The longer I practice medicine the more I like to keep things simple. Complexity irritates me. One favorite acronym I appreciate is “KIS” which stands for “keep it simple.” Therefore today I would like to discuss one simple way to help you avoid holiday stress, and that is to watch out for sugar in the diet.
Why do I say this? Because I have discovered first hand how sensitive I am to food. What we put into our bodies can directly affect our health both physical and emotional. I have found sugar to be a source of headaches, fatigue and if I am not careful, stress and anxiety.
I discovered my own sugar sensitivity when I was in training. One morning before surgery the first thing I ate was a donut and an apple juice. During the operation I became dizzy, anxious, nauseous and shaky. Even though I had a load of sugar for breakfast, the sugar level in my blood stream became low. This condition is called hypoglycemia.
I will need to tell you some biochemistry to understand how you can avoid low blood sugar. When we eat food, the sugar components enter the blood stream to be metabolized as fuel inside the cells of our bodies. The hormone responsible for the uptake of sugar into the cells is called insulin.
What can happen if you eat too much sugar on an empty stomach is that too much insulin is released as compensation. The problem from this is that the blood is depleted of sugar from the effect of the insulin. So even though you ate sugar, the body over compensates or overshoots the balance and you wind up with low, not high sugar levels. Some people are more sensitive to this process then others.
The effect of this process is made worse if we add emotional stress. I see this in my podiatry practice when a patient comes in the morning and they get a shot of medicine and then they faint. Usually, I will ask them what they had for breakfast and often they will say only a hot chocolate or a donut. The stress of getting an injection coupled with the low blood sugar mechanism I have just described combines into a fainting episode.
This is the connection to the holidays because sometimes the holidays can be stressful. The holidays also bring the temptation of sweet treats loaded with sugar. The combination can bring on an unwanted and misunderstood trigger of anxiety.
The key to avoiding this is to eat the right foods in the right order. You can eat holiday treats just make sure it is not on an empty stomach. It is eating sugar on an empty stomach that can cause the sugar in your blood stream to spike up and then crash down.
The “keep it simple” solution to this is to eat protein first. What I have discovered in my own life is that if I eat a source of protein first, then my insulin levels are not overly stimulated and my blood sugar rises at a more gradual pace and this allows me to have dessert without a precipitous drop in my blood sugar.
My strategy is to eat some nuts, cheese, meat or an egg before I go for the sweets. I will try to time this 30 minutes before I eat any sugar. When you eat protein food first your body will respond with a gradual secretion of insulin which can help prevent low blood sugar. Pure sugar first is like a shock to the system. Try this strategy over the holidays and see if you don’t feel more relaxed. It is a simple and easy thing to do. Lastly, please have a happy and safe holiday season.
Matthew McQuaid, DPM is a board certified foot surgeon practicing in Lakeport. He has a particular interest in Mind/Body medicine and its impact on healing. He is an award winning author and teacher. For more information call )707) 263-3727 or visit www.drmcquaid.com.
