Episode 004 Blood Sugar Spikes...Why They Matter?

What goes up, must come down. Like a rollercoaster, the higher the peak, the lower the dip. What happens when your blood sugar dips? You get sleepy. It's so difficult to focus, you reach for sugar and caffeine - anything to wake you up!

 

At the peak of your blood sugar, you may feel dizzy, jittery, nauseous, even experience heart palpitations.

 

With all the ups and downs, our body gets confused. The hormone that tells our body it's full so "stop eating" is blocked (Leptin). And the "I'm hungry hormone," ghrelin takes over. Hmmm, what does this mean - you're hungry ALL the time! So, you eat more, leading to more spikes, and the excess glucose is turned into fat, making you hungrier! A vicious cycle!

 

Here are possible short-term effects of blood sugar spikes: constant hunger, cravings, always tired, difficulty sleeping, sick often, hot flashes and night sweats, migraines, brain fog - difficulty thinking and concentrating. Does this sound like your life?

 

Long term lots of blood sugar spikes triggers free radicals (oxidation), which damage cells leading to aging. Aging is the cause of "Dis-Ease". Not only will you feel older - joint pain, weaker bones, sick often, dementia, you may also look older as the free radicals damage collagen leading to wrinkles!

 

Common long-term effects; arthritis, alzheimer's dementia, cancer, depressive episodes, digestive issues, heart disease, infertility PCOS, Type 2 diabetes, fatty liver, wrinkles, cataracts. How many people do you know who deal with of these health issues? Probably most. Hmmm. These happen to be many of the top 10 causes of death in the U.S. Could there be a correlation between blood sugar spikes and dis-ease, suffering and death?

 

Other than eating too much sugar or carbohydrates, what else can cause your blood sugar to spike? stress, hormones, exercise, caffeine, even medication.

 

So, what can you do to reduce blood sugar spikes? Stop eating sugar! This is ideal but probably unrealistic for most people. Consuming less sugar definitely helps! What if there were ways to have sweets without spiking your blood sugar? Would you want to know what they are?

 

Lucky for us, Jessie Inchauspe figured out hacks and shared it with the world in her book Glucose Revolution (which is where I got a lot of this information from)! Here are a few hacks that she discovered: 1) Eat foods in the right order. Eat veggies first! There really is a reason that salad is the first course served in a restaurant. Fiber first, protein and fat second, carbs (starches and sugars) last. In 2015, Cornell University did a study and found that eating foods in this order may reduce the overall glucose spike by 73% and even your insulin spike by 48% (insulin spiking is super damaging, too)! What kind of veggies? Any veggies - roasted asparagus, coleslaw, grilled zucchini, carrots, broccoli, lettuce, eggplant, even tomatoes and beans!

 

For more tips and hacks on how to minimize glucose spikes, check out the Community Section on our One Drop Heals website! click here (Must be a One Drop Heals member for access.)