Maintaining the right level of blood sugar or glucose is key to living a healthy, happy life. When we experience blood sugar peaks and “crashes”, the effects can be devastating to your mood, and to your body as well; while there are many risk factors that contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes, elevated blood sugar levels can increase your risk.
How Blood Sugar Levels Work
Your blood sugar levels can rise and fall in accordance with the sugar content in the food you eat. When you eat something high in sugar, your blood sugar levels rise; your body responds to this by secreting insulin, a hormone which is created by the pancreas.
Insulin works to lower you blood sugar levels and help cells throughout your body absorb glucose (sugar) for energy. When you go too long without any food or eat unhealthy foods that are too high in sugar and fat, or have health problems affecting your hormones, your blood sugar levels can become dangerously low. As this happens, your adrenal glands release adrenaline and cortisol in order to remedy the situation – this is why you feel cranky and moody when you haven’t eaten for a while.
The best thing to do at this point is to eat food that will raise your blood sugar levels gradually – rather than something that will cause a spike in your blood sugar levels, followed by a “crash” where your blood sugar levels will become very low again.
Most of the time, three healthy meals a day is enough to keep your blood sugar levels in check. But if you’re not eating regular, balanced meals, it’s easy for your blood sugar to get out of whack, which can lead to a cycle of blood sugar spikes and crashes.