Blood Sugar Imbalance
Many people in the world of shift work often have issues keeping their ‘blood sugar’ levels in check. It is not uncommon for shift workers to have issues with the way that their bodies handle sugar. In order to understand why blood sugar can end up out of balance, we need to understand a bit about the relationship between blood sugar and insulin.
Your body requires energy for its cells in the form of glucose, which comes mainly from the digestion of carbohydrate containing foods. The glucose, once absorbed, enters the bloodstream and then goes into the fluid surrounding your cells. Your cells want the glucose as a fuel source, but in order to get the glucose inside the cell, it must be carried by the hormone called insulin. Therefore, to feed your cells, insulin is released from your pancreas. Once the insulin moves the glucose into the cell, the glucose is burned for energy. Any extra glucose that is not required for energy gets stored as fat.
Insulin was a very important survival hormone for our ancestors. Carbohydrates were not always as readily available as they are now. In the ancient times of our ancestors, carbohydrate intake would have been infrequent and in the form of berries, seeds and a small amount of wild grains. It was an advantage in those times to be able to easily store fat, because it meant that a person had a better chance of surviving through a famine or during the winter months.
In this day and age, carbohydrates and sugar are consumed in excess by a majority of the population. If carbohydrates are constantly consumed and in large quantities, insulin levels become chronically elevated. Excess insulin over an extended period of time can cause insulin resistance in susceptible individuals. Insulin resistance (sometimes called glucose intolerance) is an inefficiency of insulin to deliver glucose into the cells because the cells do not respond as easily in its presence. To compensate, the pancreas produces even more insulin, a state called hyperinsulinemia. Insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia are quite common, with estimates of as many as 25% in a normal non-diabetic population.
Insulin resistance can eventually develop into Type 2 diabetes, a situation where the cells are so resistant that the pancreas cannot produce enough insulin to reduce the blood glucose to normal levels. Although not all people with insulin resistance develop diabetes, those who do not, are at risk for a variety of othe diseases including: cardiovascular disease, obesity, inflammatory disorders, polycystic ovary syndrome, colon and breast cancer and cognitive decline. It is undeniable that high insulin levels are undesirable. Many functional medicine practitioners believe that insensitivity to insulin may be one of the most important underlying dysfunctions related to many chronic diseases. Metabolic Syndrome or Syndrome X, when insulin resistance is accompanied by the symptoms of decreased HDL (the good cholesterol), elevated triglycerides, elevated blood pressure and the presence of excess abdominal fat, is becoming more commonplace. Its is estimated that 24% of the North American population have metabolic syndrome.
People vary a lot in their susceptibility to developing insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. Some people can eat what seems like bucketloads of sugar and never have a problem. Some people are more susceptible due to their genetic make up, while other factors such as shift work and even stress can increase one’s likelihood.
Shift work has been related to insulin resistance and is an increased risk factor for the development of Type 2 diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome. Working shifts means that you are often consuming meals in the middle of the night when you would normally be sleeping. Your body is poorly equipped to deal with heavy meals, particularly meals containing large amounts of carbohydrates in the night. Night shift eating has been shown to result in inappropriate hormonal and metabolic responses to meals. Studies of shift workers in the Antartica have shown that these people had higher levels of insulin, glucose and triglycerides following a meal during night shift, than when the same meal was eaten during the day shift. Remember that increased insulin, glucose and triglyceride levels are indicators of insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. Sleep debt, which also is a typical feature of shift work, is known to result in profound metabolic changes, such as impaired glucose tolerance.
Stress is also a predisposing factor for the development of insulin reistance. During the stress response, cortisol reduces the responsiveness of cells to insulin (makes them resistant). A person that is under chronic stress may end up in a situation where their cells are continually ignoring insulin – possibly leading to insulin resistance.
Prevention and treatment of insulin resistance involves early detection, aggressive nutritional intervention, appropriate supplementation, weight management, aerobic and resistance exercise, moderate alcohol ingestion, elimination of tobacco products and limited caffeine. All of these components are part of the Shift Health Solution and detailed information can be found in the section Balancing Your Blood Sugar