The Root Cause You Might Be Missing: Blood Sugar Instability (Part 1)
If you feel a noticeable change in how you function after eating, it’s one of the clearest signs that your blood sugar might not be working the way it should.
When you eat a meal and feel better — brain fog lifts, energy comes back — that tells me your body was running too low and food brought it back up.
If you eat a meal and feel sluggish, heavy, or even more tired, that points toward the other end of the spectrum — blood sugar swinging too high.
I see blood sugar dysregulation show up all the time in practice! It’s one of the most common root causes behind a wide variety of symptoms — from hormone imbalances and chronic pain to more unexpected issues like hair thinning, dizziness, or persistently cold hands and feet.
If we don’t stabilize blood sugar, it can put strain on many other body systems down the line.
Blood Sugar: A Critical Foundation for Your Health
Stable blood sugar isn't just about avoiding diabetes.
It’s crucial for keeping:
• Hormones balanced
• Inflammation low
• Brain function sharp
• Energy levels steady
• Your immune system strong
• Your digestive system healthy
Without blood sugar stability, your body is constantly in a tug-of-war between survival and breakdown. Fixing it is a non-negotiable foundation for healing.
The 2 Patterns of Blood Sugar Dysfunction… Well Actually 3
1. Hypoglycemia — Blood Sugar Dips Too Low
Symptoms:
• Shakiness
• Anxiety
• Irritability ("hangry" feeling)
• Dizziness
• Poor focus
• Waking up in the middle of the night, especially between 1–3 AM
• Cold hands and feet
• Dizziness when standing up
• Eating a meal resolves symptoms
Why do these symptoms happen?
When your blood sugar dips too low, your body jumps into survival mode, activating the adrenal system to release stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline to bring it back up.
This is a primal, protective mechanism — after all, if your blood sugar falls too low, it’s fatal. If it goes too high, it will eventually be fatal, but after 30 years of high glucose making its mark on your body through a disease process know as diabetes.
While this stress response keeps you alive in the moment, it comes at a significant cost. Continually relying on this mechanism to keep blood sugar stable puts major strain on several key systems in your body, leading to…
What Chronic Low Blood Sugar Does to Your Body:
• Low blood pressure:
The adrenal glands that regulate your stress response also play a key role in maintaining blood pressure. When the adrenals become fatigued from constant activation, blood pressure can start to fall. If blood pressure drops too low, the body struggles to deliver blood effectively to the extremities, often causing symptoms like cold hands and feet — and even hair thinning or loss, due to reduced blood flow to the scalp.
• Suppressed immune function:
Prolonged exposure to stress hormones like cortisol weakens your immune system over time, leaving you more vulnerable to infections, slower healing, and chronic inflammation.
• Poor sleep:
The constant cycling of cortisol and adrenaline disrupts your ability to stay asleep. Many people wake between 1–3 AM — the timeframe when the body starts to run out of stored glucose (glycogen). When glycogen reserves are depleted, the adrenal system kicks in to "artificially" raise blood sugar by releasing more stress hormones. The surge of cortisol and adrenaline often jolts people awake and can cause feelings of anxiety or restlessness.
• Gut microbiome imbalance:
The same stress hormones that raise up blood sugar when low unfortunately shift the environment of your gut microbiome. Stress hormones encourage the growth of harmful bacteria that thrive under chronic stress. Over time, this shift damages digestion, weakens the gut barrier, and further strains the immune system.
• Hormonal changes:
All of your body's steroid hormones — from cortisol to DHEA to reproductive hormones — are made from the same raw materials. When your body constantly prioritizes stress hormone production to stabilize blood sugar, it "steals" from the pool of resources that should be going toward making other important hormones. This drain on your hormone-building materials can lead to mood swings, irregular cycles, low libido, and persistent fatigue.
The Takeaway Is…
If your body can't regulate glucose through healthy glycogen storage, it will tap into your stress systems instead.
While this can keep you alive in the short term, it comes at a steep cost to your long-term health — draining your resources, disrupting critical body systems, and setting the stage for chronic disease.
So how do we prevent this?
The solution starts with eating frequently enough to prevent the early warning signs of low blood sugar — symptoms like shakiness, dizziness, irritability, poor focus, or waking up during the night.
By consistently fueling your body with the right foods at the right times, you give it the raw materials to build healthy glycogen stores.
When glycogen is available, blood sugar can stay stable naturally — without having to rely on the stress hormone system.
This not only protects your energy and mood today, but also lays the foundation for stronger immunity, better sleep, healthier digestion, and more balanced hormones in the future.
👉 Part 2 breaks this all down — how to eat, when to eat, and what to eat to stop the cycle and feel more stable.
2. Hyperglycemia — Blood Sugar Rises Too High
Symptoms:
• Fatigue after eating
• Craving sweets
• Weight gain, difficulty losing weight
• Excessive Thirst
• Inflammation and joint pain
• Must have sweets after meals
• Eating sweets does not relieve cravings
• Frequent urination
Why do these symptoms happen?
