Between our current agricultural practices, heavily processed foods and fast paced lifestyles, blood sugar dysregulation is a roller coaster that many do not realize they are even on each day, or have a choice to get off of.

We have been taught that it is normal to wake up groggy, shuffle out of bed, chug coffee while focusing on all the overwhelming tasks of the day, hustle our kids out the door, grab something easy to-go (generally carbs/sugar) on the way out the door (or skip breakfast all together), while throughout all of this our blood sugar is rapidly rising. When our blood sugar rises too high or too fast, our body starts to overproduce insulin, which can in turn cause blood sugar levels to drop rapidly. The pancreas then releases glucagon to try and regulate it, but if it is not able to release these stored forms of glucose at the right time or in the right amount then the HPA axis comes into play and the adrenals immediately release epinephrine and cortisol to attempt to rectify the imbalance, causing the body to develop insulin resistance when this cycle is repeated time and time again. We feels this as energy spikes and crashes, cravings for carbs and sugar, afternoon exhaustion, waking up with adrenaline at all hours of the night and not being able to fall back asleep, nightsweats, feeling on the verge of hypoglycemia all the time, being ‘hangry’, and brain fog.

Our bodies have brilliantly evolved to endure stress in acute forms, and believe it or not, this type of stress is actually good for our bodies in short spurts when we are able to return to homeostasis afterwards. It is when we encounter mid level stressors throughout the day and as a result, throughout the night as well, that we get stuck on the blood sugar rollercoaster that has been increasing steadily since the industrial revolution and exponentially since the advent of the low-fat diet, when fat was replaced with sugar. Never before in history have we had the emergency need to lower blood sugar. The increased consumption of processed and refined foods, environmental toxicity and stress, create this unique and critical need.

Stable blood sugar is maintained by eating a diet that is balanced in fat, protein and complex carbohydrates (vegetables). When the body is breaking food down into building blocks, energy and storage, there is consistent energy throughout the day, metabolic flexibility, and reduced stress on the body.