The Blood Sugar Anxiety

Dear readers,

My dealings with anxiety have had to do with many things. One being blood Sugar. When I was 15/16 I found out that I had reactive Hypoglycemia. “Reactive hypoglycemia is low blood glucose (sugar) that occurs within four hours after eating. Symptoms of reactive hypoglycemia may include anxiety, fast heartbeat, irritability (feeling very stressed or nervous), shaking, sweating, hunger, dizziness, blurred vision, difficulty thinking and faintness.” (found on the web)

It took me a long time to understand that eating has a lot to do with my anxiety. Our American diet, even though I grew up eating very healthy, includes lots of sugar! When I eat a lot of sugar, it spikes my blood sugar and then it drops just as fast leaving me with a feeling of anxiety. It seems like a simple fix…right? “Just stop eating sugar…” I would tell myself. Well it’s not so easy. It’s in everything, its addictive, its fun and delicious! Its been many years now, since I found out about my Reactive Hypoglycemia and I still struggle with how to deal with it at times. Here are some rules I try to stick to.

1. Eat a lot of protein and vegetables
2. Eat every 2-4 hours
3. Stay away from Alcohol
4. Come up with fun, delicious treats that are relatively low in sugar and eat them instead.
5. Stay away from high sugar foods or foods that turn to sugar quickly as best I can.
6. Don’t get mad at myself when I really want a sweet delicious treat and eat it. Instead, make sure that I can eat a protein rich snack or meal in the near future so that I don’t feel terrible afterwards.

Sticking to these rules has helped decrease my daily anxiety and making sure I do not binge on sugar or alcohol has lessened my anxiety attacks drastically. A lot of people who have anxiety do not have Reactive Hypoglycemia, but everybody has blood sugar, and many people eat a lot of sugar! We all feel the ups and downs of sugar in our bodies. If you are suffering from anxiety try staying away from sugar and eat lots of protein rich snacks. I have lots of low sugar/high protein recipes that I have come up with and will share in the future.

Heres one of my favorites for now:)

Mango Coconut Ice Cream

Put 2 cups frozen Mango, 3/4-1 cup coconut milk and 1TBSP vanilla extract in a vitamix and blend until it is a creamy frozen yogurt like consistency. Tip: because of the fat content of the coconut the liquid amount varies. Pour it in slowly to decide how much is just right.

Enjoy your low sugar ice cream!

I hope you all have a wonderful anxiety free day!