Stress – it can’t be avoided. However, one of the keys to effective blood sugar control is to manage your stress, because it’s a major contributor to disordered blood glucose levels.
We always take an evidence-based approach and aim to provide you with actionable knowledge and tips to help you on your journey to optimal health. In this article we’ll provide you with some stress-busting strategies to help balance your blood sugar levels.
Blood sugar and your health
It’s incredibly important to maintain balanced blood sugar levels throughout the day. Peaks and troughs in blood glucose levels can lead to fatigue and irritability, are a risk factor for Type 2 diabetes and leave you less able to cope with stress.
Blood sugar is controlled largely by insulin, secreted by the pancreas. When glucose levels are high in the blood, insulin brings them down by encouraging the movement of sugar into body cells where it can be used as energy.
However, there are also other hormones involved in blood sugar control. When blood glucose becomes low, the body must access energy stored in the muscles and liver. You have two types of energy storage in your body – fat, a long term storage, and glycogen, a short-term store in the muscles and liver. Glycogen is accessed through the release of the hormones glucagon and adrenaline.
How does stress affect the body?
When you experience stress your body reacts by secreting various hormones to prepare you to react. We’ve evolved to deal with dangers which might threaten our lives so depending on the nature of the threat, we may need to beat a hasty retreat.
The major stress hormone is cortisol, pumped out by the adrenal glands which sit on top of the kidneys. In response to an acute stressor – something which may threaten your wellbeing – you also release adrenaline and noradrenaline, which prepare you to run away or deal with the stress by affecting your heart rate and blood pressure. This is called the fight/flight response.
The stress hormones divert blood and energy to your muscles in case you need to run, and to your heart so blood can be pumped around the body. This means blood isn’t available for other functions like digestion.
Stressors can be psychological, such as being stuck in traffic, money worries, work demands or arguing with your partner, or they can be physiological, like infection, inflammation or environmental toxins.
Stress hormones and blood sugar control
Cortisol is usually released according to a specific 24 hour pattern. It’s generally higher in the morning – to give you some impetus to start the day – and gradually declines towards evening, preparing you for sleep.
We have evolved to deal well with short term stressors, but the problem is nowadays stressors tend to be ongoing. We may experience financial worries or relationship issues on a daily basis. Often, one stressful event will follow another with no break in between. The result of this is cortisol remains high at all times.
Researchers have found high levels of workplace stress and elevated cortisol are correlated with insulin resistance (1), which is a reduction of the sensitivity of your cells to insulin where they simply don’t react to the message of insulin. This makes sense in the short term as it increases the amount of glucose available in the blood, which may be needed for to escape from danger.
Over time, if the cells continue to stop listening to the message insulin brings them, the pancreas compensates by secreting increasing levels of insulin, eventually tiring out the gland, causing insulin secretion to fall and leading to the development of Type 2 diabetes. Researchers think cortisol may prevent the pancreas from compensating by producing more insulin when it’s needed.
The dangers of high cortisol
The effects of long term high cortisol levels are not only insulin resistance but also increased fat storage, especially around the middle. Stress can also break down muscle tissue, and this has a negative impact because muscle is metabolically active and helps in blood sugar control by drawing in glucose from the bloodstream.
Prolonged secretion of stress hormones is believed to contribute to chronic inflammation, especially if there is a high level of belly fat (2). In turn, inflammation is related to insulin resistance.
So it seems stress can contribute to problems maintaining blood sugar balance, however on the other hand fluctuations in blood glucose levels can also reduce ability to deal with stress. This is because when blood sugar falls, the adrenals release adrenaline to help mobilise stored glycogen in the liver. Constant demands to release adrenaline can tire out the adrenals over the long term and reduce its ability to secrete cortisol.
How to manage stress in your life
The part of the nervous system which deals with involuntary activities, like your heart rate and breathing, is called the autonomic nervous system. It has two parts – the sympathetic nervous system, dominant during the fight/flight response and the parasympathetic nervous system, responsible for the ‘rest and digest’ phase. During ongoing stress the body doesn’t spend much time in the rest and digest phase.
None of us can avoid stress, but you can change our relationship with it and alter how you respond to stress in your life. The techniques listed below help to take you out of the sympathetic fight/flight response and into the parasympathetic rest and digest mode.