When your blood sugar rises too high, it sparks an inflammatory response throughout your entire body.
High blood sugar = high inflammation.
Wherever you already have a weak spot — whether it’s neck stiffness, low back tension, or an old injury — hyperglycemia throws gasoline on the fire.
Your body tries to protect itself by releasing more insulin to push sugar out of the bloodstream and into the cells.
But if blood sugar stays elevated too often, this mechanism starts to break down — and major health problems follow.
What Chronic High Blood Sugar Does to Your Body:
• Triggers widespread inflammation:
Consistently high blood sugar acts like fuel on the fire for inflammation. This low-grade, chronic inflammation doesn’t just stay in one place — it spreads throughout the body, stressing the immune system and setting the stage for joint pain, gut issues, autoimmune conditions, and even hormone imbalances. It’s one of the main reasons blood sugar problems can show up in so many different ways.
• Insulin resistance and weight gain:
Over time, your cells become less responsive to insulin, leading to insulin resistance. As a result, your body produces more insulin, which promotes fat storage, especially around the midsection. This makes weight loss more difficult because higher insulin levels prevent the body from burning fat for energy. Additionally, increased insulin can cause cravings for sugary and carb-rich foods, further complicating weight management. This cycle of insulin resistance and fat storage can also disrupt appetite control, making it harder to maintain a balanced diet.
• Cardiovascular damage:
High blood sugar and insulin damage blood vessels, raising the risk for heart disease, stroke, and high blood pressure.
They also disrupt cholesterol and lipid panels, creating a more inflammatory, dangerous environment inside your arteries.
• Nerve damage:
Excess glucose can damage delicate nerve tissues, leading to symptoms like numbness, tingling, or burning sensations — especially in the hands and feet (a condition called peripheral neuropathy).
• Brain fog and cognitive decline:
The inflammation and blood sugar swings caused by hyperglycemia don't just affect your body — they also impair brain function. Chronic high blood sugar is now strongly linked to cognitive decline and memory loss over time.
• And many others — too many to cover in one post!
The Takeaway Is…
If your body can’t manage blood sugar properly, the damage is far-reaching — impacting everything from your joints to your heart, brain, and metabolism.
High blood sugar doesn’t just stay in the bloodstream; it inflames and degrades the tissues it touches, setting the stage for chronic disease, accelerated aging, and reduced quality of life.
So how do we prevent this?
The solution starts with stabilizing your blood sugar through mindful eating and improving your body’s sensitivity to insulin — the hormone responsible for clearing sugar from the blood and preventing its inflammatory effects.
When blood sugar stays steady, inflammation stays low. This protects your tissues, supports steady energy, and lays the groundwork for long-term health.
Stabilize your blood sugar, and you stabilize your body — from the inside out.
👉 We’ll further break down how to do this in Part 2, where we focus on the strategies that help you take back control.
3. The Blood Sugar Rollercoaster
Symptoms:
A combination of the first two types.
Many people don’t fit neatly into just one category of blood sugar imbalance. Instead, they often find themselves stuck on a rollercoaster between hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia, experiencing constant fluctuations that prevent a true sense of balance.
This cycle typically begins after eating a high-carb meal, which causes an insulin spike to manage the surge in glucose. However, this spike is often followed by a blood sugar crash, leading to symptoms of hypoglycemia — such as shakiness, anxiety, and fatigue.
To stabilize things, the body craves more sugar, and the cycle repeats itself.
These spikes and crashes create a rollercoaster effect, leaving the body exhausted and unstable. It's not uncommon for individuals to swing from one extreme to the other throughout the day, never achieving a steady, balanced blood sugar level.
As a result, they experience symptoms from both sides of the equation:
• The physical and mental symptoms of low blood sugar
• The inflammatory and energy-sapping effects of high blood sugar
The constant cycling between these extremes puts the body on edge, draining energy levels and making it difficult to function at your best.
So how do we prevent this?
To achieve balance, we need to address both the low and high blood sugar extremes. This means taking a two-pronged approach:
Lowering blood sugar spikes — Focus on stabilizing blood sugar by reducing high-carb meals and choosing foods that have a minimal impact on glucose levels.
Supporting blood sugar during dips — Make sure you're eating frequently enough and incorporating balanced meals with protein, healthy fats, and fiber to prevent blood sugar from dipping too low.
By addressing both the highs and lows, we can break the cycle and create more consistent, stable blood sugar levels.
Reclaiming Control Over Your Health
Understanding how blood sugar imbalances affect your body is a critical step toward better health. Whether it’s hypoglycemia, hyperglycemia, or the blood sugar rollercoaster, stabilizing your blood sugar is key reversing or preventing long-term health issues.
In Part 2, we’ll dive into practical steps to balance your blood sugar, from what to eat to lifestyle changes that support your body’s natural glucose regulation.
If you’d like help navigating these issues, I’m here to assist you! Find more information on how to get started in the Appointments tab on my website.
In Health,
Dr. Ryan
