The stress and blood sugar connection

Stress is bad for anyone, but especially bad for people with diabetes. It can prevent you from effectively managing your condition by thwarting your intentions to eat a good diet, keep up with your exercise program and do regular finger-prick checks. Worse still, there's considerable evidence that stress makes blood sugar rise. Read on to learn more.

One way to explain this effect is that hormones released when you're tense or under the gun — particularly cortisol and epinephrine — pump glucose into blood from storage sites in the liver, so that the body has more energy available to meet a challenge. So-called stress hormones can have other harmful effects as well. One recent study finds that stress inhibits the ability of blood vessels to expand, which might make it a factor in heart attacks.

Ask your primary care physician to recommend a good stress-management program. One study showed that people with diabetes who participated in such programs could significantly improve their hemoglobin A1C results, enough to hit blood-sugar targets shown to reduce the risk of various diabetes complications.

Welcome to the Emotional Eaters Club; it's no surprise that food is tied to feelings. As kids, our parents nurtured and rewarded us with food. As adults, we equate food with socializing, relaxing and having fun. As a result, food can be comforting when you're feeling low or edgy and stimulating when you're feeling bored.

Here's how to curb the emotional eating habit.

1. First, make sure you're not genuinely hungry. If it's been more than four hours since you last ate, have a low-fat snack, such as a piece of fruit. Note what you feel like eating. If any food would satisfy you, you're probably truly hungry. If you crave a specific food, your "hunger" is probably driven by emotions.
2. Wait it out. Cravings often vanish as fast as they appear. Instead of eating, play with your dog, call a friend or finish a small chore.
3. Get out of the house, or at least the kitchen. In other words, take yourself out of the way of temptation.
4. Take a detour after work to defuse stress so you're not so tempted by the bounty of your fridge and pantry when you get home. A stroll through the park should do the trick.
5. Find other ways to indulge. Food isn't the only way to treat yourself. If you can raise your spirits by shopping, reading a trashy novel or getting a massage.