The Direct Connection Between Stress and Sugar
So many women want to know how to manage and reduce stress. Many women also want to know how to fight cravings, fatigue, and hanger between meals, and gain more energy.
What if I told you these all are intricately connected?
Stress and blood sugar handling go hand in hand, which means we can’t address one without addressing the other.
The entirety of our blood sugar handling and stress management systems are complex, but to simplify, let’s focus on these 3 facts:
1) Cortisol (our body’s main stress hormone) is released whenever our brains perceive a threat to our survival. One of cortisol’s jobs is mobilizing stored glucose in our bodies (i.e. getting sugar from our tissues) to raise sugar levels in the blood. This ensures we have fuel to either fight or flee from the stressor at hand.
2) Any drop in blood sugar is a threat to survival- it’s dangerous for our bodies. Skipping meals, fasting, eating carbs or protein alone, consuming super refined sweeteners, and under-eating, in general, can all lead to drops in our blood sugar. When this happens, our bodies react the same as they do to any threat- including releasing cortisol so we can normalize our blood sugar levels.
3) When we’re stressed, cravings for foods that efficiently raise blood sugar- refined grains, sugar, even caffeine- are actually a normal and expected response. Having cravings doesn’t make us weak or bad. They are a sign from the body- a signal of a need.
If we’re not supporting balanced blood sugar, are always stressed out, and/or aren’t providing our bodies with sufficient natural sugars in our diets, our bodies will always be asking- or more accurately, demanding- that quick energy. Especially over time, as the blood sugar and stress-handling systems wear down from repeated alarms.
So what it all comes down to, especially for supporting your health and feeling better, is this:
If you’re not supporting blood sugar balance, you’re relying on cortisol to regulate it.
If you’re not effectively dealing with stress, your blood sugar more easily becomes and stays dysregulated- leading to symptoms as mentioned above- recurring cravings, feeling hungry if a meal is delayed, fatigue, trouble sleeping, and menstrual cycle irregularities to name a few.
And over time, if blood sugar dysregulation and cortisol release continue (especially when you throw more stress, ignoring cravings, skipping meals, poor sleep, and living off coffee into the whole mix), our ability to properly handle blood sugar (and stress) becomes weakened.
How can you halt this stress response and support your blood sugar and stress systems?
A few foundational things to start with:
Eating balanced meals regularly to make sure blood sugar doesn’t plummet.
Consuming nutrient-rich sources of carbs and sugar- like root veggies, fruits, and natural sweeteners like honey.
Drinking any caffeine with or after food.
Reducing your stress load and establishing a stress-management practice.
Nourishing your body fully to build more resilience to stress.
Where to begin?
Grab my free guide to Nourishing Yourself Fully and learn the key areas to focus on to fuel and nourish your body and support healthy blood sugar balance. Plus, you’ll get my go-to nourishing foods list and suggestions for simple and balanced meals and snacks so you can start right away!