Exactly How To Know If Your Blood Sugar Is Out Of Whack

You guys sent in over 500 questions about sugar, and we handpicked a few that appeared over and over to answer. Without further ado, here’s the 411 on all things sweet and carby:

That depends on a few factors:

For most people, sticking to whole-food sugars and limiting added sugars keeps them in a good range. I recommend clients try to stay below 50 grams of net carbs a day of both added and naturally occurring sugars.

When your blood sugar is chronically unbalanced, it can directly affect our HPA (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal) axis, which controls your body’s release of cortisol and leads to adrenal fatigue. When your blood sugar is high, cortisol is also high and vice versa. The problem happens when unbalanced blood sugar causes cortisol to be unbalanced as well—this is one of the top contributors to adrenal fatigue. Excess sugar is also inflammatory, which further feeds hormonal imbalance.

Honey, maple syrup, molasses, dates, and fresh fruit juice are some of the best sweeteners you can use in limited amounts. Stevia, xylitol, and monk fruit are also fine low-carb options but in excess can cause some digestive symptoms like bloating. The key with all sweeteners is moderation! Do your best, then don’t stress.

There are quite a few symptoms that can point to a blood sugar imbalance such as:

Excess sugar consumption just exacerbates your symptoms. When your blood sugar is elevated, your pancreas releases insulin to bring blood sugar levels back to normal. If you are consistently bombarding your body with sugar, your pancreas is constantly working to get your blood sugar back to normal. This can lead to insulin resistance and the inability for your body to use insulin properly to regulate blood sugar. If you do have unbalanced blood sugar, you can do a number of things to fix it, from supplementing with magnesium, vitamin D, and chromium to increasing your probiotic intake to reducing your stress levels. For a list of my top ways to balance blood sugar, check out my article on the subject.

Eating too many high-sugar foods can feed yeast and bacteria overgrowth, which can lead to candida overgrowth and contribute to chronic inflammation, and that chronic inflammation can result in inflamed skin—i.e., acne. The best way to take care of your skin is to take care of your gut, eating foods with less sugar, tons of fiber, and consuming lots of probiotics, which help bring down the overall levels of inflammation in your gut.