You don’t have to be diagnosed with diabetes (high blood sugar) or hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) for blood sugar levels to be a major health concern for you. In fact, many people suffer from the undiagnosed condition known as dysglycemia.
What is Dysglycemia?
Dysglycemia is a condition in which our bodies simply lose the ability to keep our blood sugar stable. For some of us, this means that our blood sugar levels swing unexpectedly from normal to high and when this occurs, we can expect to experience symptoms just like a diabetic does and those are:
- fatigue after meals
- general fatigue
- constant hunger
- craving for sweets that is not relieved by eating them
- must have sweets after meals
- frequent urination
- increased appetite and thirst
- difficulty losing weight and
- migrating aches and pains.
Other people might experience blood sugar swings from normal to low and when this occurs they too can also expect to experience symptoms just like a hypoglycemic does and those are:
- cravings for sweets
- irritability if meals are missed
- dependency on coffee for energy
- become lightheaded if meals are missed
- eating to relieve fatigue
- feeling shaky, jittery or tremulous
- feeling agitated and nervous
- become upset easily
- poor memory, forgetfulness
- blurred vision.
High and Low Blood Sugar
But in reality though, many of us will experience symptoms of both high and low blood sugar and this is how that usually occurs. Whenever a person over indulges in carbohydrates, such as in sugary foods and drinks, fast foods and partaking in a grain-based diet, a blood sugar spike occurs in their blood stream.
A blood sugar spike is simply more sugar in the blood stream at that moment in time than the body is accustomed to handling. So when this occurs, your pancreas will pump out insulin to bring the blood sugar levels back down to normal.
Pancreas Over-compensates
However, when these blood sugar spikes occur too frequently, your pancreas will eventually begin to overshoot the amount of insulin it produces in the blood stream. With too much insulin now in the blood, all of the sugar is removed and your blood sugar swings from high to low. So now you are likely to experience the low blood sugar symptoms we just talked about.
This immediate drop in blood sugar is perceived as a threat to your existence. So, what does your body do? Well your fight or flight mechanism is triggered, meaning, your adrenal glands are called into action and send out hormones to help bring your blood sugar levels back up to normal.
This sounds like a good thing, right?
Well the problem is these adrenal hormones also cause stress on the body that is not easily perceived by the person, at least not initially, and we will talk more about the effects of these adrenal hormones later.
For now, it’s the dysglycemia, or the unstable blood sugar swings from high to low, that is our concern. This is because every time this happens, and for many this is every single time they eat, other functions and systems of the body are affected.
For example, unstable blood sugar (dysglycemia) does the following:
- will weaken and inflame the digestive tract,
- drive your adrenal glands into exhaustion from having to work so hard to stabilize the blood sugar,
- create imbalances in many hormones including thyroid stimulating hormone, insulin and cortisol,
- clogs your body’s attempt at detoxification,
- impairs fatty acid metabolism and
- fatigues your metabolism as well.
Other Systems of the Body Affected
As you can imagine, any number of health symptoms can now be experienced as your body is fighting to stabilize your blood sugar and many of these symptoms can be seemingly unrelated to it, such as:
- sensitivity to chemicals
- gallbladder attacks
- varicose vein,
- fibromyalgia, etc.
Leaky Gut, or, Intestinal Permeability
But perhaps the greatest threat to your health due to unstable blood sugar, and again, this is not just for a person who is diabetic or hypoglycemic, but really for everyone, is that the most superficial layer of your gastro intestinal tract, the mucosal layer we talked about previously, becomes weakened and porous.
This allows for bacteria, large proteins, bacteria and undigested food particles to enter into the blood stream and to be perceived as foreign invaders. You will also recall this is what is known as intestinal permeability, or a leaky gut, and is what I consider the endgame for having unstable blood sugar.
Robs You of Your Energy Reserves
Because once the gut becomes permeable, you are now forcing your immune system to chronically defend against these foreign invaders night and day and this can rob you of your energy reserves leaving your fatigued and irritable.
If left unchecked, it can also lead to one or more auto immune conditions such as:
- Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
- Crohns disease
- Graves disease, and
- Lupus to name a few.
So, unstable blood sugar levels, or dysglycemia, should be a major concern for each and every one of us. A thorough history and consultation in our office can help with identifying this problem followed up with appropriate lab work.
Something you as a patient that can be proactive in preventing against is always the best remedy to any health condition.
Call (614) 428-9310
So, if you would like us to review your existing lab work from a functional perspective, and not a pathological one, or would like to come in for a consultation to see where your blood sugar levels are currently at, please call our office today.