Fatigue, Weight Gain, Irritability Tied to Blood Sugar
Last week we discussed that cortisol is only a part of the problem, when it comes to losing weight, fighting fatigue and overcoming cravings. We learned that stress causes our adrenal glands to become exhausted and depleted, but there are other stresses such as blood sugar imbalances and digestive problems that affect our health.
Although we immediately think the adrenals are exclusively related to our 'fight or flight' mode and cortisol and adrenaline production, but the adrenal gland are responsible for so much more. If we have lots of emotional stress it is going to squeeze our adrenals to make more cortisol and adrenaline. When our blood sugar drops it’s going to squeeze them. If our body becomes inflamed it squeeze them. To maintain the fluid balance in our body it’s going to squeeze them. To make our sex hormones it’s going to squeeze them. When we exercise it squeezes them. So the more we have to squeeze our adrenal glands to keep up with all the demand we place on them, the easier it is to exhaust and fatigue our adrenal glands. This can eventually interfere with their normal function and why it is so important to properly rest and nourish our adrenals.
The ‘Un-Suspecting Stressor’
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Blood sugar imbalances are a 'hidden stressor', which can quickly drain our adrenal glands. Look at the amazingly high number of people who are struggling with diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, hypoglycemia, mood swings and even insomnia. Low blood sugar as a result of poor dietary choices can be the root cause of these problems and contributes to the depletion and exhaustion of our adrenal glands. This is why keeping our blood sugar stable throughout the day, and NOT squeezing our adrenals any further, is so important to our health.
The Root of the Problem
A number of factors contribute to blood sugar problems. Skipping meals is probably the biggest offender, breakfast being the worst meal to skip. It’s called “breakfast” because we are literally breaking a fast. Our blood sugar has dropped during the night and we need to rebalance it by having a good healthy breakfast. In addition, if we skip lunch or dinner, it further allows our blood sugar to drop. Therefore, when you miss or delay a meal, and your blood sugar is at the lowest, it will affect your mood, cause irritability and cravings and affect your ability to think and make cognitive decisions, because your brain depends on sugar (carbohydrates) to function properly.
Next to skipping meals, the next worse thing you can do is eat foods loaded with refined, processed white flour and white sugar. All these packaged, fast foods, junk foods and soft drinks cause your blood sugar to skyrocket up and down all day. This continually squeezes on your adrenals glands to produce more cortisol and adrenaline to balance your blood sugar and further depletes and exhausts your adrenal glands.
Stabilizing your blood sugar is crucial in overcoming fatigue and keeping your body in its 'fat burning mode!' You’ll never successfully lose the unwanted weight or keep it off unless you keep your blood sugar stable! This is one of the reasons that many of the low-carb diets were able to help some people. It moved them away from all the processed carbohydrates and refined foods. Unfortunately, many people still hit a stumbling block or plateau in their weight loss efforts, because they overlooked the other pieces of the puzzle, which is stress and how it triggers your hormones to burn or store fat. The good Lord designed the body to burn calories for energy from fats more so than carbohydrates and protein. However, when our adrenals, thyroid, and metabolism are not functioning properly, because they are out of balance due to stress and blood sugar imbalances, we start burning calories from carbs and lean muscle, instead of fats.
Supporting your blood sugar
Here are some helpful hints to help keep your blood sugar stable:
• Squeeze the juice of one half a lemon or lime into a glass of water. Drink this first thing in the morning. This helps hydrate your body, raise your blood sugar for the next 30-60 minutes (until you can eat) and will help your system be more alkaline, which is healthier and fights osteoporosis.
• Don’t skip meals.
• Reduce or eliminate refined, processed, junk, & fast foods.
• Stay away from soft drinks and fruit juices, or anything made with "high fructose corn syrup."
• Eat three regularly scheduled meals a day. They should include good quality protein, fats and complex carbs.
• Use fruits, and nuts as healthy snacks.
If you follow these simple steps it will help you keep your blood sugar stable and take a lot of the stress off your adrenal glands. This in turn will keep you in your ‘fat burning’ mode, and help keep your mood and ability to focus and concentrate at its peak.
I will talk about another "hidden stressor" in my next article. This is one that most people would never suspect!
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Dr. Len Lopez is a nutrition and fitness expert and author of “To Burn or Not to Burn, Fat is the Question” and the host of “Action Steps for Health.” His approach to health is “treat the cause – not the symptoms.” For more information and to learn more about health and wellness go to www.DrLenLopez.com and read his health blog www.HealthTipsWithDrLen.com.
