Episode 118: Do You Have A Blood Sugar Problem?
Me: “I’m waking up at 2 am every night STARVING!”
My Dr: “Naomi, you have a blood sugar problem.”
This solo episode is the first in a series of solo episodes over the next few months taking you on a journey of my health history over the past 8-ish years. And we’re starting off talking about my blood sugar problem.
You’ll hear:
What blood sugar is
Why is fundamentally important to everyone’s general health (even just diabetics)
How I struggled with a blood sugar imbalance
And then I’ll give you a little bit of coaching by sharing what I did to address it, and what you can do too.
LISTEN TO THE EPISODE
MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE:
Episode 101: 10 Key Things To Do For A Successful 21-Day Sugar Detox
Episode 112: Answering Frequently Asked Questions about the 21-Day Sugar Detox
Naomi’s 21-Day Sugar Detox Coaching Program
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SHARE THE EPISODE:
“Back in 2013, I was really sick, even though I didn’t look it. I had so many things going on that I’ll detail in upcoming episodes spread out over the next few months. But once I got my blood sugar balanced again, I slept better, which meant I felt better, and the other things slowly began to fall into place. ”
Read the Episode Transcript:
So it was back in 2013 when I really started to get a clue that some of the things I was struggling with, at that time, in my health, wasn’t normal. Common, but not normal.
And looking back, there were so many things going on, from SIBO to fatty liver to thyroid issues to adrenal fatigue - that I’m going to dedicate an episode to each of those things and then another episode on how all those things are tied together and how I took the approach to address them functionally.
So back in 2013, one of the first things I remember telling the very first functional doctor I worked with, who by the way, I interviewed in Episode 002, was my sleep challenges.
Now as I’ve shared many, many times, I’ve had a lifelong battle with sleep. From as young an age as I can possibly remember, I have never been a good sleeper. But over the years, the struggle with sleep has been different.
From not being able to fall asleep, to not feeling rested even though I was getting a good amount of sleep, waking up at 3 am every day, or waking up in the middle of the night absolutely STARVING.
Like with ranging hunger.
And that was what was happening to me back in 2013 and it was anxiety-inducing.
Was I going to oversleep and miss my 7 am meeting?
Was I going to crash during my big cross-functional team meeting that I was leading at 2 pm?
How was I going to function and get through the next day?
When I shared this struggle with my doctor, the first thing she said to me was, “Naomi, that’s a blood sugar problem.”
I remember looking at her perplexed because at that time I believed that the only people who had blood sugar problems were diabetics or people who struggled with diabetes.
And that scared the living daylights out of me because unfortunately, there’s a long history of diabetes in my family.
I had great grandparents who had it, I remember, as a little girl, watching my grandfather rotate his insulin injections on different parts of his body, and I have aunts and uncles who also have it.
It seems that with every generation, it becomes more and more common.
But again, common doesn’t mean normal.
It was in fact, this very reason, the family history of diabetes, that I was inspired all those years ago in 2004 so finally start exercising and eating healthy, although back then, my interpretation of eating healthy was counting calories. The fewer calories I ate, the healthier I was - which is a topic for another way.
All this to say was that I was so very confused to hear that I had a blood sugar issue and that you don’t have to have diabetes to have blood sugar problems! So that’s what we’re going to talk about today:
What is blood sugar Why its important What are the signs of possible blood sugar problems What to do about it
So first, let me give a disclaimer that I am not a licensed medical professional. What about I’m about to share is general health knowledge and the context that I’m sharing it from is my own personal experience with this, because this is how we all connect - through our personal stories, so here’s one part of mine.
So first, what is blood sugar: put simply, blood sugar is the amount of sugar in your bloodstream. Another word for it is “glucose.”
And sugar gets into your bloodstream from the foods that you eat, specifically carbs. Anything that is not a fat or a protein, is a carb and all carbs turn to sugar.
But there are good carbs - carbs that come from real foods like vegetables, and there are bad carbs - carbs that come from refined sugary treats.
And depending on what kinds of carbs that you eat, it’ll either give your body energy or deplete it of energy.
And I’m not just talking about the, “I feel super energized right now” kind of energy, but also energy to the different systems in your body so they can do its jobs. Systems like your nervous system or your muscular system and your endocrine system, which is your hormone.
I know blood sugar isn’t something that we might associate with the endocrine system or hormone function, but interestingly enough, in my functional nutrition training, blood sugar was a part of our module on the endocrine system.
So we can say that blood sugar plays an important role in each person’s health so the goal is to always have a healthy balance of it.
