You may now have groceries delivered to your home, pay payments online, and drive around in an autonomous automobile. Would you think your life has grown less stressful now that AI has taken over and made man comfortable? Perhaps, perhaps not. The fast-paced modern world has its drawbacks, when time is everything and production is a success. This concept has led individuals further away from relaxation and calm. It has depleted people’s energy reserves and created a high-stress environment around us. This essay will help you realise how your constant hustle that causes you stress may be detrimental to your overall well-being. You will also learn how to create healthy behaviours with real-time health status and suitable assistance.
Understanding stress
The physical and emotional response to situations that threaten or challenge people in various ways is referred to as stress. It could be a reaction to an unpleasant incident, such as having network problems during a job interview, or an event, such as planning for your sister’s wedding. A stressor is the possibility or situation that is the source of stress.
It is critical to remember that people’s minds and bodies can react differently to the same stressor. It is a result of the fact that everyone reacts differently to triggers and that everyone’s bodies are different. Stress is a physiological response that protects you from danger and maintains your body’s health. As a result, when stressed, the human body releases stress hormones.
Types of Stress
Positive and negative stress
A positive response, also known as eustress, motivates you to confront a difficult situation and complete a task. It helps you deal with what you need to face or resolve. It can result in feelings of success, satisfaction, and contentment.
Worry, anxiety, and despair may occur when you are troubled or have a negative reaction to a stressor. Furthermore, chronic stress and anxiety can develop as physical diseases as a result of persistent negative stress.
Acute and Chronic stress
The amount of time that healthy stress versus harmful stress last is a significant distinction. So the stress you could feel during a football game or before a presentation is the kind that lasts only a short time and hence does not hurt you.
It is well understood that anything over a certain point becomes dangerous. Long-term stress, for example, can cause wear and tear on the human body. Furthermore, the stress hormones and energy surge that are released during stress and become persistent can have negative consequences.
Long-term stress can cause headaches, backaches, skin rashes, dyspepsia, persistent exhaustion, and the common cold.
The Impact of Chronic Stress on Your Glucose Levels
Stress can cause blood sugar levels to rise. When the body is subjected to long-term chronic stress, it produces more cortisol (stress hormone) than when subjected to any other sort of stress.
When cortisol levels are high, the body limits insulin release. In addition, insulin assists in the movement of sugar from the bloodstream to cells, where it is used for energy. As a result, if insulin is not released correctly, more sugar remains in the bloodstream, resulting in a blood sugar imbalance.
Stress can have an effect on blood sugar levels both directly and indirectly. Chronic stress, for example, might result in long-term elevated cortisol levels, leading in decreased insulin secretion. As a result, stress raises the likelihood of developing diabetes.
People who have been exposed to stressful events over an extended period of time may acquire habitual alcohol or smoking habits, which disrupt blood sugar levels. Addiction is fairly common in our society, and it can be a direct result of stress. Cognitive dissonance is an internal paradox. We develop behaviours that we are aware have negative consequences for us. Cognitive dissonance manifests itself in behaviours such as stress eating, smoking, binge drinking, and so forth. Chronic stressors are typically difficult to avoid; hence, lowering stress to prevent sugar surges is out. Monitoring your sugar spike on a frequent basis is an easy approach to keep track of it.
How Can You Determine if Stress Increases Your Glucose Levels?
- Rate your stress level from 1 to 10, with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest; record your stress level in your logbook.
- A metabolic panel home screening could be ordered to examine your blood sample for over 80 health factors. The relationship between stress and blood sugar might impact health indices with far-reaching repercussions.
- You could also utilise continuous glucose monitoring, or CGM, to know your glucose levels in real time and make informed judgments. CGM is a simple wearable technology with an integrated sensor. Our glucose levels rise with every food or drink we consume. In addition, when you subscribe to this service, the HealthifyPro coach will assist you in bringing in the appropriate actions. It could be as simple as taking a few deep breaths to help you cope better with glucose variations, lowering your risk of developing a chronic condition.
- Examine your data every few weeks to see if any trends emerge between your glucose and stress levels.
- You may easily build durable habits once you understand how your body behaves under stress and what you may need to know to return your glucose levels to normal.
Tips to reduce stress
- Monitor your blood sugar levels while you’re anxious. When you are stressed, you should pay close attention to your blood sugar levels and make any necessary dietary or pharmaceutical changes.
- People learn to manage modest life difficulties with time and experience. Simple lifestyle changes, such as going for a short walk to clear your mind, can make a significant effect.
- Many people perform breathing exercises, listen to music, do yoga, or participate in sports to relieve stress and help their bodies handle glucose more efficiently. Aerobic workouts, according to one study, may help lower mental stress.
- Talking it out is another effective stress-reduction strategy. Sharing your worries with a trusted friend, family member, or mentor may make you feel better.
- You will experience emotional stress if you do not get enough sleep. Sleeping as long as 9 hours a day, on the other hand, can cause blood sugar levels to rise. As a result, it is vital to control sleep hours so that they are neither too short nor too long.
- Inform your health coach about any important life changes that affect your mood or blood glucose levels. It will provide you the ability to design a long-term health strategy that will teach you to slow down and recognise your emotional requirements and voids.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are steps you can take, such as adjusting your food, to maintain your blood sugar levels and avoid hypoglycemia. This is especially important if you believe you are in the early stages of adrenal exhaustion. By controlling your blood sugar, you can also prevent your adrenal fatigue from worsening. A proper hypoglycemic diet is intended to assist you in normalising your blood sugar levels in the healthiest way possible. Fibre-rich foods used in this diet include chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, avocado, beans, artichokes, apples, and flaxseeds.
While a low carbohydrate diet may help with low blood glucose levels, this diet also provides a range of healthful carbs, which are important because glucose is predominantly generated from them. Carbohydrate choices to consider include wild rice, brown rice, and sweet potatoes.
Furthermore, the hypoglycemic diet calls for the use of healthy fats. Extra virgin olive oil and virgin coconut oil are two examples.
In fact, optimising your blood sugar levels can aid in adrenal healing. This, in turn, can lead to a marked improvement in general quality of life.
