Blood Sugar Control
Blood Sugar Control
Attention to blood sugar regulation has increased due to the rise of tools such as the continuous blood glucose monitors that have recently gained popularity in the wellness community. While these tools have merit and can be incredibly useful, there are many effective ways to manage blood sugar without the added cost.
During an interview with Andrea Nicholson, Gut and Metabolism expert and founder of Healthy Life With Andrea, we discuss some of the basics of blood sugar management.
Andrea has a background as a crime scene investigator, assigning her a unique lens with which to examine the root cause of her clients’ health complaints. Often blood sugar dysregulation is a driving factor of these health concerns, such as stubborn weight gain and stagnation, hormone imbalances, and other metabolic shifts.
Why is blood sugar regulation so important to overall health? Most of us are familiar with blood sugar in the context of disorders such as pre-diabetes, diabetes, hypertension, or obesity. But blood sugar, or glucose, is essential for just about every cell of the body, and is really only a problem when it is too high or too low. We can often sense when our blood sugar is too low, commonly experiencing low energy, brain fog, shakiness, or irritability. But when our blood sugar is too high, we often are completely unaware, exhibiting no symptoms at all.
Blood sugar is intended to enter the cell providing it with the necessary energy for it to carry out its numerous functions. Insulin is the hormone that grants entry. When unable to enter the cell, this glucose causes inflammation disrupting the signaling of insulin and other hormones and systems of the body. Perpetually elevated and fluctuating glucose generally precedes insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.
What indicators might clue you in to consider paying attention to your blood sugar response?
You are eating clean, exercising and doing everything right despite continued weight gain
You cannot go more than a couple of hours without eating before experiencing some of the negative symptoms above (brain fog, irritability, etc)
You feel tired before eating and even just after eating
You are overweight or carrying weight more around the belly specifically
Family history of diabetes or metabolic syndrome
If any of the above describe you, it is a good idea to talk to your provider about further investigation with some testing. There are a number of blood sugar markers that can help to identify blood sugar dysregulation before it gets out of control. Since no single marker can provide the full picture it is best to assess as many of these markers as possible. These include:
Fasting glucose-this is the most commonly used marker. This is only a glimpse of the big picture however, testing a moment of blood sugar that could easily be influenced by many factors.
HbA1C (hemaglobin A1C)-this marker gives us a sense of blood sugar regulation over a 3 month period-it is based on the 90 day lifespan of a red blood cell, identifying sugar that is bound to the cells. This also might be unreliable in certain circumstances such as in conditions in which RBCs die off more rapidly.
Fasting insulin-this is almost never tested but is very effective at predicting blood sugar imbalance often a decade prior to symptoms-fasting insulin is one of the first makers to become imbalanced making it a better preventative marker.
Proper assessment will allow you to get the support you need and implement suitable dietary and lifestyle changes. While there are certainly cases in which medications are a necessary part of the care plan, many conditions of blood sugar dysregulation are reversible with dietary and lifestyle changes alone. Some of the most simple actions you could take today include:
Elimination of (or drastic reduction in) refined carbohydrates (bread, past, cookies, cakes, sweet beverages)
Walking after meals
Paying attention to and minimizing stress-mental/emotional stress and trauma, physical trauma/injury, toxins
Testing-getting an evaluation of the makers listed above by your health care provider
To investigate your own relationship to blood sugar, book a free 30 minute consult with Carla here.
To hear the full conversation with Andrea visit the Rebel Roots Podcast here.
Learn more about Andrea at https://www.healthylifewithandrea.com/