the bloodstream, increasing blood sugar levels. I know that most of us can’t get rid of stress entirely, but we can do things that change how that stress shows up in our bodies. Simple tips are meditation, deep breathing, or movement. Movement in particular is a great way to move those stress hormones through and out of your body naturally.
Sleep. Sleep goes hand-in-hand with stress. When you don't get enough quality sleep, you tend to release stress hormones, have a higher appetite, and even get more sugar cravings – that’s your body looking for that quick and easy energy. Sleep is crucial, and an often overlooked factor when it comes to keeping your blood sugar stable. Make sleep more of a priority - it will do your blood sugar (and the rest of your physical and mental health) good.
So to make a long story short ;-)
Your body is on a constant 24-hour quest to keep your blood sugar stable. The body has mechanisms in place to do this, but those mechanisms can get tired (resistant). Long-term blood sugar issues can spell trouble.
There are many nutrition and lifestyle approaches you can take to help keep your blood sugar stable. Minimizing excessive carbs, exercising, reducing stress, and improving sleep are all key to having stable blood sugar (and overall good health).