Whoa! I know what you’re thinking there, that this is a bold statement, but hear me out.
Blood sugar is our measure of how much power or energy is readily available to our bodies, which need consistent ranges to operate at sustainable and optimal levels. Anything more or less than optimal ends up taxing our system to trigger both nervous system and hormonal responses that set our bodies and minds into detrimental motions, without us even being consciously aware of what’s going on under the surface.
When we have too high of blood sugar, our bodies try to utilize and store it until no more can be delivered into our cells, so our blood stream gets overloaded and we begin to experience symptoms the CDC and Healthline explain may look like and progress into:
Feeling very tired
Feeing thirsty
Having blurry vision
Needing to urinate more often
Gastroparesis (bloating, heartburn, nausea)
Damage to blood vessels
Increased risk of stroke, heart disease, pancreatic malfunction, kidney damage
Dry cracked skin
Nerve damage (pins and needles)
Hormonal changes
Vision problems, cataracts, glaucoma
Loss of consciousness
Ketoacidosis (coma, death)
When we have too little blood sugar, our body goes into a survival state where you naturally start sending all available nutrients to essential survival systems, which means it is simultaneously diverting blood flow and nutrients from other organs and functions necessary for health and sustainable function. According to the CDC and Healthline we can get symptoms like:
Shaking
Sweating
Nervousness or anxiety
Irritability or confusion
Dizziness
Hunger
Hormonal changes
Brain fog
Food aversions
Balance issues
Headaches
Vision changes
Sleep disturbances
Seizures and death
Wild huh? So how many of you experience at least some of the symptoms of high or low blood pressure on a daily or weekly basis? Don’t be worried or ashamed if you do, most people do because just how much sugar is added to foods.
For example, the average American diet consists of a whopping 66 pounds of added sugars a year and a grand total of 150 pounds of total sugar consumed, according to the Sugar Science publication from UC San Francisco. That is a LOT of extra sugar for your body to process and a lot of the symptoms created from this lack of regulation alone are enough by themselves to make life a lot harder and more unpleasant.
Knowledge is power and now you can overcome these limiting symptoms and start exploring how to work with this essential nutrient without it becoming a poison or burden to you!
If you’re going to have sugar, try to explore the following as much as possible:
Give your body the good stuff- straight from the earth through whole foods and fruits
Go low glycemic like organic maple syrups, coconut sugar, and date syrup
Combine your sugars with food high in fiber, protein, and fat to slow down your absorption rates
Exercise regularly to keep your sugar metabolism functioning well
Eat at regular intervals to help your body get into a rhythm
Needing some more guidance? Contact us to set up a nutrition or holistic health consultation.
