Helping your body manage blood sugar levels is not just vital for diabetics – it is also an important part of regulating your energy and hormonal levels when trying to conceive. The sugar in blood is glucose and your body uses it to fuel everything from physical to mental functioning.
Glucose comes from the food you eat, so there is a natural rise and fall depending on when and what we eat. Insulin secreted by the pancreas instructs the body to store excessive sugar away in various fat and liver cells until it is needed – until glucagon is secreted, which allows this stored sugar to be slowly released as your body requires. Too much and too little glucose in the blood can have really detrimental effects on the rest of the body.
So how does this affect our fertility? Well it is mainly hormones that regulate your blood sugar. We have mentioned insulin before – and it is high insulin levels that are the root of so many fertility problems. Insulin is released in response to sudden high levels of glucose in the blood – so something sugary in the diet has been eaten. High levels of insulin have several knock on effects.
Firstly insulin blocks the production of sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) which is a protein that influences testosterone and oestrogen functioning. This pattern is seen in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), and is one of the factors behind the disruption of the reproductive hormones. Insulin resistance is a state whereby the pancreas secretes ever increasing amounts of insulin to bring down glucose levels. Muscle, fat and liver cells do not respond to the normal instruction of insulin to store glucose, so the body produces more and more insulin to force them into responding.
Secondly, a rapid drop in glucose levels can be seen following the initial influx of glucose our systems as our body tries to stabilize our sugar levels. You can notice this ‘crash’ sometimes 15-20 mins after eating a large amount something particularly sugary. Because prevention of hypoglycemia is vital for the body, several hormones from the adrenal glands and pituitary back up glucagon function. The stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol are released to help speed up the return of glucose into the blood and in time this pattern will also disrupt the reproductive hormones. The affect of adrenaline on hormones was studied by Dr Katharine Dalton, a pioneer in the treatment of pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS), who discovered that her patients PMS symptoms were relieved by eating regularly to stop adrenalin from being released. What Dr Dalton discovered was that this adrenalin blocked the uptake of progesterone in the second half of the menstrual cycle. This problem, ultimately due to poor eating habits, was contributing to the oestrogen-progesterone imbalance thought to trigger the symptoms of PMS. The answer was to stabilize blood sugar levels by getting patients to eat properly and stop the adrenaline interfering with the progesterone.
In balancing our blood sugar levels then we must look to both HOW and WHAT we eat.
Recent research took two groups of women with PCOS with ovulatory dysfunction and divided them into two groups. Both groups ate the same food which total 1800 calories per day. One group ate a very large breakfast, a large lunch and small dinner. The other group did the opposite – they ate little all day and ate most of their food in the evening meal. Neither groups lost weight, however the group that started their day with a large meal and lunch saw a dramatic improvement in reproductive function with decreases in testosterone and insulin levels AND a 50% rise in ovulation rate being detected via progesterone levels. This is a very good example of how we eat – how we fuel our bodies through out the day can directly improve our reproductive functioning.
So what are the simplest ways to look after your blood sugar naturally?
1. Start the day with a wonderful breakfast – make it a meal that you really look forward to. It should include some protein as well as complex carbohydrates. Most shop bought breakfast cereals are laden with sugars – not a great first thing in the morning after 8 hours without food! A good example would be home made porridge cooked with cinnamon, nuts and seeds, sweetened with a drizzle of honey. Another example would be eggs on wholegrain toast made from rye or spelt from example.
2. Never skip meals. Ever.
3. Choose a diet that is high in foods with a low glycemic index - a list of foods can be found by
clicking on this link. Avoid foods with a high glycemic index (these cause more dramatic spikes in blood sugar levels). If you do eat something sugary – make sure you eat it alongside a proper meal, not as a snack in its own right. This will help minimise the sudden glucose high in the blood.
4. Avoid coffee and alcohol – both affect blood sugar levels through adrenal and pancreatic functioning respectively.
5. Avoid saturated fat – the reason is simple: American scientists evaluated 3,000 people and found that those with the highest blood levels of saturated fats were twice as likely to develop diabetes.
6. Get a proper nights sleep – aim for 7.5 – 8.5 hours every night of solid uninterrupted sleep. Numerous studies find that sleep deprivation has a dramatic effect on your blood sugar and insulin levels
At the
Norwich Natural Fertility Partnership we work with you to create a diet that will maximize both you and your partners health. Our clients are consistent with their feedback on how changing their diet has left them looking and feeling a million times more energised and positive in their outlook. We understand that for some couples eating well is only part of the solution and we frequently see cases involving type I and type II diabetes as well as insulin resistance alongside PCOS. In these cases herbal medicine, homeopathy and certain supplements can have an additional role to play in helping regulate the reproductive hormones.