When most of us think about balancing blood sugar, we imagine it has to do with maintaining a healthy weight or avoiding Type 2 Diabetes. But what if I told you that stabilizing your blood sugar can do wonders for your mental health, especially when it comes to stress, anxiety, and depression? Let’s dive into how this works and why paying attention to your blood sugar levels could support you in feeling less anxious. 

The Blood Sugar Rollercoaster

Think of your blood sugar like a rollercoaster. Every time you eat, especially foods that quickly digest into starch, your blood sugar rises. Then, your body releases insulin to bring that sugar into your cells for energy. If you eat too many foods that raise your blood glucose, your blood sugar spikes quickly, followed by a crash when insulin levels surge. This cycle of ups and downs can mess with more than just your energy—it can wreak havoc on your mood.

This is one of the reasons I love using a continuous glucose monitor, or CGM (the Balance Your Blood Sugar Program starts Oct 29th – use the code ‘earlybird’ to save $150 off the program). Many people don’t actually know what it feels like to have high or low blood sugar until they’ve used a CGM and can see the data and in real-time and connect it to how they’re feeling.

The Connection Between Blood Sugar and Mood

So, what does blood sugar have to do with how you feel emotionally? Let’s break it down:

1. Stress Hormones Get Involved: When your blood sugar drops too low, it signals to your body that you’re in a low-energy state. This can prompt your body to release cortisol, a stress hormone, to bring your blood sugar back up. But when cortisol is released too often (which happens with constant blood sugar fluctuations), it can leave you feeling jittery, anxious, and irritable. Think of it like the alarm bells going off in your body—when they’re always ringing, it’s hard to feel calm.
2. Serotonin Levels Are Impacted: Serotonin is a key neurotransmitter that helps regulate mood. When your blood sugar is low, the brain may have less access to the energy it needs to produce serotonin, making you more susceptible to feelings of anxiety or depression. A more stable supply of glucose (sugar in your blood) helps maintain stable serotonin levels, leading to a calmer and more positive mood.
3. High Blood Sugar Can Increase Inflammation: On the flip side, consistently high blood sugar levels can also have a negative impact on mental health. Elevated blood sugar can trigger inflammation throughout the body, including in the brain. This inflammation has been linked to a higher risk of mood disorders, including anxiety and depression. When your body is in a state of chronic inflammation, it can make it harder to feel mentally balanced and more prone to stress.

How Balanced Blood Sugar Can Improve Stress Tolerance and Mood

Now that we understand the connection, let's talk about how balanced blood sugar can work in your favor.

1. Steadier Energy, Steadier Emotions: When you keep your blood sugar balanced—think less rollercoaster and more gentle waves—your body doesn’t need to release as much cortisol. This means you’re less likely to feel that sudden wave of anxiety or stress that comes from a blood sugar crash. You might even notice that the stressors that used to bother you don’t hit as hard anymore. You’re more resilient.
2. Improved Sleep, Better Moods: Blood sugar fluctuations can also mess with sleep patterns. Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night feeling hungry or restless? That’s often a sign of a blood sugar dip. A stable blood sugar level can help you sleep better, and we all know how much of a difference a good night’s sleep can make to our mood the next day.
3. Reduced Cravings, Reduced Anxiety: Cravings for sweets and carbs are often tied to blood sugar imbalances (more on cravings here), and giving in to those cravings can start the blood sugar rollercoaster all over again. By eating balanced meals with protein, healthy fats, and fiber, you can prevent these spikes and dips, which, in turn, helps you feel more in control and less anxious.

Case in point with our client Rachel, a mom of 4 who came to us to lose post-partum weight, manage anxiety and gain more energy. Of course, the first thing we did was balance her blood sugar and she wrote us a message about how surprised she was that her anxiety had basically disappeared already!

Kids Demonstrate The Mood-Blood-Sugar Connection

If you have kids, you may have already made this connection with them, because their moods and emotions are so much more pronounced. We were in a phase of struggling to get out of the house to preschool a couple of years back (meltdowns upon meltdowns) and I suddenly took stock of what our then 3 year old was eating for breakfast and the light bulbs turned on. We were trying to get out of the house about an hour after breakfast which was right around when her blood sugar was tanking. With a few little tweaks of giving her a more balanced blood sugar breakfast, the morning meltdowns improved hugely. This is a more obvious scenario because kids emotions are so heightened, but this same experience can manifest in an adult, but instead of a full-blown meltdown, you feel low-grade chronic anxiety or mood swings between your meals that leave you feeling depressed.

To Conclude

Balancing your blood sugar isn’t just about avoiding spikes—it's about creating a steady, sustainable flow of energy for both your body and mind. And when your mind is fueled properly, you’ll find that it’s easier to stay calm, handle stress, and keep those anxious thoughts at bay. It’s a small change that can have a big impact on your overall well-being.

Balancing your blood sugar might just be one of the best things you can do for your mind and mood, and it doesn’t require a total lifestyle overhaul. In fact, it’s often simple tweaks that lead to massive improvements. If you want to balance your blood sugar to reduce your anxiety and improve your mental health, click here to join the Balance Your Blood Sugar Program. We start October 29th and have a coupon ‘earlybird’ available until Oct 20th. 

How the Balance Your Blood Sugar Program Works

1. Get real-time feedback on how your body's metabolism works.

Upon registering, you’ll be sent a link to get your glucose monitor mailed sent to you. This only takes 2-3 business days for most people. You will also receive a welcome package with our CGM basics – how to insert it pain-free, a link to our weekly Zoom calls, and what levels to aim for in your monitoring. This allows you to start getting real-time feedback on how your body’s metabolism works.

2. Understand how food and lifestyle affect your blood sugar.

Each week we’ll meet live on Zoom for our coaching session (these sessions will be recorded if you can’t join live.) During this hour, I’ll share simple-to-follow guidance on a different aspect of blood sugar monitoring and ways to reduce your spikes (and therefore improve your weight, energy, cravings, hormones, and diabetes/heart disease risk), along with recipes and practical suggestions.

3. Optimize your bio-individual blood sugar for long-term blood sugar balance.

You’ll also be able to share your own blood glucose reports with me to receive guidance and suggestions and ask any questions you may have. As part of the program, you’ll receive custom weekly meal plans and recipes that lead to balanced blood sugar (and in turn, lower diabetes risk, more energy, better sleep, less cravings, and the list goes on!) By the end of the 4 weeks together you’ll feel in control of your body and food choices so that your results can easily be maintained long-term.

Click here to join now – space is limited and we have an early bird coupon until Oct 20th (code: earlybird).

Before we go, it's also worth acknowledging that we know there are many different root causes of mental illness. This post is to highlight blood sugar as one of the common root causes.