2024-01-15 06:40:00
daily health
After eating, ‘nodding~’ is not just a feeling of hunger, but a symptom of illness?
Reporter Lee Hae-na | Intern reporter Jeong Jun-yeop
Entered 2024/01/15 15:40
A blood sugar spike is a phenomenon in which insulin acts when blood sugar levels rise rapidly following a meal, causing blood sugar levels to drop sharply, causing fatigue./Photo = Getty Image Bank Some people cannot overcome drowsiness following eating lunch. This is a normal phenomenon that occurs while digesting food, but if the severity is severe or the symptoms repeat frequently, a ‘blood sugar spike’ may be suspected. When you eat food on an empty stomach, your blood sugar levels rise and fall rapidly, which is called a blood sugar spike.
Blood sugar spikes are closely related to ‘insulin resistance’. Insulin resistance refers to a case where our body’s response to insulin is reduced compared to normal standards. In fact, many patients who visit hospitals due to fatigue recently have blood sugar spikes due to insulin resistance. Professor Lee Hye-jun of the Department of Family Medicine at Chung-Ang University Hospital said, “If you go to the hospital for fatigue and take a blood test, you will find that there are quite a few people with insulin resistance.” He added, “For example, the insulin levels of middle-aged men who drink a lot and patients with obesity or metabolic syndrome are “If you check your fasting and 2-hour postprandial blood sugar levels, there are quite a few people with diabetes or pre-diabetes symptoms,” he said.
◇Causes include excessive consumption of refined carbohydrates and lack of muscle mass
The principles of hunger and blood sugar spikes are different. Fatigue is a type of normal physiological fatigue that occurs when our body eats food and blood rushes to the stomach for digestion. At this time, the blood flow to the brain is relatively reduced, making you feel tired. On the other hand, a blood sugar spike is a state of drowsiness or fatigue caused by low blood sugar. When blood sugar levels rise rapidly following a meal, insulin acts to lower blood sugar levels. At this time, blood sugar levels drop sharply, making you drowsy or fatigued.
The biggest cause of blood sugar spikes is excessive consumption of refined carbohydrates. Refined carbohydrates refer to carbohydrates whose nutritional value has been reduced by polishing natural grains several times. Representative examples include white rice and wheat flour. During the refining process, starch and fiber are removed. Therefore, patients with obesity and metabolic syndrome who consume a lot of refined carbohydrates are at risk. Additionally, since alcohol is also a carbohydrate, people who drink a lot of alcohol, such as excessive drinking or binge drinking, can also experience blood sugar spikes.
In addition, people who lack muscle mass are also vulnerable to blood sugar spikes. Professor Hyejun Lee said, “Muscle is an important organ that metabolizes and stores glucose in our body,” and added, “If there is little muscle, problems with glucose metabolism or storage occur, causing blood sugar spikes.” People who are under a lot of stress can also be at risk. When you are stressed, a hormone called ‘cortisol’ is secreted, and this hormone itself raises blood sugar levels.
◇Causes insulin resistance and leads to various diseases
Repeated blood sugar spikes can cause four main problems:
▷Pancreatic cell damage = When you eat food, insulin, a hormone that lowers blood sugar levels, is secreted from the pancreas to control blood sugar levels. Blood sugar spikes can cause insulin resistance. Professor Hyejun Lee said, “When blood sugar spikes repeat, we have to secrete much more insulin than usual. However, if our body does not respond due to insulin resistance, pancreatic cells may be damaged.”
▷Diabetes = Repeated blood sugar spikes cause blood sugar control problems due to damage to pancreatic cells, which can lead to diabetes through pre-diabetes.
▷Disease related to metabolic syndrome = Insulin resistance is related to metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome refers to the condition of having three of the following at the same time: abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, impaired fasting blood sugar, high triglycerides, and low HDL cholesterol. Therefore, it can also cause complications caused by metabolic syndrome, such as high blood pressure, hyperlipidemia, fatty liver, and gout.
▷Inflammation = There is also a high blood sugar state with blood sugar spikes. Elevated blood sugar causes damage to vascular endothelial cells, and when vascular endothelial cells are damaged, inflammation occurs. This inflammation can lead not only to arteriosclerosis of the heart and cerebral blood vessels, but also to cardiovascular diseases such as myocardial infarction and cerebral infarction.
In addition, insulin resistance, like diabetes, is genetic and has a high family history because family members share the same eating habits.
◇Blood test recommended, eating habits must be improved
Before blood sugar spikes lead to diabetes, the most accurate way to diagnose is to take a blood test. It is helpful to go to the hospital and take a fasting blood test, or take a blood test 2 hours following a meal along with an empty stomach. Common early symptoms of diabetes are polyuria (frequent urination), polydipsia (drinking a lot of water), and polyphagia (eating a lot of food), and sometimes weight loss occurs suddenly when blood sugar levels rise above 300 following a meal. However, there are not many cases where these symptoms are felt in the early stages.
To prevent blood sugar spikes, the most important thing is to change the eating habits that cause them. Instead of refined carbohydrates such as white rice and bread, it is better to consume unrefined carbohydrates (whole grains), good carbohydrates (resistant starch), dietary fiber, and protein. When eating, it is recommended to focus on foods with a low glycemic index, and abstinence from alcohol is also necessary. You should also reduce fruit intake. Because fructose is a simple sugar, it is not used as an energy source and is stored as neutral fat in the liver. Therefore, it becomes difficult to control blood sugar, and it can also cause other diseases such as fatty liver. In addition, it is also useful to normalize glucose metabolism and storage by increasing muscle mass through moderate strength training and protein intake.
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