When you think of blood sugar (aka glucose) levels, does your mind jump straight to how much sugar you eat? If so, that’s completely fair. Your carb intake does play a significant role in your blood sugar levels. Carbs (no matter if it’s fruit, grains, or candy) are eventually broken down and metabolized into glucose. Eating a lot of carbs, especially foods with added sugar and no fiber, floods the bloodstream with glucose and can cause a dramatic increase in blood sugar.
But it’s not the only thing that impacts your glucose levels. Other habits that have nothing to do with who or how much you eat also influence how your body regulates its sugar.
So if you’ve recently had bloodwork done or are using a continuous glucose monitor and notice higher than desirable glucose levels, or if you’ve been feeling a bit haywire energy-wise, it may be because of one (or more) of these four sneaky culprits.
Being stressed releases a cascade of hormones like adrenaline and cortisol. In the right stressful situations (say you’re being chased by a bear), the release of these hormones increases your alertness and energy production—meaning your blood sugar will spike. But in these short-term situations, that energy spike is actually desirable.
You need to be alert and energized to deal with whatever the situation at hand is. And once that stressor is removed, levels of these hormones go back to their resting state and everything is balanced again.
The problem arises when stress doesn’t go away. Stress from work, financial concerns, relationships, parenting, and daily inconveniences, also trigger these hormones. Chronically high cortisol levels can also chronically raise blood sugar levels.
What can you do about this? Eliminating stress isn’t necessarily the goal here, but rather try to incorporate science-backed ways that can help manage the stress in your life. This could be through the use of meditation, yoga, aromatherapy, or adaptogens like ashwagandha.
Molly Knudsen, M.S., RDN
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