Feeling tired all the time? Unstable blood sugar is likely to blame. Here’s how to fix it

Are you someone who needs a sweet treat as a “pick-me-up” in the afternoon? Do you get often feel sluggish after lunch and frequently experience sudden waves of bone-tiredness that feel like all your weariness hitting you at once?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, the problem (and fix) is likely to do with your blood sugar regulation. Our pancreas contains super-sensitive beta cells that are hyper-responsive to glucose availability in the bloodstream. The brain and heart have high energy requirements and rely heavily on glucose for fuel. Many of these autonomic (involuntary) functions don’t require insulin for glucose uptake.

Other cells in the body such as skeletal muscle have a “lock” and require a “key” (insulin) to uptake glucose into the cells. The balance of our blood sugar is dependent on the functionality of this insulin “key”. Our liver and pancreas run a very tight ship with modulatory hormones insulin and glucagon to ensure that our blood sugar stays within a safe range between approximately 4-8mmol/L, as abnormal levels can have disastrous effects on our organs and negatively affect normal bodily function.

If the blood sugar dips too low for any reason, your cognitive function will be immediately affected. You might feel that bone-tiredness, slurred speech and brain fog. This can occur after an overnight fast, or during physical activity that depletes glucose stores, or during rebound hypoglycaemia, something I will explain in the next section. Your pancreas immediately goes into damage control and secretes glucagon, a hormone that promotes the release of stored glucose from the liver into the bloodstream.

If your blood sugar goes above the regular range, your pancreas releases insulin to allow uptake into cells so the blood sugar can return to baseline. If the spike is quite steep after a big meal or too many refined carbohydrates in one sitting, the pancreas again goes into damage control and secretes a larger amount of insulin. Once this takes effect, an individual can fall into rebound hypoglycaemia whereby the insulin removes too much glucose from the bloodstream and it falls below normal range. This is that post-prandial wave of tiredness that hits you 30-60 minutes after eating lunch.  

This fatigue is predictable once you take notice of the timing and will be inextricably tied to your eating habits. Think of it like deliveries to a supermarket. If the day’s deliveries turn up overnight, there is no one at the door to take the deliveries inside. The deliveries end up sitting outside until someone can bring them in during the day. Glucose that is unused by the body will be converted into fat tissue and stored.

If the deliveries turn up during the day, they are immediately taken inside, often with extra demand for more stock. This is particularly true when physical activity is used to manage blood sugar, or carbohydrate is strategically eaten around exercise regimens.  

So how do you manage blood sugar for balanced energy throughout the day? Here are some tried, tested and clinically researched tips to have you bursting with energy and never needing an afternoon nap again while also preventing the onset of insulin resistance and diabetes.

1.       Eat less frequently (omit snacks). Eating frequently to maintain blood sugar is a myth, unless you are an insulin-dependent diabetic. Studies show that restricting meals to 2-3 times per day can promote better glycaemic control where individuals avoided snacking outside of mealtimes. Longevity is dependent on preserving the beta cells of your pancreas and your cellular sensitivity to insulin. Wearing them out with glycaemic instability leads to irreparable damage with flow-on effects to your other organs. Eating less frequently also allows the body to become more fat-adapted, where the body’s fat stores can be readily used as fuel.

2.       Eat breakfast (and lunch and dinner). The same systematic review that recommends eating less frequently also found that eating breakfast also promotes better glycaemic control. This finding also correlated stable blood glucose and better glucose tolerance with consistent mealtimes that promotes synchrony with the body’s own circadian rhythms. Skipping breakfast disrupts necessary hormonal cascades that interfere with glucose balance for the rest of the day.

3.       Consume fibre-rich foods prior to eating treats, desserts or carbohydrate-rich foods. This could be an apple before a piece of chocolate, a side salad before a plate of pasta or a balanced meal before a piece of cake. This will alleviate any spikes in blood sugar as fibre slows down GI absorption of glucose. Please note: I would not recommend using fats to alleviate blood sugar spikes, as fats can wreak just as much havoc on blood sugar over a longer timeframe.

4.       Take a 5-10min walk after every meal OR do rounds of squats or calf raises. Skeletal muscle is the body’s largest glucose “sink”. Post-prandial activity transports any excess glucose out of the bloodstream and into the muscles for immediate use.

5.       Prioritise your sleep. Cortisol rises along with heart rate variability when sleep is poor. Elevated cortisol promotes release of glucose from the liver into the bloodstream to improve physical and cognitive function. This survival adaptation helps us to escape from the real or perceived threat, but in the modern world leads to long-term insulin resistance and organ damage.

6.       Include strength or weight training in your regimen. Increasing your muscle mass will improve your basal metabolic rate and insulin sensitivity.

7.       Eat fats moderately (including eggs). Dietary fats don’t require a cellular transporter to enter the body’s cells and can therefore wreak havoc with your blood sugar by “locking” them and preventing glucose from entering. This can destabilise blood sugar for hours and lead to weight gain. Ignore advice that recommends consuming fat sources (particularly saturated fat) before carbohydrate to reduce glucose spikes as the science shows that this worsens insulin resistance and glucose tolerance.

If you are interested in naturopathic support to correct mineral deficiencies and optimise liver and gut function to improve your health, please book an appointment here or contact me at tia@themagicbean.com.au