What Happens In Your Body When You Get Stressed
Stress hormones have a big role to play.
When youre experiencing physical or emotional stress, hormones are released that increase your blood sugar. Cortisol and adrenaline are other primary hormones involved.
This is a perfectly natural response. For example, if youre being chased by a barking dog or youre in a dangerous situation, you need these hormones to prepare your body for a fight or flight situation.
But when youre stressed, your body releases these hormones, even if there isnt a major physical threat involved.
The result? Higher blood pressure, increased heart rate and a rise in blood sugar.
The problem becomes more complicated.
If youre consistently under stress, your hormones and sugar will continue to surge.
Over time, this can put you at risk for:
- Heart disease
This is one reason why its so important to treat your stress and anxiety.
What About The Glycemic Index
Your daily carb total, spread steadily across the day, is one key to good blood sugar control. Some people also use the glycemic index , a rating of how individual foods raise blood sugar levels. Beans and whole-grain breads and cereals have a lower GI than white bread and regular pasta. Juice has a higher GI than whole fruit. Craving a high-GI food? Eat it along with a lower-GI choice to help control your levels.
David McGlynn / Photographers Choice David Malan / Photographers Choice RF Maximilian Stock Ltd. / Photographers Choice Peter Dazeley/ Photographers Choice Paul Poplis / FoodPix Jeffrey Hamilton / Lifesize, Thinkstock Nick Daly / The Image Bank Ailbhe ODonnell / Flickr Open Ross M Horowitz / Stone John Slater / The Image Bank Yo Thinkstock
How Much Does Your Stress Raise Your Blood Sugar Levels
Your bodys response to stress will be to raise blood sugar levels in proportion to the amount of stress felt, and your own biology.
Because of the long-lasting cortisol levels, your body could have a longer time of higher blood sugar levels.
The stress hormones released also have an effect on your muscle and fat cells that cause them to become more insulin resistant, so that the blood sugar levels stay elevated.
Interestingly, low blood sugar is itself a physical stressor, so it is possible to have a high blood sugar rebound caused by your low blood sugar levels. This is called a Somogyi reaction. Your blood sugar can be difficult to control in this type of rebound state.
Also Check: Can You Get Vertigo From Stress
If Possible Eliminate Long
McIntyre says that too much stress can be a warning that something needs to change. Since long-term stressors affect your long-term blood sugar levels and can cause damage to your overall health, theyre even more worthy of a reevaluation. Is it your job thats tipping you over the edge? If so, he suggests that you have a conversation with your boss on how to improve your work environment, apply for a transfer, or even start the hunt for a new job.
Stress Activates Our Fat Cells
That isnât the end of the story for cortisol. Cortisol also triggers an enzyme in our fat cells that helps relocate fat from storage deposits around the body to fat cell deposits deep in the abdomen, also known as visceral fat cells. Stress can actually cause many people to accumulate more belly fat. The more stress you have, the more cortisol is in your body and the more abdominal fat youâll find.In studies, these central fat cells have been linked to not only a greater risk for heart disease, but also a higher risk for diabetes. If you already have diabetes, your condition can grow worse because of an overall elevated level of stress and cortisol in your system.Not only that, but cortisol also increases food cravings, which are already hard to manage with diabetes.
Stress-induced cortisol increases food cravings, making it even harder to manage your dietBut it’s ok to snack! If you haven’t had a chance to see it, we’ve posted a blog on 5 “Swap” Food that Decrease Stress. Just remember, everything in moderation.
You May Like: Is Alopecia Caused By Stress
Summary: How Stress Affects Your Blood Sugar
In short, stress will generally cause your blood sugar to rise. It will also be difficult to bring it down because of the insulin resistance created by stress hormones and the production of glucose from your livers response to adrenaline.
The larger majority of stressful situations arent something we can easily predict, but once youre experiencing stress, you can predict that your blood sugar might spike.
Remembering to check your blood sugar during and after stressful situations is an important part of diabetes management, but dont add to your stress by expecting to be able to easily correct any high blood sugars during a stressful state.
Stress Affects The Immune System
Chronic stress may also affect the immune system.
In one study, researchers noticed that a particular immune system response to chronic stress is a similar response to one that is involved in the development of type 2 diabetes.
To determine if stressful events are causing an increase in blood sugar, people can measure their blood glucose throughout the day. They should note how they are feeling and when they last ate.
People can then show their readings to their doctor for analysis.
If the doctor notices that stress may be affecting blood sugar, they can explore different techniques to help a person control their stress levels.
The American Diabetes Association recommend that people with diabetes take care of their mind just as much as they do their body.
Stress can be both a contributor to diabetes and a consequence of it. However, there are many effective ways to relieve stress.
The strategy that works best for one person may be different for the next person. Exploring different options can help a person find the strategy that works best for them.
