Before I dive into WHY you should care, let's start with WHAT it is.
You may have heard of blood sugar or glucose before. Maybe not. Here is a quick little overview.
What do I mean when I say blood sugar?
The more scientific term is blood glucose (I’ll use both but I’m talking about the same thing). Glucose is your body’s primary energy source. When carbohydrates are broken down in the body, they break down into glucose. That glucose is then sent to the parts of the body that need it for energy.
Wait, isn’t this only for diabetics? Nope!! Balancing blood sugar is essential for more than those who are diabetic! It’s something we all have in common as humans.
Glucose in the body (aka blood sugar)
Carbohydrates send an influx of glucose into the bloodstream. A hormone called insulin is then created to transport that glucose out of the bloodstream and take it to different parts of the body to be used as energy. Where it isn’t used as energy, it’s stored.
When the glucose is emptied out from your bloodstream, that's when you start to feel hungry again. Like a car running low on gas, when your energy is all used up you need to get more!
The more simple the carbohydrate, the easier it is for the body to break down and usher throughout the body aka the quicker you get hungry. This starts you off on the blood sugar rollercoaster.
Blood Sugar Rollercoaster
When carbohydrates are broken down quickly into glucose, your blood glucose shoots up! Having high glucose levels can be dangerous for the body, so the body responds by creating insulin to rush it out of the blood.
But what goes up, must come down. --> When insulin rushes the glucose out of the bloodstream it leaves little to no glucose. This means you're left feeling a massive energy crash (the rollercoaster drop). This can manifest in shakes, foggy headed, slow reactions, or getting hangry!
This leads you back to get more food because you need more energy!
So WHY should you care about blood sugar?
When your blood sugar is all over the place, it feels like you aren’t in control. Hello to those feelings of lacking willpower and strength around overeating and feeling consumed by thoughts about food. Balancing your blood sugar helps you find that freedom from food!!
Instead of riding the rollercoaster all day of energy spikes and energy crashes, finding a balanced blood sugar curve throughout the day can lead to:
✨ more sustained energy
✨ support your metabolism
✨ feeling clearer headed, less brain fog
✨ less hangry
✨ less all-consuming cravings
✨ feeling less controlled/worried about food
✨ support for your heart, brain, reproductive, and hormone health
Every human body uses glucose for energy and has to eat! Your blood sugar is influenced by lifestyle, diet, sleep, and stress AND impacts your mood, energy, hormones and so much more. Its pretty much connected to everything!
Not sure where to start when it comes to balancing your blood sugar? Check out my 3 tips of where to start!
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