Can stress and anxiety raise blood sugar levels?

As a stressed-out human, you may have wondered if the constant pressure from work, family obligations, or society’s expectations could increase your blood sugar levels. Or maybe you’re just curious about it – in that case, hi five! Either way, this is a question that deserves an answer.

The short answer

Yes. Stress and anxiety can raise your blood sugar levels by stimulating hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones act as counter-regulatory hormones to insulin, which means they increase the amount of glucose in your bloodstream.

But hey, don’t let that scare you too much. A slight elevation in blood sugar is normal when we face stressful situations – our bodies are designed to prepare for flight or fight responses by releasing glucose into our bloodstream for quick energy. However, chronic stress or anxiety can interfere with our body’s ability to regulate glucose properly over time and cause further health issues like diabetes.

So keep calm and read on (and please ignore my silly puns).

Let’s talk about stress

Before diving deeper into how stress affects our blood sugar levels, let’s define what we mean by ‘stress.’ According to the American Psychological Association (APA), “stress is any uncomfortable emotional experience accompanied by predictable biochemical physiological changes.” In simpler terms: anything that makes us feel anxious or overwhelmed can trigger a stress response in our bodies.

The APA also identifies three types of stresses: acute stressors (like getting chased by a bear), episodic acute stressors (when we repeatedly face acute situations) ,and chronic stresses (when we live under constant pressure). All these forms of stressing out can release higher amounts of cortisol than usual – hence increasing blood sugar ^[1]^.

What happens when you’re stressed?

When we are exposed to stressful events or situations (acute,medium-term episodic,or long-term chronic ones), the brain signals the adrenal glands to release two hormones in response: cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones work together to prepare your body for action – increasing heart rate, breathing speed, blood pressure, and supplying oxygen to our muscles^1^.

But what does this have to do with blood sugar? Well, cortisol helps regulate our metabolism by stimulating glucose production from non-carbohydrate sources (like fat or protein)in the liver ^[2]^.

Moreover,in times of stress,certain sugars are released into our bloodstream that give us an extra dose of energy,but might hinder insulin’s ability to bring glucose back down as well ^[3]^.

Remembering anxiety

Anxiety is a broader term than stress regarding emotional discomfort,it’s more focused on worries,fears,social situations,tension,and irrational fear.^4^

For many people suffering the symptoms of anxiety shows up physically– knot stomachs,a racing heartbeat,breathlessness among others,yet it can also affect circulatory systems.Under typical conditions,hormonal fluctuations balance out these changes over time.However,in periods with constant worrying episodes,the hormone levels remain off-balance which goes towards contributing high perpetual basal cortisol levels.Thus leading increased glucose levels along with negative feelings like irritability,drowsiness,sweating palms etcetera.^5^

Insulin Resistance And Diabetes

Now be warned,

Beyond occasional bouts of stress or worry leading dangerously spiked blood sugar levels,maintaining an unhealthy lifestyle that includes chronic stressors could lead eventually develop complications.Research suggests there may be a link between high mental pressures leading toward developing diabetes in individuals.Although not all professionals agree on this hypothesis,this stream investigative conclusions suggest that their sufficient evidence indicating correlation between recurrent stresses raising chances for conditions such as Type 2 Diabetes.This association appears strong enough that academics recommend practitioners include addressing mental health issues when screening patients identifying prospective risk factors for illnesses.

Coping with stress

Now bear in mind not every person will experience high sugar levels due to anxiety and stress-our bodies manage handling different pressures differently.Also,not everyone has similar results. Nevertheless, it is beneficial to learn tips that could help alleviate pressure whenever possible.So here are a few ways that one can relieve themselves of the pressures life brings onto their path.

Physical activity

Regular exercise helps reduce cortisol and adrenaline levels over time effectively.Incorporating a physical activity routine into our daily lives also benefits as an anti-depressant,releasing chemicals like endorphins-neurons that create positive vibes making one feel good.Talk about killing two birds with one stone (but seriously let’s move past killing stuff).^(3-6)^

Relaxation Techniques

Meditation,yoga,and general conscious breathing serve another excellent method of reducing both emotional and physical tensions.The process focuses on clearing your deluded notions from triggering anymore unpleasant experiences which in turn calms down other systems like blood ratio.^7^

Behavioral Therapy & counseling

If you’re facing particularly distressful emotions or instances,a licensed professional therapist may become incredibly helpful.Therapists offer various resources including talk therapy ,group therapies,mindfulness techniques,hypnotherapy etcetera.A standard medium which medical insured persons cover upon can be presented via;contacting local government institutions such as hospitals,schools,and mental health clinics. Not my personal style,but many have benefited…better than being under constant touch of diabetes medication I guess huh?
Conclusion: Promote Your Inner Peace!

In conclusion,stressors such as Anxiety take up three crucial forms when impacting our physiological condition.Acute Stress–Short term situations characterized by elevated Biochemical activities.Episodic Acute Stress—recurrent acute scenarios where they simultaneously compromise biochemical configurations.Long Term Chronic Stress–Extended periods typically caused by external societal expectations or internal problems.For all these adverse feelings,our adrenal glands release hormones like cortisol and adrenaline that tend to raise glucose levels.Despite their harmful effects,there are various methods of physically shaking off or mentally approaching the issue in daily life.Developing healthy coping mechanisms can reduce your stress levels considerably while reducing risks for future health complications.But most importantly just breathe properly,you’ll acquire superpowers!.

superpowers not guaranteeed,pioneered,& prone to probable disappointment
UNTIL NEXT TIME!!!

References

  1. McEwen, B. S., & Lasley, E. N. (2002). The End of Stress As We Know It (p. 100). Yale University Press.
    2.Turhan,Murat ,”Can Chronic Stress Lead To Diabetes ?” ,Journal Of Mood Disorders Vol:7 no:4 pp45-50
    3.”The Effects of chronic adrenocorticotropin on Insulin Release In Rat Islets..”PubMed,LINK
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    4.Cohen,S;Janicki-Deverts,D;Doyle,WJ ;Miller,G.E.;Franklin,WNS Rabin,B.S.Next Generation Sequencing Identifies Distinct Immune Personality Profiles Among Allergic And Nonallergic Individuals With Self Reported Anxiety,Published Online Feb 22nd 2018.[LINK]
    5.Molloy GJ ;Hampton,J.F.; Firth-Cozens J.A.,Pierce M.;Hyde,D.P.(1979),”Stress,Coping,and Health:A Comparison Of Medical and Psychology Students Social Science & Medicine”,13(3),241-246 DOI:[10.1016/0277-9536(79)] [00257-X]
    6.Andrews-Hanna,Jessica “How meditation changes our brain,”TEDGlobal talk Edinburgh,Lecture year(month;day)
    7.”Effect of Yoga on blood glucose levels in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis”Journal Of Diabetes Investigation.100-109[http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jdi.13134]

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