Blood Sugar Imbalance

Your blood sugar levels have an impact on your energy, concentration, ability to lose weight, sporting performance, mood and much more.

Starchy and sweet foods and alcohol are broken down by the body into a sugar called glucose. This is carried around in the blood stream and taken to cells which use it for energy.

At any one time, the ideal amount of glucose to have in the blood is about 2 teaspoons.

Blood glucose levels are carefully controlled by a hormone called insulin. After we eat, the amount of glucose in the blood rises. Insulin is released to bring blood glucose levels back down to normal levels. If blood sugar rises too rapidly, the body can release too much insulin. This causes the blood sugar to swing to low again, making us feel tired, grumpy and hungry. This is sometimes referred to as the blood sugar rollercoaster. 

Symptoms of blood sugar imbalance

  • Irritability
  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Mood swings
  • Poor concentration
  • Fat storage, especially around the midriff
  • Brain fog
  • Insomnia
  • Cravings, especially for sweet foods
  • Excessive thirst
  • Addictions to caffeine containing drinks and/or alcohol and cigarettes
  • Drowsiness during the day
  • Excessive sweating
  • Difficulty losing weight

If your blood sugar remains unbalanced too frequently, the body starts to ignore the insulin message: a condition called insulin resistance. This leads to permanently high blood sugar levels which can cause weight gain and can eventually lead to type 2 diabetes.

Testing for blood sugar imbalance

Your fasting glucose levels can easily be tested by your GP.

Testing for insulin resistance

A comprehensive Insulin Resistance Metabolic Panel checks fasting glucose levels, cardiovascular risk factors associated with insulin resistance and inflammatory markers associated with pre diabetes.

Contributory factors associated with blood sugar imbalance

Poor dietary choices: a diet high in alcohol or refined and sugary foods predisposes us to the blood sugar rollercoaster. This is further aggravated by irregular eating habits.

A Consultation with Smart Nutrition will help you to make key changes in your diet to help balance your blood sugar and energy levels. Smart Nutrition can also provide practical suggestions for meals and snacks that will fit in with your lifestyle, helping you to maintain more consistent blood sugar levels. Please click the link at the bottom of the page to book.

Being overweight: body fat is not an inert substance – it releases all sorts of hormones and messages into the body.

Some of these can interfere with the way your body controls blood sugar. Being overweight therefore increases the likelihood of blood sugar imbalances and raises the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

These risks can be reversed by losing weight. Smart Nutrition can help you to lose weight sustainably by reeducating your eating habits and addressing any psychological block to weight loss such as binge eating, portion control and emotional eating.

Stress: stress causes the release of hormones which make the blood sugar rise in the same way as a sugary snack!

This stress response is an evolutionary glitch from our ancestors’ times, when the extra blood sugar allowed us to run away from danger. Because we tend to experience stressful situations regularly, our blood sugar levels can be all over the place.

If stress is a particular feature of your life, Smart Nutrition recommend an Adrenal Stress Test to identify any critical imbalances in stress hormones.

Nutrient deficiencies: certain key vitamins and minerals are needed for efficient blood sugar control. Eating a lot of packaged convenience food and fruit and vegetables that have travelled long distances make us more likely to be deficient in these essential nutrients.

The NutrEval Test can identify any potential deficiencies, and our nutritional therapists can then help you to correct them.

PCOS: polycystic ovary syndrome is one of the most common hormonal disturbances affecting women. Blood sugar imbalances are a recognised symptom of the condition, along with weight problems, overgrowth of facial hair, infertility, menstrual problems and acne.

A Female Hormone Profile can help to identify this condition, which can then be effectively managed with the help of Smart Nutrition.

Useful Links

Please do not return samples to the laboratories that may arrive after Wednesday 27th March and up to and including Monday 2nd April.

The laboratories are closed from the 28th March – 2nd April for the Easter Holiday.