{"id":1231,"date":"2021-10-23T07:00:54","date_gmt":"2021-10-23T06:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lowcarbprogram.com\/life\/?p=1231"},"modified":"2021-09-27T17:08:19","modified_gmt":"2021-09-27T16:08:19","slug":"stress-wreaks-havoc-blood-sugars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lowcarbprogram.com\/life\/stress-wreaks-havoc-blood-sugars\/","title":{"rendered":"How stress wreaks havoc on your blood sugars"},"content":{"rendered":"

Research increasingly suggest\u00a0that there is a rather strong link\u00a0between mental and emotional wellbeing\u00a0and disease. This is primarily expressed in the scientific literature in terms of stress\u00a0affecting blood sugar control as well as one’s quality of life.<\/p>\n

Stress management is one of the most important\u2014and also most neglected\u2014steps you can take to improve your health. It’s often the first thing that slips through the cracks in a busy life, yet without\u00a0some form of regular stress management, you may inadvertently sabotage all of your best efforts with diet and exercise.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to suggest some strategies to manage stress\u00a0at the end of the article, but first let\u2019s define stress more explicitly and learn more about the harm it causes.<\/p>\n

What is stress?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Stress is defined, according the prominent psychologist, Richard Lazarus, as a natural instinctive state of mind emerging from “any event in which environmental demands, internal demands, or both tax or exceed the adaptive resources of an individual.”<\/p>\n

One\u00a0can become affected by stress after being under extreme duress due to impossibly full schedules, experiencing a traumatic event, having financial problems, driving in traffic, arguing with a spouse, losing a job and\/or following many\u00a0other emotional and psychological challenges of modern life.<\/p>\n

Stress is associated with emotions and thoughts, which are themselves associated with sensations in our bodies. In response to emotions like fear, anxiety or unresolved anger, our heart beat increases, our muscles tense and levels of certain hormones increase and make our blood sugars rise.<\/p>\n

It is not uncommon, for example, to find that after a day of stressing over work or personal related matters, evening blood glucose readings are especially high.<\/p>\n

The amount of stress felt during the day can also make it more difficult for you to fall into a deep, restorative sleep at night, further impacting on blood sugars the next day.<\/p>\n

As such, stress is a disturbance of homeostasis. Homeostasis is the body\u2019s ability to regulate its inner environment. When the body loses this ability, disease occurs.<\/p>\n

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How does stress harm the body?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The adrenals, which determine our tolerance to stress, are the system of our body most affected by stress. When burned out, the adrenal system ends\u00a0up taking a toll on\u00a0every other system in the body, which is why the symptoms of adrenal stress are so diverse and nonspecific.<\/p>\n

Some of the more common ones are:<\/p>\n