by Jes Williams @feelmoregooder
Blood sugar balancing has been a trendy topic in the wellness world for the last few years in particular. With viral social media posts about unexpected foods/meal timings spiking blood sugar, it can seem like any food with a carbohydrate content is bad.
So, should we completely abstain from carbs for our health? Or, is there a smart way to approach it that allows for flexibility in what we ingest? And, what are the implications on long term health? We will examine that and more in this post, helping you connect the dots between blood sugar and longevity.
What is Blood Sugar?
Blood sugar, also known as blood glucose, refers to the level of glucose (think: simple sugar) present in your bloodstream, which comes from the food you eat. This is used by your body as a source of energy. Studies on blood sugar focus on how the body regulates this glucose level through the hormone insulin. (1)
What is Insulin?
Insulin is a peptide hormone secreted by cells of the pancreas and maintains normal blood glucose levels by facilitating cellular glucose uptake. Insulin also regulates carbohydrate/fat/protein metabolism and promotes cell division and growth through its mitogenic effects (mitogenic refers to stimulation, production, and cell division). Too, insulin inhibits gluconeogenesis (more on this later). (2)
What is Longevity?
Longevity refers to the property of being long-lived. Longevity has a strong genetic component, but is irrefutably impacted by epigenetics, as modern research has found. (3, 4)
In this post, we are referring to longevity more in regards to healthspan. Through the lens of healthspan (versus lifespan), we are looking at the years where the individual has their health intact, so to speak. The National Library of Medicine describes healthspan as “the number of disease-free years lived.” (5)
Why are Blood Sugar Spikes Unhealthy?
Studies have shown that frequent blood sugar spikes are unhealthy because they can lead to increased insulin resistance (more on that shortly), inflammation in the body, damage to blood vessels, and contribute to the development of chronic blood sugar disregulation conditions.
The highest risk is posed particularly when the spikes are consistently high over time. This is largely due to the body's response to incessantly rising glucose levels, often causing an overproduction of insulin which can lead to further complications & ailments. (6)
What Causes Blood Sugar Spikes?
Now that we’ve established that chronically elevated blood sugar causes health problems - let’s get into changes we can make to better better our blood sugar.
Elevated blood sugar, as sometimes referred to as hyperglycemia, can be caused by many things. (7, 8, 9, 10
) It’s important to note that not all of these things are food/ingesting sugar related:
-Medications: some medications, such as corticosteroids, thiazide diuretics, beta-blockers, and antipsychotics, can cause hyperglycemia.
-Hormonal changes: Pregnancy and some hormone dysregulation conditions can all cause hyperglycemia.
-Diet: Eating too many carbohydrates, or not eating enough protein and fiber, can cause high blood sugar.
-Exercise: Not exercising enough, or too much exercise, can cause hyperglycemia.
-Stress: Stress, whether positive or negative, can cause hyperglycemia.
-Illness: Illness or infection can cause elevated blood sugar.
-Dehydration: Dehydration can cause hyperglycemia
because it makes your blood more concentrated.
-Sleep: Not getting enough sleep can cause blood sugar to elevate.
-Other factors: Artificial sweeteners, coffee, nasal sprays, and gum conditions can also cause elevated blood sugar.
-Light Environment - a dysregulated circadian rhythm and interfacing with blue light after sunset or before sunrise can elevate blood sugar (more on this in the next section)
Light Environment & Blood Sugar
As we examined in this post, things that elevate cortisol (the stress response hormone) are also going to elevate blood sugar levels. It’s how our highly intellingent physiological systems are built.
In a 2019 study examining blue light, we see that “light at night acutely impairs glucose tolerance.” (10) Additionally, a 2024 study tells us that blue light at night is associated with a common blood sugar dysregulation condition. (11)
Too, we know from another study that being exposure to blue light during meals increases insulin resistance (here’s your nudge to eat more meals under natural sunlight). (12) And lastly (though not a comprehensive look at all of the research, of course, we learn in another study that suppressing blue light exposure at night does indeed give help us ameliorate the downsides. (13)
Understanding Insulin Resistance
Insulin resistance is defined by the National Library of Medicine as “is defined as a state of reduced responsiveness of insulin-targeting tissues to physiological levels of insulin.” This leads to difficulty in absorbing glucose from the bloodstream, often resulting in elevated blood sugar levels.
Studies show this primarily occurs in muscle and liver tissue, with excess fat accumulation being a key contributor, and is considered a significant risk factor for common blood sugar dysregulation ailments, and metabolic syndrome. (14)
Free, Natural Ways for Healthy Blood Sugar
-Get out in the sun
-Bright sunlight is associated with increased insulin sensitivity and lower triglyceride levels. Outdoor sunlight also shows beneficial associations with insulin resistance. (15, 23, 26)
-Go touch some grass
-Being grounded to the earth's field increases glucose utilization. (19, 24)
-Try cold exposure
-Repeated cold exposures can lower fasting glucose and insulin levels. (20, 21)
-Incorporate sauna sessions
-Studies have shown that regular sauna use may help lower blood sugar levels by increasing insulin sensitivity and a decrease in fasting blood glucose levels (22, 25)
Managing Blood Sugar with Plant Compounds
To us, this is the coolest part: nature provides with constituents that can support our bodies. Coming back to this truth can help you get off the artificial, pharma-based, pill-popping routine and excited about the world out there where plants are king.
If you are familiar with The Mara Labs polyphenol-loaded product line, then you know that we believe in utilizing compounds found in nature to further elevate and optimize health. Instead of the knee-jerk response being to seek a pharmaceutical solution, it makes sense to look in nature at the plant’s that naturally offer us the benefits we are looking for - without the laundry list of side-effects.
In the instance of targeting blood sugar control (these also offer the benefits of enhancing metabolism and burning fat), there are compounds that we can look to for these applications that do not come with the list of negative side effects with GLP-1 agonist pharmaceutical drugs. (16, 17, 18)
Some of these compounds include berberine, green tea extract, EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate, a polyphenol found in green tea leaves), and alpha lipoic acid.
You can find berberine in an effective, functional, bioavailable dose in our products BerbElite and SleepElite. Stay tuned for more coming very soon in regards to keeping blood sugar levels healthy from us here at The Mara Labs!
References:
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https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/9815-hyperglycemia-high-blood-sugar
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https://iovs.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2751275
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https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2022.1015045/full
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https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0011224023000639
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chrome-extension://bdfcnmeidppjeaggnmidamkiddifkdib/viewer.html?file=https://www.ijmb.in/doi/pdf/10.5005/jp-journals-10054-0047
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https://pubs.aip.org/aip/acp/article-pdf/doi/10.1063/5.0052549/14234234/030061_1_online.pdf
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https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0168822710003049
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