Getting Off the Blood Sugar Roller Coaster
Insulin is one of the most important hormones in your body. This is because it is what allows your body to absorb glucose. When you eat carbohydrates, they are converted to glucose after digestion. The glucose then enters your bloodstream to reach all the parts of your body so that you have the energy to function. Your pancreas helps to regulate and control blood sugar levels through the production of insulin. Unfortunately, due to the standard American diet, many people have improperly regulated insulin, also known as insulin resistance. There are many factors that can lead to the dysfunction of this particular hormone including stress, issues with sleep, an inactive lifestyle, however the main one is improper nutrition.
The Standard American diet, which is full of processed foods, sugars and artificial sweeteners, and vegetable oils is wreaking havoc on our bodies and causing insulin resistance. Eating the standard American diet can feel like being on a roller coaster. When we eat these things, our insulin spikes higher than is normal. Eventually, our blood sugars must fall, and because of the sugar high, we crash. This can cause more symptoms such as fatigue, mental fog, irritability and more sugar cravings. If we give into our sugar cravings (our brain is wired to want that sugar because it is a quick source of energy) our serotonin and endorphins increase and our blood sugar is boosted abnormally high again.
Long term effects of insulin resistance are inflammation, weight gain, pain, sleep issues, low energy, slow metabolism, other hormone imbalances, increased irritability, triggering of autoimmune disorders, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and so much more. Insulin resistance can lead to type 2 diabetes, resulting in high blood glucose levels that lead to kidney damage. This is because sugar destroys our kidneys’ ability to filter. Your kidneys are necessary to sustain life because they remove toxins, waste, excess fluids, and are what help our bodies to maintain a healthy balance of fluid, salts and minerals.
There are simple lifestyle changes we can make to improve insulin resistance and avoid the detrimental side effects of being on the blood sugar roller coaster. Decreasing the amount of processed foods and sugars in your diet is probably the most important. Managing stress levels and getting proper sleep is another. There are other techniques that research has shown to have a positive effect on our bodies and to help your body properly regulate hormones like insulin.
Fasting is one such technique. Since prehistoric times, before humans learned to farm, we were hunters and gatherers. Dependent on what was in season and if we could catch our food or not, our bodies evolved to be able to go long periods of time without eating. When we fast, our bodies are able to switch from burning sugar for fuel to burning our fat stores for fuel instead. Being able to efficiently switch between burning both sources for fuel is known as metabolic flexibility. In today’s world with our access to quick sugars and carbohydrates, many of us do not often utilize burning our fats stores for fuel. This is a shame, because our bodies do intrinsically have the ability to do this and research has shown that fasting can have many positive benefits on our health.
This includes:
· Improved thinking and memory
· Increased energy, endurance and physical performance
· Improved blood pressure and resting heart rate
· Reversal of insulin resistance and pre-diabetes symptoms
· Increased rates of healing in the body
· Improved longevity and overall health and wellness
It is important to note that fasting is best done supervised by a medical professional. If you are looking for support with making lifestyle changes such as removing sugar and processed foods from your diet, intermittent fasting and fasting, the Metabolic Reset Program is designed to give you all the tools and support you need to help get you on the right path.
