4 things that raise glucose levels that you may be completely unaware of doing

Last week I wrote about two things you can do to prevent glucose spikes when you eat sweets ADD LINK. But there are things besides eating sugary treats that raise your blood sugar levels and you may not even be aware you’re doing them. Over time, these can have serious negative effects on your overall physical and cognitive health, as well as your body composition.

Not exercising enough

When you don’t get enough movement, especially resistance exercise that really engages your muscles, you’re impairing your blood sugar control. This is because muscles are great physical stores for glucose. Using them soaks up the glucose in your blood, so your body doesn’t need to produce insulin to remove it. Besides being a boon to your waistline, this also helps prevent developing type 2 diabetes.

What to do instead: Schedule in exercise

Make it a commitment to yourself. The time and energy you spend exercising is the health equivalent of putting money into your retirement account. You and your life are worth it.

How you experience stress

Stress releases adrenaline and cortisol. In response to rising adrenaline levels, your liver releases glucose which then requires insulin to move it out of the blood. Unfortunately, cortisol causes your body to be less sensitive to insulin, meaning larger amounts need to be released. If this happens occasionally, your body recovers. But when it happens regularly, you’re setting yourself up for insulin resistance, increased fat storage, and even type 2 diabetes.

What to do instead: Promote recovery (and don’t forget to schedule in exercise)

As described above, exercise–particularly resistance exercise–counteracts the effects of stress by improving your blood glucose levels and keeping you insulin sensitive. Recovery includes anything that allows your sympathetic nervous system (aka the “fight or flight” system) to calm down. Good examples are getting enough sleep, feeling emotionally supported by and connected to others, and having fun.

Eating dinner too close to bedtime

Your body follows a circadian rhythm that makes it less sensitive to insulin as you get closer to your natural bedtime. This means that if you eat within a few hours of going to sleep, you’ll most likely experience a bigger bump in glucose than you would have if you ate the same meal earlier. If you do this regularly, you’re upping your odds for accumulated fat storage and increased insulin resistance.

What to do instead: Try to finish eating dinner three hours before bedtime (or longer)

If you’re truly hungry before you go to bed, have something small that focuses more on protein or fat, rather than carbs (a handful of nuts, a small bowl of greek yogurt, a piece of cheese).

Not getting enough restorative sleep

Not getting enough quality sleep does two detrimental things to your blood glucose levels. It bumps up your cortisol, which you now know makes your body less sensitive to insulin. It also ramps up your hunger hormones, making you crave high-energy foods (most likely sugar and starchy carbs). If you give in and eat them, your rising blood sugar level is especially hard for your body to manage because of cortisol’s impact on insulin. It’s a vicious loop.

What to do instead: Prioritize the importance of sleep time

Allow yourself at least eight hours of bedtime. Keep your room cool and dark. Turn off any devices that could disturb you and resist the urge to look at your phone if you wake up at night (the blue light, as well as the stimulating content, aren’t conducive to falling back to sleep).