I’m not going to get into the scientific functions of how sugar is processed in the body, but if you want a simplified explanation of this, then please read the 21-Day Sugar Detox book. There’s a section in there called, “The Science of Sugar Simplified” that explains it all. In fact, I’m sure I’ve referenced it in past episodes related to the 21-Day Sugar Detox program that I’m a coach for.
So basically, if you don’t have enough blood sugar, you can experience fatigue, moodiness, headaches and even cravings - which is your body’s way of telling you what it needs.
And when your blood sugar spikes or you have too much of it, you can also experience fatigue and even hunger.
If your blood sugar is always spiking and crashing you can experience not only experience fatigue, but also weight gain, poor sleep, breakouts and if nothing is done about this, it can lead to diabetes, which is what most of us are probably familiar with, but also high blood pressure, candida, and even cancer.
So having a healthy, balanced blood sugar is essential to our overall health and well-being.
Before we talk about how to rebalance your blood sugar, here’s a quick recap of the signs of blood sugar imbalance, whether too much or not enough:
Fatigue and low energy headaches cravings (especially for sugar and caffeine) moodiness increased appetite weight gain
So what do you do if you know you have a blood sugar problem?
Well given that the sugar in our blood is fed by the food that we eat, dietary changes would be one of the first things I’d consider, and here’s five tips to get started with that:
Make sure that every meal that you eat has FFP = fat, fiber and protein Don’t skip breakfast, eating within an hour of first waking up Avoid caffeine and sugar Reduce or eliminate alcohol altogether Have a little bit of protein before bed
That’s what helped me correct the problem I had of waking up in the middle of the night starving! I’d have a small piece of chicken, a slice of turkey or even a hard-boiled egg about an hour before bedtime and I saw a huge improvement in my sleep, which just confirmed that I indeed did have a blood sugar problem.
Besides food, there are other lifestyle changes you can make to help balance your blood sugar:
Go to bed at the same time every night, even on weekends, and before 10 pm. If you can get 8 hours of sleep, that’s even better! Be consistent with moderate exercise, nothing too overly strenuous Manage your stress! I know this is a broad statement but remember, stress if the root cause of all root causes so be aware of what the major stressors are in your life and find ways to manage them.
If this is something that you personally struggle with, the 21-Day Sugar Detox is a great program to help you address it. I’ve been a coach for this program for a few years and have done a number of episodes on it, specifically, Episodes 008, 030, 101, 111 and 112. If its something you’d like to do, you can simply order the books, I’d recommend at the very least, the 21-Day Sugar Detox Daily Guide and lead yourself through the program. Or you can follow along with the program’s social media accounts on Facebook or Instagram - they have prompts and a free Facebook group to lead you through it every month.
But if you’d like more individualized attention where you’d get personalized support, guidance, and accountability, then check out my coaching services. I lead folks through this program in either a four-week group program that I hold from time-to-time or more often in a one-on-one coaching capacity where I’m able to offer more high-touch support.
You can go to www.livefablife.com/services to get all the details and get started!
Blood sugar imbalance is a factor in so many conditions and illnesses that are becoming more and more common today, but as I said earlier, common doesn’t mean normal. But its something that you can fix, repair and manage, perhaps easier than you might think with the proper support, commitment and effort.
Back in 2013, I was really sick, even though I didn’t look it. I had so many things going on that I’ll detail in upcoming episodes spread out over the next few months. But once I got my blood sugar balanced again, I slept better, which meant I felt better, and the other things slowly began to fall into place.
But first I had to address the basics, the foundation, like blood sugar, before being able to work on the deeper concerns.
Now I want to hear from you - have you or are you struggling with blood sugar challenges? Come on over to the show notes for this episode at www.livefablife.com/118 and leave a comment, or reach out to me on social media and let me know! I spend most of my time on Instagram so send me a message there!
Next week, I have a guest joining on the show for a fascinating interview where she shares her health journey, and then I’ll be back after that with another solo episode continuing taking you through my health history.
Thanks for being here and I’ll see you next week!
Naomi Nakamura is a Functional Nutrition Health Coach. She helps passionate, ambitious high-achievers who are being dragged down by fatigue, burnout, sugar cravings, poor sleep, unexplained weight issues, and hormonal challenges optimize health, find balance, and upgrade their energy so they can do big things in this world.
Through her weekly show, The Live FAB Live Podcast, programs, coaching, and services, she teaches women how to optimize their diet, support their gut health, reduce their toxic load, and improve their productivity, bringing work + wellness together.
Naomi resides in the San Francisco Bay Area and can often be found exploring the area with her puppy girl, Coco Pop!
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