Your body primarily uses blood sugar as fuel. The blood levels of glucose must be tightly regulated because too much or too little will cause damage as you might expect.

Different body systems will help regulate your blood sugar levels including liver, pancreas, adrenal glands, intestines and of course brain. You are not at the mercy of uncontrollable forces here. Behavior plays a major role in how well your body can manage your blood sugar. Factors you can control include diet, exercise and mental attitude.

First let’s talk diet. The following will stress your body and should be avoided entirely.

-concentrated sugars-candies and other similar treats

– caffeine-coffee and sodas and some teas

– nicotine-another reason to quit smoking or chewing tobacco

– alcohol

– foods that can cause an allergic reaction-the histimine produced will cause its own stress on the brain and adrenal glands

-partially hydrogenated oil (AKA trans fats) – they put a poor quality fat in the cell membranes and also inhibit steroid hormone synthesis

-Artificial sweeteners – interfere with conversion of phenylalanine to tyrosine – tyrosine is needed for brain chemistry and also for synthesis of catecholamines (epinephrine and norepinephrine) in the adrenal medulla

-deficient sleep

-too much exercise

Here are a few more specific steps you can take to help your body out.

You can’t go for more than a few hours without eating. When you do, your body goes into a different mode involving stored glucose in the liver for its source.  That isn’t a problem for a perfectly healthy person but for a hypoglycemic or pre-diabetic, the additional stress on the blood sugar regulation will continue to cause problems you will have to pay for later.

You should become acquainted with the concept of the glycemic index.  Look for the article on that topic or do a simple internet search. The concept is simple an basically says that some foods are more quickly raise your blood sugar than others. You want to choose foods that raise the blood sugar slowly such as nuts, raw apples, hard boiled eggs and some snack bars.

Don’t wait to eat until you are hungry and that includes breakfast. By the time your body advises you of the hunger, you are probably have been running in stress mode for a few hours.

Mix proteins with your carbohydrates. For a complete explanation of this important concept, consult any of the Zone writings.

Grains are not your friend. That includes wheat, rye, barley, oats and corn. Rice seems to be better tolerated but only in small amounts. Check out my other writings on gluten sensitivity in our resource guide. Your chances are greater than 90% that you have gluten intolerance issues. Gluten is a protein component of the listed grains.

Moderate exercise is key. Best is 30 to 45 minutes of something like brisk walking, jogging, swimming or biking for example. This type of exercise dramatically lowers the effort your body uses to regulate blood sugar. Start with 5 minutes a day and work up. It takes 3 months of repetition to build a new habit.

Along with the above mentioned recommendations I also recommend using Apex Energetics Glysen and Protoglysen to help normalize high blood sugar. Take two capsules of each formula with each main meal, three times a day. And remember eat well, get some exercise and a good nights sleep and your on your way to better health!

Dr. Dan