Balance your life to support good health, especially with diabetes

You may have heard the term homeostasis. This is the goal of your body, to balance your physical systems in order to function and survive. Your body is constantly adjusting itself in response to changes outside and inside the body.

One important system is balancing your blood sugar. it’s important to reduce inflammation and decrease the risk of serious consequences for high or low blood sugars.

By reducing the amount of carbohydrates in your diet and eating healthy amounts of protein, good fat and plenty of fiber, you are balancing your meals to achieve good blood sugar control. This also helps balance your hormones that directly affect your metabolic system – insulin, glucagon, ghrelin, leptin and others. When these hormones come into balance, your metabolism is able to clear up the disorder of these hormones to help get good blood sugar control.

Movement, physical activity and exercise is another area, among many, where your body is making adjustments as to what is needed and used for fuel. When you exercise too much, your body will slow you down with fatigue to get you to rest. It will start to break down muscle for fuel which will slow your metabolic rate. Under stress, it will pull out the stops and flood your system with stored sugar in preparation for fight or flight, even when you are not getting ready to fight or run.

Balancing your sleep/wake cycle is another critical system. If you don’t get enough restorative sleep, your body will force you into sleep, especially at inopportune times like when you are driving. Too little sleep causes problems for your microbiome – the critters in your gut – which keep you healthy because of a robust immune system.

These systems impact your emotional state. Your thoughts, feelings, ideas, beliefs as well as your brain chemistry, your gut functioning and more impact your emotions. Getting poor sleep can interfere with your decision-making and problem solving. You have less control over your emotions and this could cause some problems for you.

Your body is full of systems that monitor and maintain chemical reactions, hormones, neurotransmitters and so much more to keep your body in balance. These keep you alive and functioning as well as possible, given the materials you put in your body. When you do your part – feed it well, sleep well, get physical activity regularly, manage your stress and your emotions – you are many steps closer to a long, healthy, balanced and hopefully happy life!

Dr Elaine

Download my free 30 Day Guide to Manage or Reverse Type 2 Diabetes 

This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace the medical advice of your doctor or healthcare provider. Please consult your healthcare provider for advice about a specific medical condition.

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