Blood Sugar Regulation
Think you have blood sugar issues?
Symptoms of hypoglycaemia/ blood sugar regulation issues (let’s call this being ‘sugar sensitive’) include: being tired all the time/for no reason, restless, confused, poor memory/concentration, nausea, easily frustrated, irritable, shaky and short tempered.
Lets break this down. When you eat carbs, the body breaks them down into simple (i.e. single molecules of) sugars. As these sugars enter the blood, insulin (hormone) is released telling cells to absorb the sugar (glucose) out the blood and use it as fuel. When sugar levels are low, the body uses the (400 calories worth) store of sugar it keeps in the liver, but then… cells (including brain cells) don’t get the sugar they need + start sending out distress signals like the symptoms above. If you are ‘sugar sensitive’ - then your body over reacts and releases more insulin than needed, so cells pull in more sugar than is required, meaning blood sugar levels become too low —> hypoglycaemia symptoms. This cycle gets worse over time, with the ups and downs of blood sugar levels getting more and more dramatic and therefore the fluctuating symptoms also getting worse and worse.
This isn’t all, each time blood sugar levels rise/fall dramatically, the body goes into panic mode and releases adrenaline (fight or flight - i.e. a quick surge of energy, heart pumps faster etc - think the jitters when you have too much coffee) and adrenaline tells your body to release even more insulin (so cells can have more energy from the sugar in the blood so you can ‘fight’). Overuse of this system (which is meant for emergencies only) eventually causes something called Adrenal Fatigue. this means your adrenal glands become over exhausted and start working slower, causing even more insulin to be released, and again the cycle gets worse; blood sugar spikes/falls become even more pronounced.
So When you have low blood sugar, your body sends you a signal to get the quickest hit (foods converted the fastest, with the least work, into the useable molecules of glucose) of sugar you can. People get confused between sugar and carbs. Carbs/starches are broken down into simple sugars so if you are sugar sensitive these count. Foods fast to break down: Alcohol (beer, wine), simple sugars (sweets, honey, fruits) and simple starches like (white/refined bread, pasta), which are also low in fibre making it even quicker. So these are what you crave. But this is too fast and is also what then makes you crash later.
Note, most pre-packed foods, nutritional bars and dried fruit contain more simple sugars than you might think. low fat frozen yogurt has less ‘calories’ from fat, BUT it has more from sugar. Also, yes, fruit is healthy in that it has antioxidants/vitamins etc in it, BUT if you are sugar sensitive, it will still set off this cascade of events for you, so try sticking to high fibre (as it makes it take longer to break down), less sugary fruits like berries, pears and apricots instead of things like pineapple or grapes and don’t drink fruit juice (where the fibre has been removed but all the sugar is still there).
My obsession with ‘complex’ carbs continues….. whole grain/unrefined/brown pasta/bread (and in this case we include vegetables) are highly nutritious, have more fibre and take far longer to break down. Complex means many more molecules joined together, therefore, causing less of a spike in blood sugar levels, giving your more consistent energy throughout the course of the day. Protein isn’t broken down into sugar, but instead amino acids. This takes a long time and so protein is considered ‘complex’, which is why protein with each meal, especially breakfast, is good for people with blood sugar issues.
So what is my usual advice, SWAP WHITE REFINED, FOR BROWN/ WHOLE WHEAT! and eat LOTS OF PROTEIN & VEGGIES
SO, summary - for blood sugar regulation:
Brown carbs over white ALWAYS
Lots and lots of veggies esp high in fibre, green leafy’s
Leave carbs to cool for a little while, so more of the non resistant (quick burn) starch converts into the resistant starch (takes longer to break down = less spikes in blood sugar).
Ceylon cinnamon on your porridge
Protein with each meal, especially breakfast
A hot, cooked breakfast that you eat shortly after waking up
If you are sugar sensitive, the intermittent fasting IS NOT FOR YOU, eat 3 meals a day and at regular intervals (no more than 6 hours between meals). Either way, remember its about early dinner NOT late breakfast.
By the way - anyone with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), it’s highly likely you have insulin regulation issues (and sugar sensitivity) as this is one of the common side effects. So if that’s you definitely try to avoid sugar - by doing so you can actually help limit the growth of the cysts and therefore the side effects. Also re-candida. You’ll notice a lot of the advice is similar. That’s because candida feeds off sugar so, no sugar for you guys either!