Are you curious about what it really means to have balanced blood sugar? Well, you've come to the right place! In this article, we’re going to dive deep into the world of blood sugar balance and how it can affect your overall health, energy levels, mood stability, and even your weight.
Let’s explore the foods that impact your blood sugar levels the most and the potential health issues that can arise from constant blood sugar spikes. And guess what? Menopause can make things even trickier! But don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with some practical tips and tricks to help you keep your blood sugar levels steady during menopause.
As always, talk to your healthcare provider if you have specific questions or concerns, and before changing your diet or exercise routine.
What do we mean by balanced blood sugar?
Blood sugar balance means keeping your blood sugar levels in a healthy range relative to the last time you ate. It's essential to make sure the sugar levels aren't too high or too low. This balance is important for having energy, a stable mood, and overall health. It also helps maintain a healthy metabolism, weight, and body mass index (BMI).
What affects blood glucose levels?
The food we eat affects the amount of glucose in our blood, also called blood sugar. Sugars and carbohydrates in our diet have the biggest impact on blood sugar levels.
Eating foods with simple sugars, like candy, sodas, and sweetened coffee drinks, can quickly raise your blood sugar. These foods are easy for the body to digest and absorb. They quickly enter the bloodstream, which causes your blood sugar to rise rapidly. Foods with refined carbohydrates, like white bread, white pasta, cookies, and pastries, act like simple sugars. They’re quickly digested and absorbed by the body.
How blood sugar spikes affect health
The occasional spike isn’t a problem, but if your blood sugar is constantly elevated it can lead to health issues. The sugars and refined carbohydrates we eat are stored as glycogen in the body, but we only have so much ‘space’ to store this in our liver and muscle cells. When we eat food with too much sugar, our body stores it as fat. This can make us gain weight and have other health problems, like insulin resistance.
Insulin is the hormone released by the pancreas that helps our cells absorb glucose, where it can be used for energy. However, if we’re constantly bombarding our bodies with too much sugar, it can lead to a condition called insulin resistance. When you have insulin resistance, the cells in your body don’t react to insulin as well as they should. Because of this, your pancreas makes more insulin than normal. It does this to try to get the cells to respond. Over time, this cycle can cause blood sugar and insulin levels to stay high for a long time. This increases the chances of getting type 2 diabetes, heart problems, and other health issues.
Additionally, blood sugar spikes can significantly contribute to inflammation and oxidative stress within the body. When blood glucose levels rise rapidly and often, it causes a series of biochemical responses. These reactions make unstable molecules called free radicals that can damage cells and tissues. This process causes more oxidative stress. Oxidative stress can lead to inflammation.
Over time, repeated blood sugar spikes exacerbate this cycle, resulting in chronic inflammation and increased oxidative stress. This harmful combination can damage blood vessels, organs, and nerves. It’s also linked to a host of health issues, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and various chronic conditions.
On a day-to-day basis fluctuating blood sugar levels can affect your energy levels, mood, and mental cognition, make you feel more stressed and anxious, and disrupt your sleep.
How does menopause affect blood sugar levels?
The menopause transition can significantly affect blood sugar regulation due to hormonal changes that occur during these stages. As we transition through perimenopause to postmenopause, levels of estrogen and progesterone fluctuate and eventually decrease. These hormonal shifts can impact insulin sensitivity, making it harder for the body to regulate blood sugar levels effectively.
Estrogen, for example, is known to play a role in protecting against insulin resistance. Thus, as estrogen levels decline, the risk of developing insulin resistance and related issues, such as type 2 diabetes, increases. Additionally, changes in body composition often seen during menopause, such as increased abdominal fat, can further exacerbate insulin resistance and blood sugar dysregulation.
[H2] What can I do to help regulate my blood sugar?
Regulating your blood sugar is a key part of menopausal health, and there are several easy ways to keep yours stable, including:
- Reducing your intake of added sugars and refined carbohydrates. Limit consumption of soda and sugary coffee drinks, candy, and foods made with white flour such as cakes, pastries, cookies, and pasta.
- Add protein to every meal. Protein doesn’t spike your blood sugar in the way that sugars and refined carbs do. It can slow down the release of glucose into the bloodstream and help you feel fuller and more satiated, reducing cravings for high-sugar and high-carb foods.
- Eat more fiber. Fiber slows down the digestion process, which is why vegetables and complex carbohydrates such as whole grains don’t cause blood sugar spikes. Include 2 servings of vegetables at every meal and add fiber-rich foods such as beans, lentils, legumes, and whole grains to your daily diet.
- Lift weights. The more lean muscle mass we have, the more insulin sensitive we are. Lean muscle mass uses glycogen for energy, so the higher our muscle mass, the greater our capacity to use glucose efficiently. Levels of muscle mass reduce as we age and go through the menopause transition, so maintaining muscle mass is key.
- Manage your stress levels. Chronic stress can affect blood sugar levels by increasing the production of cortisol, a hormone that can make the body more insulin resistant. Techniques such as mindfulness, meditation, yoga, and deep breathing can help manage stress.
- Get adequate sleep. Poor sleep can disrupt hormones that regulate appetite and insulin sensitivity. Aim for 7–9 hours of quality sleep per night to help maintain blood sugar levels.
Tracking your blood sugar
There are many ways to measure and track your blood sugar. Assessing your body's response to different foods and lifestyle factors is one of the most useful. Keep track of how you feel after eating certain foods or when you're in between meals. Notice if you feel energetic, sluggish, still hungry, lightheaded, or cranky. Also, pay attention to how you feel after an intense workout or a long walk.
During your regular check-up, your doctor can test your blood sugar levels. This includes checking your fasting glucose levels, A1C levels over 2–3 months, and insulin levels.
You can track your blood sugar levels at home using a glucometer. A glucometer is a device that measures the amount of sugar in a small drop of blood, usually taken from your fingertip. For more continuous monitoring, continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) are available. These devices use a small sensor placed under the skin to measure blood glucose levels in real-time, providing data on trends and fluctuations throughout the day. Talk to your doctor to see if any of these devices may be helpful for you.
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