managing your blood sugar level
Has your 'get up and go' got up and gone?
Many people suffer from bouts of reduced energy. For most, however, it is regarded as part of life, something to live with. Many are convinced it's just 'old age'. There is more to it than meets the eye, however, and sugar and simple carbohydrates may be the culprits. The amount of hidden sugar in our diet, let alone the amount we knowingly add to our food, grows with each generation. We are told that it's all 'natural'. It may be natural when it was growing in the fields but gone are all the other nutrients that help us digest and slowly metabolise it. Gone is the fibre that slows the absorption of the sugar into the blood stream. You can imagine how little sugar we would eat if the only source were sugar cane fresh from the field. Nature packages food with all the things we need to digest it effectively. We go and pull it all apart and then claim that the end (processed) product was what nature intended in the first place!
The prepared cereal we pour into our cereal bowls in the morning is often packed with sugars and refined carbohydrates that are absorbed by the body into the blood stream very quickly, all the regulating factors having been removed. Together with a cup of tea or coffee, which contains caffeine (an adrenal stimulant), breakfast provides a kick-start to the day. When the blood sugar level increases this rapidly, the pancreas goes into action. This organ is the brake of the system and secretes insulin into the blood stream to slow the rate of sugar metabolism. When the rate of sugar absorption is so high and fast, the pancreas overcompensates and secretes too much insulin into the blood stream, leading to very low blood sugar levels. This is why you may feel like going back to bed or having a sleep an hour after getting into the housework or arriving at work. So, what do you do? You reach for another cup of tea or coffee and something sweet so that you feel awake enough to face the next part of your day. The inevitable cycle comes round again. The level of sugar in the blood rises too sharply, the pancreas overcompensates, and you wind up in the same sleepy state within the hour, wishing you were back in bed and it's not even lunchtime yet.
Many people live their lives with blood sugar instability, swinging from high to low, but expecting to be able to work effectively effectively. See figure 1.
Many people suffer from bouts of reduced energy. For most, however, it is regarded as part of life, something to live with. Many are convinced it's just 'old age'. There is more to it than meets the eye, however, and sugar and simple carbohydrates may be the culprits. The amount of hidden sugar in our diet, let alone the amount we knowingly add to our food, grows with each generation. We are told that it's all 'natural'. It may be natural when it was growing in the fields but gone are all the other nutrients that help us digest and slowly metabolise it. Gone is the fibre that slows the absorption of the sugar into the blood stream. You can imagine how little sugar we would eat if the only source were sugar cane fresh from the field. Nature packages food with all the things we need to digest it effectively. We go and pull it all apart and then claim that the end (processed) product was what nature intended in the first place!
The prepared cereal we pour into our cereal bowls in the morning is often packed with sugars and refined carbohydrates that are absorbed by the body into the blood stream very quickly, all the regulating factors having been removed. Together with a cup of tea or coffee, which contains caffeine (an adrenal stimulant), breakfast provides a kick-start to the day. When the blood sugar level increases this rapidly, the pancreas goes into action. This organ is the brake of the system and secretes insulin into the blood stream to slow the rate of sugar metabolism. When the rate of sugar absorption is so high and fast, the pancreas overcompensates and secretes too much insulin into the blood stream, leading to very low blood sugar levels. This is why you may feel like going back to bed or having a sleep an hour after getting into the housework or arriving at work. So, what do you do? You reach for another cup of tea or coffee and something sweet so that you feel awake enough to face the next part of your day. The inevitable cycle comes round again. The level of sugar in the blood rises too sharply, the pancreas overcompensates, and you wind up in the same sleepy state within the hour, wishing you were back in bed and it's not even lunchtime yet.
Many people live their lives with blood sugar instability, swinging from high to low, but expecting to be able to work effectively effectively. See figure 1.
Figure 1 - Blood sugar levels throughout the day
The secret of normalising blood sugar levels is to eat foods that are made up of complex carbohydrates. These are foods that the digestive system has had to work at to get the sugar out. This will slowly raises the blood sugar level over a longer period of time so that the pancreas can more effectively monitor the system. A teaspoon of sugar goes into the blood stream in 20 minutes. A banana releases its sugar over a period of 2 1/4 hours. Eating fruit when you feel like something sweet is a way of nourishing the body while ensuring that blood sugar won't fall in an hour's time.
When you are in an energy slump think about what you last had to eat and you may find it was either high in simple sugars or carbohydrates or eaten in a rush with a cup of tea or coffee.
There is nothing wrong with tea, coffee cakes, sweets or biscuits but when they are taken habitually to give you a lift, emotionally or physically then it may be the main contributing factor of why life seems an up hill battle!
The secret of normalising blood sugar levels is to eat foods that are made up of complex carbohydrates. These are foods that the digestive system has had to work at to get the sugar out. This will slowly raises the blood sugar level over a longer period of time so that the pancreas can more effectively monitor the system. A teaspoon of sugar goes into the blood stream in 20 minutes. A banana releases its sugar over a period of 2 1/4 hours. Eating fruit when you feel like something sweet is a way of nourishing the body while ensuring that blood sugar won't fall in an hour's time.
When you are in an energy slump think about what you last had to eat and you may find it was either high in simple sugars or carbohydrates or eaten in a rush with a cup of tea or coffee.
There is nothing wrong with tea, coffee cakes, sweets or biscuits but when they are taken habitually to give you a lift, emotionally or physically then it may be the main contributing factor of why life seems an up hill battle!