Last week the 2 nd Fat Summit ran, the summit provided education by wellness industry experts, such as Dr. Hyman, who stressed the importance of healthy fats in our diets. We have been incorrectly informed for years that eating low fat is healthy and to lose weight we need to count calories and eat low fat foods. It re-confirmed   that  low-fat foods use sugar and processed carbohydrates in exchange for fats ( outside of fruit and vegetables). The result, these low-fat foods throw off blood sugar. In addition, consuming too much  sugar depletes the body of Vit C (immune), calcium-magnesium (bones, nerves), copper (hair-skin) and chromium (balances blood sugar).  This causes the body to continue eating because the body isn’t experiencing satiety.The research is out, sugar is the culprit for many heath challenges such as hormone changes, digestive health, binge eating, and brings upon feelings that we don’t have willpower. I know from personal experience, it’s difficult to have willpower when your body is dealing with constant blood sugar spikes and drops , which causes cravings for more food because it needs nutrients to fill the void which feels like hunger.

What I experienced personally and with my clients is overeating and cravings for cheese, pasta or bread is rooted in balancing blood sugar. Blood sugar isn’t typically an indicator discussed until a prediabetic or diabetic stage, which is correct for disease management. If we are seeking wellness and to eliminate emotional eating, fatigue, weight loss resistance, cravings or hormonal changes (increase or decrease); blood sugar is a very important indicator.

This reaction in our body of blood sugar spikes and drops has familiar symptoms for many such as;

• further cravings for the foods we cant resist or what we call comfort foods
• mood swings such as irritability, anxiety, diminished response to stress and difficulty focusing
• fatigue that is relieved with eating more of these comfort foods or caffeine
• overeating to keep the blood sugar high which leads to feeling a lack of willpower for not sticking with healthy foods

Blood sugar changes cause mood swings which leads to overeating. On the surface this looks like an emotional eating issue, however, on the physical side, the body is dealing with a real physiology symptom.

On the energy anatomy side, blood sugar is in the solar plexus or 3rd chakra.

Blood sugar is your bodies way of saying its overburdened with the responsibilities in life and can show up as underachieving or self-sabotage. Overall the 3 rd chakra is about your honor and if it’s aligned with your values. When we suppress or ignore values, it impacts our solar plexus energy, which can lead to overeating to deflect the emotions.

Couple of ways to address blood sugar balancing:

1) Tracking: what’s going on in your body. This can be recorded using an app or notebook

Food & Nutrients

• Add in healthy fats, they are filling without the blood sugar spikes such as avocado, olive oil and olives, coconut, nuts-seeds
• Read labels to see how much sugar you are consuming, and take note of the amount of starches and processed food you consume throughout the day versus whole foods

Moods

• How do you feel before you eat versus a few hours after you eat, such as anxious, irritable, overwhelmed, low motivation or focus?
• Where are you feeling overburdened with the responsibilities in life?

How do you feel physically?

• Bloat, distension, constant hunger, feel the need to overeat, joint pain, fatigue

2) Blood sugar balancing support

• Chromium, aloe, probiotics, ALA, L-glutamine, trace minerals
• Dates are great for blood sugar balancing to satisfy a sweet tooth, try CynfullY DeliciouS fudge, its sweetened with dates and doesn’t impact blood sugar
• Essential oils such as cinnamon, cardamom and black pepper

3) Other factors that impact blood sugar are:

• Eating too much protein, called gluconeogenesis. Occurs when eating too much protein and it converts into sugar, such as an Adkins style diet that doesn’t focus on adding in vegetables and healthy fats
• Liver and gallbladder aren’t producing sufficient bile
• The gut has a parasite or overgrowth of bad bacterial
• Thyroid conversion from T4 to T3 isn’t optional
• Hormonal imbalance impacting adrenals- cortisol regulation