Thyroid Thursday #89: Reactive Hypoglycemia: Part 2 [71f637]

7 Natural Ways to Lower Your Blood Sugar Levels

Maintaining a healthy blood sugar range is crucial for optimal health. When your body produces too much insulin, it can lead to blood sugar spikes and drops. This article will discuss home remedies that can help lower your blood sugar levels.

Understanding the Role of Diet in Maintaining Healthy Blood Sugar Range A well-balanced diet plays a significant role in regulating blood sugar levels. Foods high in fiber, such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, can help slow down glucose absorption into the bloodstream. In contrast, foods low in fiber like a1 blood sugar sugary drinks and refined carbohydrates can cause a spike in blood sugar levels.

The Importance of Exercise in Regulating Blood Sugar Levels Regular physical activity is essential for maintaining healthy blood sugar ranges. blood sugar 17 Exercise increases insulin sensitivity, allowing cells to absorb glucose more efficiently. Aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic exercise per week.

How Supplements Can Help Lower Your Blood Sugar Range Certain supplements can help regulate blood sugar levels when taken in moderation. Chromium, magnesium, and vitamin D have been shown to improve insulin sensitivity and reduce glucose levels. However, it's essential to consult with a healthcare professional before adding any new supplement to your regimen.

Maintaining Healthy Sleep Patterns for Optimal Blood Sugar Regulation Poor sleep quality can disrupt blood sugar regulation, leading to fluctuations in blood sugar ranges. Aim for 7-8 hours of sleep per night and establish a consistent bedtime routine. Additionally, consider avoiding caffeine and electronics at least an hour before bedtime.

The Impact of Stress on Blood Sugar Levels Stress can cause cortisol levels to rise, which can lead to increased glucose production in the liver. Find healthy ways to manage stress, such as meditation or yoga. Taking short breaks throughout the day to stretch or move around can also help reduce blood sugar spikes caused by stress.

Monitoring Your Blood Sugar Range with Ease

Tracking your blood sugar range is crucial for making informed lifestyle changes. Use a glucometer to monitor your levels at home and adjust your diet and exercise routine accordingly. Keep track of any fluctuations in your blood sugar ranges, noting the time of day, meal composition, and level reduce blood sugar fast of physical activity when monitoring occurs.

Incorporating Stress-Reducing Activities into Your Daily Routine

Engaging in activities that promote relaxation can help reduce cortisol levels and improve insulin sensitivity. Try incorporating stress-reducing activities such as deep breathing exercises or tai chi into your daily routine. Aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per day.

Stabilizing Blood Sugar Levels with Meal Timing Timing meals to prevent blood sugar spikes is crucial for maintaining healthy ranges. Eat smaller, more frequent meals throughout the day and avoid skipping breakfast altogether. Choose low-glycemic index foods that take longer to digest, such as whole grains or non-starchy vegetables.

Why Fiber-Rich Foods Are Essential for Blood Sugar Regulation

Fiber-rich foods play a significant role in regulating blood sugar levels by slowing down glucose absorption into the bloodstream. Include more fiber-rich foods like legumes, nuts, and seeds in your diet to support healthy blood sugar regulation. Aim for at least 25-30 grams of dietary fiber per day.

Maintaining Healthy Blood Sugar Ranges Through Mindful Eating Mindless eating can lead to consuming high-calorie or high-sugar foods that can disrupt blood sugar ranges. Practice mindful eating by savoring each bite, chewing slowly, and paying attention to hunger cues.

Monitoring Your Glycemic Index for Optimal Blood Sugar Regulation

The glycemic index is a measure of how quickly certain foods raise blood sugar levels. Choose low-glycemic index foods that take longer to digest, such as whole grains or non-starchy vegetables. This will help regulate your appetite and support healthy weight management.

Understanding the Role of Insulin Sensitivity in Blood Sugar Regulation

Insulin sensitivity plays a crucial role in regulating blood sugar ranges. When cells are insulin sensitive, glucose is absorbed more efficiently into the bloodstream. Regular physical activity, such as brisk walking or strength training, can improve insulin sensitivity over time.