A 2018 study that took place in a clinic in Iran found that taking part in social-related stress management training could improve blood sugar control in people with diabetes. Stress management techniques may help people manage their glycated hemoglobin levels.
You May Like: How To Get Stress Out Of Your Body
Can Stress Raise Blood Sugar Levels
You might already know thatstress can have an impact on many aspects of your life, from how well you sleep to how much you weigh. And if you have prediabetes or type 2 diabetes, you no doubt already know how important it is to keep your blood sugar from dipping too low or spiking too high. But did you know that stress has been shown to make it harder to control diabetes? Stress affects your blood sugar levels. But there are ways to mitigate stress, positively impacting your blood sugar managementand mindfulness can help.
How To Cope With Stress
Everyone copes with stressful situations in different ways. If you want to change the way you react so things feel easier, try the Stress Manager tool on our Learning Zone. Answer questions on how you deal with the demands of managing your condition to get a plan of action to help you simplify stressful situations.
Look after yourself
At times of stress, its even more important to remember to look after yourself and treat yourself kindly.
But we know its not always as easy as that. If youre extra busy at work or looking after family then forgetting to eat or take medication can happen.
Its important to get a balance between looking after yourself without putting too much pressure on yourself to do everything perfectly. This can add or lead to stress. But its good to be aware of how easy it can be to give into the habit of letting diabetes self-care slip in times of stress.
Getting enough sleep and building exercise, rest and relaxation time into your routine helps some people cope better with stress.
“When things get hard, I usually go into self-care over drive. If too many hypos are throwing me off, I’ll hole up on the sofa with blankets and some trashy TV to make me feel better.”
Laura, who has type 1 diabetes – read Laura’s story
And you dont need us to tell you that turning to comfort food will raise your blood sugar and make you feel worse. Similarly, drinking more alcohol will affect your blood sugar levels.
Talk to others
Also Check: How Can I Be Less Stressed
Want To Reduce Your Stress Do These 3 Things Everyday
Lowering your anxiety and stress is a great way to lower your blood sugar . I use these three habits to help lower my mental stress each day, but there are many other small, daily habits you can incorporate, find something easy that you can improve on and make sure you do it each day. Thats part of the Kankyo Kaizen philosophy.
If You Develop A Complication Of Diabetes
Developing a complication of diabetes may result in significant readjustments in your life. If it makes you less mobile, you may feel you have become more dependent on others, or you might need to shift house or jobs. If your vision is more limited, you may need to concentrate harder on achieving tasks that were previously easy. Depending on what impact the complication has on your life, you may feel a great deal of grief associated with the loss of full health.
Having diabetes is stressful. It can also mean that it is more of a challenge for us to manage other life stresses. As you become more experienced with diabetes it tends to assume a less intrusive place in your life. As you achieve a comfortable balance between caring for yourself and also having fun and enjoying your life, your stress management strategies can become more effective.
Also Check: How Does Stress Affect The Heart
Can Stress Cause Prediabetes Or Type 2 Diabetes
Saying that stress causes prediabetes or type 2 diabetes isnt entirely accurate.
What is more accurate is that the physical response to stress, as well as the habits that are often associated with stress, all contribute to a higher risk for type 2 diabetes.
On the physical side, recent research has shown that oxidative stress and chronic inflammation two common side effects of chronic emotional stress can directly increase insulin resistance and inhibit beta cell function.
As these are the two direct contributors to the development of type 2 diabetes, this is a relatively direct link between stress and diabetes risk factors.
On the mental side, many of the behaviors that are commonplace in stressed individuals comfort eating, not exercising as much as theyd like, poor sleep, elevated consumption of drugs and alcohol, weight gain, and a poor diet are all risk factors for type 2 diabetes.
In this way, not only does stress directly increase your risk of type 2 diabetes through physical responses, but its likely that many of the habits you might resort to during times of stress may also contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes.
Recommended Reading: What Is A High Blood Sugar Reading
How Can You Determine If Mental Stress Is Affecting Your Glucose Levels
Keeping track of additional information, such as the date and what you were doing at the time you were stressed, may help you determine specific triggers. For example, are you more stressed on Monday mornings? If so, you know now to take special steps on Monday mornings to lower your stress and keep your glucose in check.
You can figure out if this is happening to you by capturing your stress and glucose levels. If you feel stressed, rate your level of mental stress on a scale from 1 to 10. Ten represents the highest level of stress. Write this number down.
After rating your stress, you should check your glucose levels. Continue doing this for the next couple of weeks. Before long, you may see a pattern emerge. If you notice that your glucose is regularly high, its likely that your mental stress is negatively affecting you blood sugar.
You May Like: How To Get Rid Of Chronic Stress
Stress Contributes To Insulin Resistance
Cortisol also makes it more difficult for the pancreas to secrete insulin, which is needed to move sugar out of the blood and into the cells for energy, stabilizing the concentration of sugar within your blood. Over time, the pancreas struggles to keep up with the high demand for insulin. Glucose levels in the blood remain high. Cells cannot get the sugar they need and the cycle continues.This all contributes to insulin resistanceâwhich youâre already fighting againstâand may worsen your condition
The Two Types Of Stress
- Physical Stress
Physical stress is often induced from an illness or injury. Because of this physical stress, your body increases its level of cortisol, which is what is released in the fight-or-flight stage of physical stress that you may have heard about. Basically your body is hard-wired to fight the threat or run from it, and cortisol is the hormone in charge of that.
Because your body is saying hey, I need energy in this stage, your hormones respond by increasing the amount of blood sugar in the form of glucose, with the idea that your cells will need more energy.
But if you are insulin resistant, this just puts more glucose in the blood that doesnt get used and may cause complications.
You should be prepared for this type of stress induced increase in your blood sugar if you are about to go in for surgery, or if youve had an accident that caused any kind of injury, or if you fall ill or get an infection.
- Mental and Emotional Stress
Mental and emotional stress has a similar response in type 2 diabetics . The body releases cortisol, which calls for more glucose to supply energy to your body. So when you are stressed out, your body is releasing more glucose into your blood stream. Simply put, the more distress you feel, the more cortisol, which means the more glucose.
Recommended Reading: How To Relieve My Stress
S Toward Stress Reduction
One of the things you need to do in order to lessen the effect of stress on your blood glucose levels and improve your overall health is to take time in your daily life to rest whenever you can. The rest periods can be very short but they should be often because only through rest can you lessen your bodys cortisol level and improve your quality of life.
Rest is crucial for long-term spiritual and psychological well-being. If you dont take time out to reduce your stress levels, you can become ill. Scientists studying stress in the Netherlands reported that too much fatigue, also known as vital exhaustion causes demoralization, irritability, and fatigue. It may also increase your chances of getting a heart attack by 100 percent.
These are ways you can take time out of your life for rest and stress reduction:
Top 5 Best Blood Sugar Supplements To Manage Diabetes Reviewedyour Browser Indicates If You’ve Visited This Link
Type 2 diabetes is a precursor to a whole list of complications that are mostly ignored by people until the consequences start getting out of hand. It is important to be vigilant about your bloodsugar levels if you have been termed as diabetic by your doctor or if you lie in the pre-diabetic range.
Santa Clarita Signal
Don’t Miss: How To Treat Stress Colitis In Dogs
What Causes Blood Sugar To Rise In Non
Dr. Danielle Weiss is the founder of Center for Hormonal Health and Well-Being, a personalized, proactive, patient-centered medical practice with a unique focus on integrative endocrinology. She enjoys giving lectures and writing articles for both the lay public and medical audiences. Dr. Weiss is Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego.
High blood sugar or glucose, also called hyperglycemia, occurs when there is too much sugar in the blood. High blood sugar is the primary symptom that underlies diabetes, but it can also occur in people who dont have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, either because of stress or trauma, or gradually as a result of certain chronic conditions.
It is important to manage high blood sugar, even if you dont have diabetes, because elevated blood glucose can delay your ability to heal, increase your risk of infections, and cause irreversible damage to your nerves, blood vessels, and organs, such as your eyes and kidneys. Blood vessel damage from high blood sugar also increases your risk of heart attack and stroke.
Signs You Are Experiencing Diabetic Ketoacidosis
If you are in DKA, its likely that you are nauseous or vomiting. Your breath may have a fruity or acetone odor as your body tries to offload ketones through your breathing. Its likely that you will be dehydrated with very high BG levels and excessive urination. You might have aches and pains, and perhaps blurred vision. Not fun!
DKA is serious, and can be life-threatening. Because of dehydration and excessive ketone production, the blood becomes acidic. This is caused by a lack of working insulin. Most cells preferentially burn glucose for fuel. Many cells can also burn fat in small amounts. While glucose burns cleanly, fat produces waste products called ketones. Ketones are acid and upset the pH balance, essentially polluting the atmosphere in our bodies.
We dont tend to burn much fat at a time, so small amounts of ketones can usually be broken down and burned off along with glucose. Its necessary to have enough glucose in the body cells so there is a fuel source, and we also need to have insulin to move the glucose into the cells, where it can be used for energy. If there is no insulin, the glucose cant get inside the cells. The cells are then forced to burn fat as an energy source, and this causes large amounts of ketones to be produced.
Recommended Reading: What Happens If A Non Diabetic Takes Insulin
Read Also: How To Relieve Stress Stomach Pain
