High and Low Blood Sugar

High and Low Blood Sugar - Functional Medicine Novato

When you eat carbohydrates, starches and sugar, the body converts it glucose or “blood sugar” to transport it around your body. All the cells in your body use blood sugar as fuel.  Blood sugar is the essential fuel that runs our body. All the cells in the body need a constant steady supply of glucose.  This steady level of blood sugar is controlled by how often you eat, what you eat and by insulin, which is secreted by your pancreas.

Insulin opens the doors to your cells to allow the glucose to enter the cell to be turned into energy. It is kind of like your car.  If you run low on fuel, your body will sputter and shake.  If you have too much fuel, your engine will flood and the engine will stall.  If your blood sugar gets too high or too low, your body releases surges of insulin.

These surges of insulin can cause inflammation throughout your body and trigger your adrenal glands release cortisol and epinephrine (stress hormones).  So chronic surges of insulin can lead to adrenal fatigue and other hormone imbalances. The two main problems are elevated blood sugar or hyper-glycemia, which can lead insulin resistance and type II diabetes. The other problem is low blood sugar, reactive hypoglycemia or hypoglycemia. Here are some common symptoms of blood sugar imbalances:

High Blood Sugar

  • Crave sweets during the day
  • Irritable if meals are missed
  • Depend on coffee to keep going/get started
  • Get light-headed if meals are missed
  • Eating relieves fatigue
  • Feel shaky, jittery, or have tremors
  • Agitated, easily upset, nervous
  • Poor memory/forgetful
  • Blurred vision

Low Blood Sugar

  • Fatigue after meals
  • Crave sweets during the day
  • Eating sweets does not relieve cravings for sugar
  • Must have sweets after meals
  • Waist girth is equal or larger than hip girth
  • Frequent urination
  • Increased thirst and appetite
  • Difficulty losing weight