Are you gradually gaining weight and finding it difficult to lose it again? Are you low in energy? You may also have skin problems, have to pee often and feel thirsty, get frequent thrush or cystitis infections, have skin tags, catch colds of flu a lot and have difficulty shaking them off. I had all of these symptoms, but for a long time thought you just had to live with them. However, I learned that these can all be symptoms of blood sugar that is too high. The good news is that by balancing my blood sugar, most of these symptoms went away, I had more energy and have enjoyed better health and vitality.

Here’s how our blood sugar gets high:

We all need the sugar called glucose to fuel the energy of every cell of our body, from the muscles – including your heart – to brain, to digestive system. This sugar comes from the food we eat. Our ancestors often found that food (and therefore glucose) was scarce, so their bodies adapted to be able to store extra food when it was available, by turning it into fat. This fat was then stored in various parts of the body, including the muscles, liver and beneath the skin. 

These days most people eat a lot more food than we need for immediate energy, especially food that is high in glucose. Our bodies need to keep glucose in the blood at a certain level, above which it starts to become toxic and cause problems. 

What problems?

When there is too much sugar in the blood, some goes via the kidneys to the urine. To get rid of this, more water is drawn from your blood (making you thirsty) and you will need to pee more often. This can also result in higher-than-normal levels of sugar in your bladder (especially if you’re dehydrated). Some bacteria feed on this sugar as it hangs around, leading to cystitis. Too much sugar in the gut can also feed another unwanted microbe: the yeast that leads to candida.

As in our ancestors’ days our bodies store the extra as fat. Many of us are also less active, so we never use up that stored fat and more keeps being added, leading to weight gain. Also, a lot of the food we eat today (especially ultra-processed food) is broken down into glucose and other sugars so fast that we don’t have time to use it up before it gets stored. It’s this stored fat that can cause even more problems.

One of the places this fat gets stored is in the liver, which can interfere with other things the liver is supposed to do, such as getting rid of toxins properly. These can end up being sent out of the skin instead, causing skin problems. The liver is also key to the proper functioning of the immune system, so when it’s clogged with fat it can be more difficult to resist and throw off infections.

When this fat is stored around your middle it also interferes with the way your pancreas works. The pancreas produces the hormone insulin, which opens the cells to let the glucose in, so when it’s not working properly your cells can’t get the energy they need and you can feel tired.



Why should you care if your blood sugar high? Because in my experience you will feel a lot better and enjoy life more if it’s balanced!