As a nutritional therapist, one of the most common irregularities I see is the reliance on sugar and caffeine for energy. Listen up, sugar is not a dependable energy source. Sugar brings quick energy- but it burns out fast. A few misinformed choices, and you spend your whole day flip-flopping from being wound up and anxious to lethargic and cranky. If our meals aren’t built with proper balance, your energy won’t be balanced. If we are struggling to turn all food sources into the currency of energy, we become a stressed out sugar burner. We don’t want a fast metabolism, we want a flexible metabolism. We need the body to use fat as fuel as well. These fatty acids are an incredible fuel source. They provide stable energy, body comp changes, and brain power- but if our body will only use easy energy (carbs), we can’t optimize out fat utilization.
So, how do you know if you are a stressed out sugar burner?
- Needing to eat every 90 minutes
- Reliant on caffeine, sugar or carbs for energy
- Dizziness, energy crashes, poor stress tolerance
- Irritability, brain fog or difficulty concentrating, tired and lethargic
- Feeling like you need to sleep after your meals.
- Nausea or bad headaches- possible migraines.
- Sweating or heart palpitations
- Lots of intense cravings, (hangry)- this is not a personality trait.
While these symptoms may come and go- overtime they have a damaging effect on the body. I’ll show more of this at the end.
Is this me?
I think the most basic question to ask yourself is:
Does your hunger regularly feel INTERESTING?
Or does it feel URGENT?
There would be my own opinion of how to judge if you are a stressed out sugar burner.
If you know that you regularly find yourself with URGENT hunger- this is a sign that your body has been conditioned to rely on glucose for energy.
When your body runs low on glucose—this is when it starts to panic
If you’ve identified that this is you, keep reading for some great hacks in repairing this relationship.
Back to the basics
Blood sugar (or glucose) is our main source of energy, and we feel our best when we keep our blood sugar levels balanced- not too high, and not too low. Long term damage can be created if we spend too much time on either side.
“If blood sugar regulation is not working efficiently overall health cannot be achieved, leading to oxidative stress, glycation and erratic energy output.” (Student guide BSR p.1) Glucose is an important source of energy, but over abundance can lead to headaches, weight gain, anxiety, diabetes, high blood pressure, or endocrine imbalances.
If we become a dysregulated sugar burner, it takes greater effort to restore that harmony back into the body while fixing everything it broke along the way.
I’ll talk more about the sugar + stress BFF relationship in an upcoming post.
Your body thrives when it is fed protein, fat, and carbohydrates at each meal. This gives the most well-rounded supply for your body to create energy, build up our body, or store for later use.
To see it in action, consider this:
If our body is working as it should- after a balanced meal, the body breaks apart the nutrients and releases the sugar into the blood stream- blood sugar rises.
The brain senses this shift and tells the pancreas to create insulin to bring the blood sugar back down. Insulin takes this sugar and shuttles it around to different areas of need in the body. This is when we feel best- fed and happy. The whole process of shuttling, building, repairing, digesting, and fueling takes a few hours.
When the blood sugar starts to naturally fall -the brain recognizes this and tells the liver to start finding stored forms of sugar or fat to last until the next meal.
But when things aren’t working optimally or when the body isn’t nourished completely, things go a little different.
If instead the meal is heavy in carbohydrates- the body will burn this very quickly. The carbs are very easy to digest and very rewarding. This meal would spike the blood sugar high. The brain reacts and sends out the need for insulin and lots of it. Insulin comes in like a train, slow to start- then has trouble stopping and pushes the blood sugar too far and too low. Because the blood sugar has dropped the body sees this as an emergency. It needs fuel.
This is where you could see that need for snacks, agitation, and headaches coming in. It wants food and it wants it now! Naturally we would reach for something sweet and carb loaded to bring blood sugar back up quickly, because feeling depleted is an awful state to exist in. However- there it goes- blood sugar back up, body reacts in panic and pushes it too low and this continues again and again. It is exhausting.
Over time this roller coaster of high and low blood sugar damages our body and can lead to some of the symptoms previously stated.
Read more about habits that lead to burn out here.
You can learn how to naturally balance your blood sugar and stay in that sweet spot throughout the day.
12 ways to stop being a stressed out sugar burner:
- No naked carbs– Always pair a carbohydrate with a protein of fat
- Prioritize quality breakfast– This meals sets you up for balance or unbalance for the rest of the day. Aim for 30g of protein
- Go for a short walk after meals– the effects of this ALONE is outstanding for both glucose and overall health
- Eliminate unnecessary hidden sugars– in things like condiments + snack foods
- Eliminate sugar filled drinks– Replace with an alternative like sparkling water, LMNT or Zevia
- Eliminate processed carbohydrates–Things like crackers, chips, breads, pasta
- Make sure your meals contain healthy fats– Eggs, nuts, olives, cheese, avocado, etc
- Have 1 Tablespoon of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice in water before all meals. Or squeeze fresh lemon juice on foods
- Avoid lots of cardio or HIIT workouts- Gentle exercise like walking, yoga have better effects on blood sugar. Weight training is also recommended
- Avoid snacking and eating mindlessly– Each time you spike your glucose with food, you also spike your insulin- leading to less insulin sensitivity.
- Choose to eat your carbohydrates last in your meal
- Choose whole natural carbs over processed carbs– Choose the full orange over orange juice
Consider this graph if it helps you to visualize how your symptoms are effecting your body:
The resulting effects of being a sugar burner:
- Consistent highs and lows of blood sugar results in elevated insulin, cortisol, and epinephrine to keep the body running. The body is designed to shift back and forth from a sympathetic (cortisol response) to a parasympathetic (rest, digest, repair) state. However, these persistent spikes (in response to food OR stress) have the body consistently in a state of fight or flight. I love this topic. Stay turned for more information on this cycle.
- This requires a constant stream of insulin- increasing the risk of developing insulin resistance, which can even lead to type 2 diabetes.
- These periods of prolonged stress, leads to a reduction in DHEA. DHEA is only produced when the body is in a rested state. DHEA is a building block for testosterone, oxytocin, and estrogen. When we cannot get to this rested state, these hormones cannot be made- yes even your sex hormones.
- Chronic stress also leads to gut permeability– aka “leaky gut”, allowing bacteria and undigested food into circulation though the body. This triggers an immune response, food sensitivities, and high inflammation that spreads through the body leading to… more stress!
- High hormone levels are incredibly taxing on the body, leaving you unable to cope with daily stress properly. This is when you have a $1 reaction to a 50c problem. Unstable blood sugar and unmanaged stress will continue to feed off of each other -further damaging the body and it’s communication systems.
- Both parts need to be addressed SIMULTANEOUSLY. You cannot manage blood sugar without working on stress levels and vice versa.
What’s next?
If you want personalized guidance in implemented some of these strategies I outlined, I would love to connect. Schedule a call right here to get started, and make that first step toward the rest of your life. Mastering my blood sugar was one of the first steps I made years ago- what a difference it made! Can’t wait for the same to be true for you too.
Best,
Leana
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