Read Online How Come They're Happy and I'm Not? by Peter Bongiorno - Free Book Online
Authors: Peter Bongiorno
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many people (like my wife) can have transient mood problems if they haven't eaten, some people who tend to have low blood sugar may have hypoglycemia. People with hypoglycemia are known to be at greater risk for depression. A 2008 study from Johns Hopkins University watched intensive care patients and noticed that those with blood sugar hovering under 60 (normal is 70 to 100) had a 360 percent risk of depression when researchers checked in three months later.
Even when people eat well and often enough, sometimes they can have low blood sugar because their insulin levels are too high. Insulin is the hormone that transports the glucose absorbed from the sugar or carbohydrates you eat into your blood cells. Insulin is also responsible for storing fat and causing inflammation inthe body and the brain. As we discussed in the previous chapter, inflammation in the brain can cause depression.
People with hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) or high insulin levels are also predisposed to depression. A study of adults in their late twenties and early thirties showed that when blood sugar or insulin was high, chances of depression rose 150 to 200 percent.
I recommend running blood sugar tests because knowing your fasting blood sugar and insulin levels helps you make better choices about how you eat, how you exercise, and what supplements you take to help your mood.
If you suffer from mood issues and blood sugar difficulties, I recommend checking your blood sugar on your own throughout the day for one or two days. Please download the Blood Sugar Monitor chart provided on my website ( www.drpeterbongiorno.com/happybloodsugar ) to help track when you eat, what you eat, your activities, and your blood sugar levels. If you have a new glucose meter, or if you do not know if your meter is accurate, talk to your pharmacist and have it calibrated. You can also bring it with you to a blood test—after the phlebotomist tests your blood, you can check your own blood sugar with your monitor and compare the results.
The benefit of checking your blood sugar is to see if it is too low or too high during regular time periods of your day. While anyone can have occasional fluctuations, people who are experiencing levels too high or low will be predisposed to mood issues. If this is you, the information below will be an especially important part of your treatment to health.
How to Treat Unbalanced Blood Sugar
I recommend the following tips for patients who experience blood sugar levels dropping below 70, elevating above 120 when they have not eaten for eight hours or above 200 at any point after eating, or if their blood tests show that insulin levels are too high:
Eat breakfast. This simple step has been shown to help people stay happier during the day.
Eat small, frequent meals, up to five times a day.
Avoid all simple flour and carbohydrate foods (bread, cookies, pasta, cake).
Alternate strength training and cardiovascular exercise six days per week.
Take 400 mcg of chromium per day with food.
Sprinkle a half teaspoon of cinnamon on your food once each day.
Doing these actions for as little as a week can help poor mood caused by low or high blood sugar. Anxious and irritable people tend to calm down, and depressed people often perk up.
People who have hyperglycemia may also have diabetes, and diabetic patients are known to have vastly higher rates of depressive illness. If you have high blood sugar or diabetes, stabilizing your blood sugar is crucial to treating depression and mood issues.
Test: Chemistry Panel
A chemistry panel (also known as a chem panel) is basically a shotgun test to look at many aspects of your physiology. It takes a snapshot of what is happening with your lungs, liver, and kidneys as well as gauges levels of calcium, protein, and electrolytes. If the results are abnormal in any of these categories, talk with your doctor about working on the underlying problems. Abnormalities with any of the organ systems related to these
Even when people eat well and often enough, sometimes they can have low blood sugar because their insulin levels are too high. Insulin is the hormone that transports the glucose absorbed from the sugar or carbohydrates you eat into your blood cells. Insulin is also responsible for storing fat and causing inflammation inthe body and the brain. As we discussed in the previous chapter, inflammation in the brain can cause depression.
People with hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) or high insulin levels are also predisposed to depression. A study of adults in their late twenties and early thirties showed that when blood sugar or insulin was high, chances of depression rose 150 to 200 percent.
I recommend running blood sugar tests because knowing your fasting blood sugar and insulin levels helps you make better choices about how you eat, how you exercise, and what supplements you take to help your mood.
If you suffer from mood issues and blood sugar difficulties, I recommend checking your blood sugar on your own throughout the day for one or two days. Please download the Blood Sugar Monitor chart provided on my website ( www.drpeterbongiorno.com/happybloodsugar ) to help track when you eat, what you eat, your activities, and your blood sugar levels. If you have a new glucose meter, or if you do not know if your meter is accurate, talk to your pharmacist and have it calibrated. You can also bring it with you to a blood test—after the phlebotomist tests your blood, you can check your own blood sugar with your monitor and compare the results.
The benefit of checking your blood sugar is to see if it is too low or too high during regular time periods of your day. While anyone can have occasional fluctuations, people who are experiencing levels too high or low will be predisposed to mood issues. If this is you, the information below will be an especially important part of your treatment to health.
How to Treat Unbalanced Blood Sugar
I recommend the following tips for patients who experience blood sugar levels dropping below 70, elevating above 120 when they have not eaten for eight hours or above 200 at any point after eating, or if their blood tests show that insulin levels are too high:
Eat breakfast. This simple step has been shown to help people stay happier during the day.
Eat small, frequent meals, up to five times a day.
Avoid all simple flour and carbohydrate foods (bread, cookies, pasta, cake).
Alternate strength training and cardiovascular exercise six days per week.
Take 400 mcg of chromium per day with food.
Sprinkle a half teaspoon of cinnamon on your food once each day.
Doing these actions for as little as a week can help poor mood caused by low or high blood sugar. Anxious and irritable people tend to calm down, and depressed people often perk up.
People who have hyperglycemia may also have diabetes, and diabetic patients are known to have vastly higher rates of depressive illness. If you have high blood sugar or diabetes, stabilizing your blood sugar is crucial to treating depression and mood issues.
Test: Chemistry Panel
A chemistry panel (also known as a chem panel) is basically a shotgun test to look at many aspects of your physiology. It takes a snapshot of what is happening with your lungs, liver, and kidneys as well as gauges levels of calcium, protein, and electrolytes. If the results are abnormal in any of these categories, talk with your doctor about working on the underlying problems. Abnormalities with any of the organ systems related to these
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