By incorporating these home remedies and tips into your daily routine, you'll be well on your way to maintaining healthy blood sugar ranges for optimal health.

Hey, everybody. It's Dr. Eric Balcavage. We're back for another edition of Thyroid Thursday, and today is part two in our Reactive Hypoglycemia Series. If you remember from the last video, we talked about reactive hypoglycemia being this condition where your blood sugar drops a bit too low in the one to four hours post-eating. When that happens, you can get number of symptoms, anxiety and irritability. You can get brain fog, lightheadedness, confusion, blurred vision, fatigue, weakness, sweating, headaches, heart palpitations, cravings to eat, and have disrupted sleep. Blood glucose dysregulation is a major reason for disrupted sleep. So, what's going on? As I said in the last video, when you eat, food comes into the GI tract. You break it down into micronutrients, minerals, amino acids, glucose and fatty acids. What should happen is, that as your blood sugar rises, insulin should rise with it. This initial rise in insulin is called the First Phase Insulin Response. We're going to talk more about the First Phase Insulin Response in more detail in the next video. As glucose rises, insulin should rise with it. Then, as glucose starts to drop, insulin should start to drop and it should bring us back to our baseline. If, however, glucose drops a bit too low, it can result in slow blood glucose symptoms. What causes this state to occur? Well, one of the things that can occur is that you have too much insulin, or you're too insulin sensitive. The primary reason for that is an increased level of something called GLP-1, which is an enzyme in the GI tract, and that enzyme is what triggers the first phase insulin response and makes us more insulin sensitive. We'll talk more about that in the next video. If you're a type 2 diabetic already and you're taking insulin, it can be caused by taking too much insulin. It could also happen to somebody whose type 1 diabetic. A second reason is your GI tract, especially the stomach, empties way too fast. If you're one of those people who eats and they have to go to the bathroom right away, then you're probably getting excessive GLP-1 that's increasing that insulin response, and increasing insulin sensitivity, and that can cause the drop in blood sugar rapidly. A third cause is inflammation. Chronic low-grade inflammation is a chronic problem for many people. If you have low-grade chronic inflammation, it can trigger changes in GI function, GI motility and cause the blood sugar to drop, as well. A fourth reason is decreased production of what we call the counter regulatory enzymes or hormones. What happens is, as the blood sugar starts to drop, these counter regulatory hormones, (the things we talked about last time; glucagon, cortisol, adrenaline, and growth factor) should actually kick in and bring our blood sugar back to a normal optimal level. However, if we're not getting good production of glucagon, cortisol, adrenaline or growth hormone, then we don't have this counter regulatory measure working well. Your blood sugar will drop too low, and with sluggish production of regulatory hormones, the blood glucose is not restored quickly and symptoms ensue. The primary reason for reduced production of regulatory hormones is hypothyroidism. It can be glandular hypothyroidism, where the gland's not putting out enough thyroid hormone, resulting in reduced thyroid hormone to the cells and tissues, aka cellular hypothyroidism. Or, you could just have cellular hypothyroidism. Which means there is reduced thyroid hormone in the specific cells or tissues that are making these counter regulatory hormones. Without appropriate counter regulatory hormones, and you're going to have this reactive hypoglycemic state. The last reason could be nutrient deficiencies. You could have carnitine, vitamin C, or amino acids deficiency, which I commonly see in people who have hypothyroidism. One reason for amino acid deficiency is reduced stomach acid production for proper protein digestion. Iron deficiency can also be caused by low stomach acid and result in this reactive hypoglycemic state. The question you may be asking yourself is, "Okay, so what do I do about it?" This is one of those things that I don't think you take lightly. I think you should reach out to a functional medicine practitioner like myself, and get some help and some guidance on this because really what we need to do is identify the underlying cause. Yeah, you can eat like every two hours, which is what a lot of people recommend. People are often told to eat small frequent meals to regulate their blood sugar, but that's a recipe for problems down the line. What we really want to do is help you identify what's the mechanism that's creating this problem that you can't regulate glucose as well as you should. Hopefully this video helps. Stay tuned for part three in the Reactive Hypoglycemic Series. Take care. IG: @drericbalcavage www.rejuvagencenter.com