In the world of blood sugar management two things are dominant: Balancing our adrenals and balancing our insulin. Balancing our adrenals plays a major role in the state of our health and well being.
Adrenal glands are the stress response organs. Stress in our life can come from our environment, our physiology or our mental and emotional state. When this happens the brain alerts the adrenal cortex which in turn responds by producing Cortisol. Our cortisol level among other things works to keep our blood sugar in balance. Stress causes our cortisol levels to rise and our “fight or flight” response to switch on. When our “fight or flight” response switches on our body releases glucose or (sugar) from our liver, muscles and our stored fat reserves so we have the needed energy to run as fast as we can away from chasing tigers.
Back in the days when we were running away from tigers we would use up all the cortisol and glucose that we needed during the chase and the hormones and blood sugar would regain balance and return to their pre tiger chasing levels. Today we’re probably not being chased by tigers and as a result are not using up the blood sugar or cortisol that our body has supplied us with to deal with stress. This means that the insulin now takes up the sugar left in our blood and dutifully escorts it back to our muscle cells, liver or our fat stores and all is well and in balance again.
Our ever stressed and fast-paced lifestyle is repeatedly asking our bodies to pump out cortisol almost 24/7 to deal with the pressure of life. This on going reaction to stress starts out by keeping our cortisol levels high. When our cortisol levels are high our blood sugar goes up and our insulin dutifully comes out to escort it back where it is needed. Over time due to our food choices, lifestyle and some genetic influences our muscle cells get less responsive to the insulin storing the blood sugar back in the muscle cells and liver. When this is the case the insulin ends up delivering the sugar (glucose) to the eager and accepting fat stores. Of course the fat cells have one requirement, the glucose must convert to fat to gain access into the club. Hmmm, does muffin top sound familiar?
When we continually store away glucose or blood sugar into fat cells our muscles and especially our brain cells start crying out for energy. Our body’s gets the memo loud and clear that we are hungry and need to eat. Now the cycle is in full force and we cannot figure out why we are constantly on the prowl for something to eat.
We all have stress in our life’s which is just part of the journey. It’s how we deal and approach stress that’s going to help keep cortisol levels at bay. We need to really focus our attention on finding strategies to master the art of stress management.
Stress strategies could include, getting and better quality sleep, meditation, breath work, yin or restorative yoga, acupuncture, cardio/resistance/relaxation exercises, massage, taking a walk outside, being in nature and addressing mental and emotional issues.
What can you do to start incorporating de-stressing strategies daily into your life for optimum health and well being?