Please note: this transcript is not 100% accurate.
Dr. Meenal Agarwal 0:00
Sugar is the #1 thing that brings us all together, and we could all use less of it. This is Dr. Meenal, and welcome to Uncover Your Eyes, where we uncover reality. As a mom and eye doctor, I want to know it all. Taking control over your own sugar levels, decreasing those cravings, those moments of shaking when you haven’t had enough good foods in your body, those sleepless nights feeling less stressed. How amazing would that be? Going to bed on time, feeling less hungry, eating the right foods, having a better mood day to day. These are all related to our sugars, not to mention sugar levels being high, causing excess stress. We all could use less stress in our lives. We don’t take sugars as seriously as we need to as healthcare providers, as patients, as children, as parents, as optometrists, we need to take sugar levels seriously. Sugars can affect our patient’s prescriptions cause changes in their retina known as diabetic retinopathy, that can permanently affect their vision. Rheumatologists need to take sugar levels seriously, as sugars can increase inflammation and make autoimmune condition symptoms worse. Dentists need to take sugar seriously because sugar levels can affect our teeth. Oncologists need to take sugar levels more seriously, as sugars can increase your risk of obesity, which is an important risk factor for cancer. Cardiologists increase in sugar can increase your risk of heart disease. So overall, as collaborative healthcare professionals, we all need to take sugar levels very seriously. Sugars are affecting our patients’ lives and our own lives. Doesn’t matter what profession we are in, sugar is the number one thing that brings us all together, and we could all use less of it. So what’s the answer? I mean, it’s simple, but not so simple, reducing your circulating blood sugar levels. How can we do this? Firstly, and the most obvious, is reducing our sugar intake from outside sources. This includes processed foods. There are many, like chips, granola bars, crackers, a lot of processed foods, sugary beverages, sodas, sweetened teas. And then there are yogurts, something as simple as a yogurt can affect us, especially the sweetened yogurts, breakfast cereals like Froot Loops, Lucky Charms. I know my kids love Froot Loops and Lucky Charms, so obviously, as a parent, it’s hard to not give your children that because that sometimes they’re just throwing temper tantrums and you have to give it to them. But reducing that portion even, or adding a bit of Lucky Charms with a bit of a healthier cereal is always better. Then there’s, of course, reducing your overall sugar intake and balancing your carbs and your protein, rather than having all just sugars and carbs, we want to balance it all out. So making sure that you’re seeing the appropriate practitioner, whether it’s your dietitian, your nutritionist, your naturopath, your family doctor, to understand how to balance your diet, a little more will definitely help you. Another contributing factor to our high circulating sugar levels is stress. Stress can increase your cortisol in your adrenaline levels. This will trigger your liver to release more glucose, therefore, you are going to have more sugar in your bloodstream. Chronic stress can also be a contributing factor to insulin resistance, making it harder for cells to absorb glucose from the bloodstream. So reducing stress can help with insulin sensitivity. Stress levels can also increase our chances of not living a healthier lifestyle. When we’re more stressed, we tend to binge eat more, veg on the couch more. We tend to stare at a device and sit down a lot more. We are not socializing as much. And then we also get more stressed because of that. So it becomes a vicious cycle. So stress is a very important thing that we have to learn how to manage in order to reduce our circulating sugar levels, and therefore our risk factors for certain diseases like diabetes, and then, not to mention, if we are not increasing our level of activity or exercise, we are definitely headed in the path of. Leaving sugar in our bloodstream and not processing it or using it as well as we should be. Exercise helps muscles utilize the glucose more effectively, more efficiently, and that reduces the amount of insulin that’s needed to transport the glucose into the cells, so better insulin sensitivity. And then there’s the concept of immediate glucose utilization during physical activity or exercise, our muscles utilize that circulating glucose for energy so we have less glucose in our bloodstream then, which can help lower our sugar levels, especially after meals and then weight management, regular exercise and physical activity can help reduce our weight, therefore leading to less insulin resistance and not to mention the obvious, more physical activity leads to better cardiovascular health, less stress, so better stress management, a healthier lifestyle. So you are again, it’s a cycle. So with more physical activity, you get less stressed, and with less stress, you tend to do more physical activity, and you also eat healthier. The guideline for the amount of physical activity is very different for everybody, but in general, a good rule of thumb is about 150 minutes per week of moderate intensity working out or physical activity like swimming, biking, walking or brisk walk. And this can be broken down into 30 minutes a day for five days, or however you would like to break it down. Some people like to do more vigorous activity or high intensity workouts. I mean, then you can even cut it down to 75 minutes per week, whatever works best for you, your lifestyle and what you’re used to. Of course, strength training plays a crucial role in our body. It’s important to do strength training at least twice a week, if we can, even if it’s 15 minutes each time, this will help build our muscle mass, help to lower our risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease. So we want to make sure that during that modern moderate intensity workout or physical activity, we’re including strength training. At some point, sleep is another big factor. Sleep regulates hormones like cortisol and our growth hormones. And so if we’re not getting enough or good quality sleep, our levels can be out of whack, that can lead to increased sugar levels. So you want to make sure you’re getting at least seven to eight hours of sleep every night, and good quality sleep, a rule of thumb is sleeping before 12 or midnight. And if you’re not getting good quality sleep, obviously, seeking the help of a healthcare professional to ensure that you are managing what needs to be managed in order for you to sleep better. Vitamins can also influence our blood sugar levels. There are certain vitamins that can be beneficial. I’m not saying they’re for everybody. Obviously, you want to seek advice from your healthcare provider, but some of the most common ones are vitamin D. Vitamin D enhances insulin sensitivity and can reduce our insulin resistance. So in some cases, that is beneficial, and we obviously don’t get enough of that in North America. So having that right amount is important, and having your levels tested the B vitamins are important for energy metabolism and nerve function, so ensuring that we are not deficient in any of the B vitamins is also another big one. So as you can see, it becomes a vicious cycle. We have our vitamins, we have our physical activity, we have our stress, and we have the sugars that we consume. All of them are very much intertwined, and you want to ensure that you are balancing all of those aspects in order to help with those sugar cravings, the better mood, the energy, less risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and getting better sleep, feeling Healthier You will end up having better, healthier relationships if your sugars are more balanced. So this is a conversation that we all need to have, as healthcare providers, as patients, we all need to talk about our sugar levels a little more openly and definitely ensure that you are having your sugar levels tested at least once a year to ensure that you’re on par, because you may not feel that your sugar levels are off, and you may just think that I’m not sleeping well because of XYZ reasons, or I’m stressed because of such and such. But sometimes sugar levels are a very big contributing factor. So have those sugar levels checked and have control over your own sugars. Thank you, listeners and viewers, for tuning in. If you want to catch more episodes of Uncover Your Eyes, make sure to Follow or Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform and on YouTube. To learn more about me, follow me on Instagram @Dr.MeenalAgarwal Until next time, keep those eyes uncovered!