The last piece we are going to address in this series is probably one of the more complex subjects of all of the topics discussed so far. Your mental state greatly influences your physical health and therefore, your blood sugar. This means your levels of stress, your anxiety and your inner voice; as in how you speak to yourself.
One of the most direct ways to see this is when someone is what we call an ‘emotional eater.’ Meaning there is something that they find upsetting; either stressful, anxiety inducing or depressing and they turn to eating food to soothe themselves. This clearly can result in increased blood sugar. But what about when you aren’t an emotional eater?
Stress and anxiety have many causes, but the resulting reaction in your body is an increased level of cortisol, ie ‘stress hormone’, in your system. Excess elevated cortisol can lead to increased blood sugar, and a decreased immune system function and decreased inflammatory response which helps in healing.
It is important to look at the big picture and try to reduce obvious stressors. However, sometimes it is more helpful to start with smaller, daily actions that are faster to implement and feel more readily in our immediate control. (Then say, changing your job or moving somewhere cheaper.) Here are 3 ways to immediately improve your mood and reduce overall stress:
- Mindful eating
- Meditation
- Gratitude journaling
Mindful eating is a method of approaching your food, focusing just on the task of eating that meal and not attempting to multitask or flip through TikToks. You set aside 5-15 minutes, sit down, and put your phone away for the meal. Make sure the TV is off. Start with gratitude for the meal, then use all your senses to take in that moment, the color of the food, the smell of the meal and once you start to eat, the texture. This approach is a way of being present in the moment with what you are consuming. So often we are grabbing food on the go, barely appreciating what we are putting in our body. When we stop, pause, and enjoy our meals we are more likely to feel fuller sooner. We are also giving our mind a rich and radically present experience, which consequently helps reduce anxiety and stress.
Similar to mindful eating, meditation is a simple, but powerful tool, in reducing stress and anxiety. With the advent of multiple meditation apps you can download to your phone, it has become much easier to learn the practice of sitting down and quieting the mind. It is a common misconception that you need to ‘know’ how to do it in order for it to work. The act of trying to meditate, is in fact, meditation. The other common misconception is that a lot of time needs to be devoted in order for it to be effective. Setting an intention of 10 minutes out of your day is more than enough to start.
The last exercise for your mental gym is gratitude journaling. Evolutionarily as humans, we are hardwired to focus on negative outcomes. This was because early on, negative events could result in loss of life or harm to our tribe. Gratitude journaling is a way to flip the negative hardwire bias. Gratitude journaling is a daily practice of writing down three things you are grateful for, three things to make (or made) your day great and three self affirmations, ie “I am strong!” In implementing these three simple mental exercises you will notice reductions in stress and anxiety which will lead to long term improvements in your overall health and blood sugar.
Coach Sarah, FNP-BC, MSN