The Untold Roller Coaster

The diabetes epidemic is in full effect according to diabetes research, 34.2 million people in the U.S. population have diabetes. Diabetes is a direct result of having imbalance blood sugar. Your blood sugar effects your cardiovascular system, mood, brain, immune system, body weight, cancer risk and of course diabetes. There are two important influences on your blood sugar which are what you eat and how often you exercise. Sugar is an essential part of how our bodies properly function. Our bodies rely on simple sugar for fuel, Our brain prefers glucose over other energy sources and when we exercise we burn a-lot of it.

Let's take a look at sugar, many people that sugar is the root of all evil when it come to your health but the reality is not all sugars are bad. There are different forms of sugar, sweets and carbohydrate rich foods break down in your digestive system to form glucose, fructose, and lactose. Similar to other foods sugar is absorbed through your intestines and enter your bloodstream. Sugar needs to get into your cells so it can be used by your body. But you need insulin in order for that to happen.

Insulin is super important

Your pancreas makes digestive enzymes called beta cells that produce insulin, a hormone the works as a bridge to let sugar in. When your sugar levels rise, beta cells flood your bloodstream with insulin. This increased action triggers you're cells to absorb the sugar to fuel your body. But unfortunately things don’t always go according to plan. In modern society we consume a lot more sugar than necessary which in turn makes our cells desensitized to insulin. Eventually your cells burn the insulin bridge and refuse t let the sugar in. The more insulin we have in our blood stream the more at risk you are for sharp blood sugar crashes. Once the sugar doesn’t get absorbed into your cells you may experience things like fuzzy brain, fatigue and sugar cravings. Another thing to keep in mind is that blood sugar spikes may not show up on a blood sugar test right away but testing shortly after eating is the best way to get accurate results.

Insulin resistance

Once your blood sugar levels remain notably higher they recommend you have officially developed type two diabetes. Later stages of type two diabetes your beta cells slow down or even stop producing insulin all together, also known insulin resistance.

What happens when you constantly consume too much sugar ?

Your blood stream is flooded with sugar and your liver metabolizes and detoxifies. Some of the sugar is transformed into triglycerides and low density lipoproteins ( very bad cholesterol). Also sugar can be stored (glycogen) into fat cells. The rest is excreted into the urine, coining the phrase diabetes mellitus also known as honey urine.

They are all related

Many people who experience diabetes might struggle with other health concerns like high cholesterol, abdominal weight gain (major indicator), and Increased risk of yeast infection. All of these may develop during the early stages of insulin resistance. Inconsistent insulin levels damage the entire body. This damage is commonly associated with inflammation, obesity, high levels of cortisol ( hormone involved with stress and blood sugar metabolism, and oxidaitus stress, increased heart disease, cancer risk, and cranky mood.

Conclusion

Increase sugar craving and junk food puts extra demand on blood vessels, nerves, overtime these systems breakdown resulting in poor eye health, poor circulation, neuropathy, increased risk of Alzheimer's, dementia,  and poor wound healing. Our bodies tries to heal itself by patching inflamed spots with cholesterol which turns into plaque, hardens arteries and increase risk of life threatening cardiovascular events.

References

Chevallier, A. (2018). Herbal remedies handbook more than 140 plant profiles: Remedies for over 50 common conditions. DK Publishing.

Curtis, S., Thomas, P., & Johnson, F. (2016). Essential oils. Dorling Kindersley.

Duke, J. A. (2002). The Green Pharmacy Herbal Handbook: Your Comprehensive Reference to the best herbs for healing. St. Martin's Paperbacks.

Groves, M. N. (2016). Body into balance: An herbal guide to holistic self-care. Storey Publishing.

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