Fortunately, the adverse effects of stress on blood sugar control mechanisms do appear to be reversible if stress is effectively managed.
- Yoga, meditation and Tai Chi
These disciplines can be useful to help alter your perception of what is stressful, as well as improving the way you react to stress. As well as going to a class, there are many apps and online videos which can teach you the correct techniques.
Or why not incorporate them into a stay at an Amchara retreat and combine relaxation with a body cleanse? Practicing these disciplines in a supportive atmosphere such as this can be a great way to motivate you to adopt new healthy lifestyle habits.
- Exercise
Regular exercise is effective at reducing chronic stress and balancing your adrenal hormones. As little as ten minutes’ exercise per day can make a difference to your stress levels and blood sugar control. Even being outside for just a short walk is a boost to your health.
- Deep breathing
We often overlook breathing, but when you are under stress the tendency is to breathe shallowly.
Deep breathing techniques can be incredibly calming to the body and mind in a matter of minutes, and you can do them anywhere.
There are many different types of breathing exercises, which all encourage consciously breathing using your diaphragm, rather than simply using the muscles in the chest.
- Acupressure
Acupressure is based on traditional Chinese medicine and shares similarities with acupuncture.
The principle behind acupressure is to encourage energy flow around the body via meridians, and remove blockages to the movement of energy. Unlike acupuncture which uses needles, acupressure simply exerts pressure on specific points along the energy meridians.
Acupressure has been demonstrated to increase parasympathetic nervous system activity, regulate cortisol and increase feelings of calm (3).
Acupressure can be performed anywhere, even when you are in the midst of a stressful situation, to help calm your stress response.
- Improve your sleep
Insufficient or poor quality sleep can leave you less able to cope with stress.
To improve your chances of having a good night’s sleep, try to turn in at the same time each evening, avoid caffeine and other stimulants after lunch, ban screens for at least an hour before bed, and have a warm bath with Epsom salts before bed.
- Pay attention to nutrition
It can be tempting to try to cope with stress by reaching for junk food, which contains huge amounts of sugar and is stripped of beneficial nutrients. Although such foods may seem to make you feel better in the short term, they add extra stress to the body over time.
Your adrenal glands need certain nutrients in order to function effectively, such as vitamin C, magnesium and B complex vitamins, particularly vitamin B5. The glands store large amounts of these nutrients which are depleted during times of stress, when the adrenals need to work harder.
During stress, magnesium tends to be lost via the urine, so people who are subject to ongoing stress tend to have lower body levels of magnesium (4). Magnesium is not known as nature’s tranquilliser for nothing – it not only supports the stress glands, but it’s also necessary for proper relaxation of the nerves and muscles, and plays a crucial role in blood sugar control.
Ensure you’re eating plenty of good sources of these nutrients including fruit and veggies, particularly green leafy vegetables, as well as nuts, seeds and beans.
Eat protein with every meal. Choose from oily fish, organic eggs, organic chicken and turkey, beans and tofu, nuts, especially almonds, and seeds like pumpkin and sesame seeds. These are a source of the amino acid tyrosine, one of the components of adrenal hormones.
- Consider herbal remedies
Several herbal remedies have been traditionally used to support the adrenal glands during times of stress including rhodiola root, traditionally used to help the body adapt to stress, ashwagandha, which has been used for centuries in Ayurvedic medicine, and ginseng, used to support the hormonal reaction to stress.
Amchara recommends taking supplements with the support of a practitioner. If you are taking medication, do speak to your GP before taking any supplement or herbal medicine.
Takeaway
Adopting stress management techniques like the examples above can help support your adrenal glands and this will have a knock on effect of improving your blood sugar balance, further protecting your adrenal glands in the long term.
Sometimes stress can be overwhelming and lead to feelings of despair and hopelessness. If this sounds familiar, a consultation with an Amchara Personalised Health practitioner can provide you with both practical and emotional support to help you better respond to and manage the stress in your life.
Gaining your insight helps us to help others. Sharing knowledge and experience is an important part of achieving optimal health and we would love to hear your views and experiences.
Do you have any suggestions for dealing with stress?
Please share your thoughts in the comments.
Read this next:
