Hormones… what’s sugar got to do with it?
On a scale from 0-10 (0 being the on Empty and 10 being overflowing, abundance) where you would rank yourself on energy?
How about Mood…?
…Sugar cravings?
…Sleep quality?
…Nutrition?
Do you use caffeine to wake up in the morning and wine to chill out at night?
If you answer yes to any of the above, you are not alone and God did not intend for you to feel this way.
So why does it happen? Two kinds of molecules that keep us in balance are running off kilter. They are neurotransmitters (messenger molecules of our brains and nervous systems) and hormones (messenger molecules of the endocrine systems).
All of our hormones and neurotransmitters work in harmony. Your endocrine system is made up of the pituitary gland, hypothalamus, thymus, pineal gland, thyroid, pancreas, parathyroid, adrenal gland, ovaries (women), and testes (men) The command center for our endocrine glands is in our brain (the hypothalamus and pituitary glands) that send signal to various parts of the body to control everything from blood sugar balance in our pancreas to thyroid function to stress response from the adrenal glands, to our sexual function through our reproductive organs. They happen to also affect sleep, mood, and much more. In order to have balance these must be in check and working together well.
Three of the biggest hormonal problems in America today are too much insulin from sugar intake, too much adrenalin or cortisol from stress, and low thyroid hormone.
Insulin Sensitivity
During digestion all foods we eat (fats, proteins, and carbohydrates) are broken down during digestion into proteins, micronutrients, and glucose. The body uses glucose, as its’ basic fuel, which is carried by the bloodstream to individual cells. The amount of fuel our body demands can vary moment to moment based on activity.
In order for our hormones and to work normally our bodies needs our blood sugar level to remain stable. Its critically important that the cells get the energy they need without changing blood sugar levels which is the role insulin plays.
In response to glucose, the pancreas releases insulin, which then signals the cell to absorb glucose from the bloodstream. The body monitors what we have digested, blood sugar levels, and cell demands, and releases insulin in just the right amounts. This is termed ‘insulin sensitive’. However, the cells can become unresponsive to the insulin signal and glucose is prohibited from entering the cells. The pancreas starts working even harder to produce more insulin, but since the cell wall has essentially closed the door to glucose, the extra insulin does no good. A vicious cycle occurs, the more you eat, the more glucose in your body, the more insulin. When your body stops appropriately responding to insulin a disorder develops called insulin resistance (creative name, right?!?) aka Pre-Diabetes. Too much insulin in the system (hyperinsulinism) and insulin resistance is a slippery road toward all kinds of health problems including heart problems, cancer, dementia, sex hormone imbalance, and more. Plus it may be why you’ve gained weight and can’t seem to get it off no matter how hard you try!
It’s estimated that 25% of all American’s, or 80 million people have insulin resistance. I believe this is much higher in peri-menopausal women and without doubt is on the rise amongst all the population in both men and women. Its’ affects can be different in everyone however, I most commonly see weight gain, particularly in the mid-section, the ‘blahs’, sugar crashes, and carbohydrate cravings.
Check your waist to hip ratio (a measurement around your belly button divided by the measurement around the hips) if it is greater than 0.8 you likely have insulin resistance. Although, I still see it come in all shapes and sizes of people, even tall and thin.
Thoughts on insulin’s role have changed and it’s now known that it’s a major control hormone for many processes. It’s certainly a major FAT storage hormone.
Here’s a list of what too much insulin really does:
Excess insulin acts on your brain to increase appetite and sugar cravings. Try loosing weight when this is a problem. Ha!
Stimulates the growth of cancer cells.
Increases inflammation and oxidative stress in your brain
Increases homocysteine because sugar consumption decrease vitamin B6 and folate.
Makes your blood more sticky and increases clotting leading to heart attacks and strokes
Increases LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, lowers HDL (“good”) cholesterol, raises triglycerides.
Raises blood pressure. Did you know insulin resistance causes 50% of all reported cases of high blood pressure?
Causes sex hormone problems and can lead to infertility, hair growth in unwanted places, acne, low testosterone in men), and more.
Leads to mood swings.
As it pertains to sex hormones…Simply put if your body can’t control a major hormone like insulin it will not be healthy enough to maintain ‘minor’ hormones such as estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone.
Insulin resistance is not a genetic curse from God, or genetic defect. The truth is that we have wondered far from eating how we genetically were designed to. Historically, we ate the equivalent of only 20 teaspoons of sugar a year now the average American eats 150lbs per year!
It’s fact that it’s nearly impossible to completely heal your ‘hormonal’ symptoms such as hot flashes if you are insulin resistant unless you first heal your insulin resistance.
Our goal at RestoreU Functional Medicine is to make your metabolism more efficient, you're cells more intelligent and responsive as opposed to resistant.
Insulin resistance is absolutely correctable.
Stayed connected to learn best ways to test for this hormone problem and ways to treat so you too can be restored.
Ready to regain hormonal balance and take control of your health?
Become a patient today and start your journey towards a restored you!
