Sugar or Stress—What’s Eating Your Gut & Crashing Your Blood Sugar?

Do you feel foggy, shaky, and short-tempered by mid-afternoon? Stress and blood sugar crashes may be the cause, because the gut feels every swing.

I am Julia Loggins, a gut health coach and colon therapist of 40 years. I am an author-educator, not a doctor. In my clinic, blood sugar issues are connected with gut health issues. Stress rocks your blood sugar, and makes the ride rough. So let’s untangle stress and blood sugar crashes together.

Your gut and brain talk all day long, and most of the traffic runs upward. About 80% of the fibers in the vagus nerve carry signals from the gut to the brain. But only about 20% carry messages back down. So your belly sends your brain far more news than your brain sends your belly. Stress travels the same road. Stress hormones signal your liver to release stored glucose, and they make your muscles less responsive to insulin. Meanwhile, cortisol can drive cravings for sweet comfort foods.

For years, I never felt the stress I held in my body. Because most people are the same, this skill takes practice. Then I started working with a biofeedback card and an incredible teacher, Niravi Payne. At the time, I had just endured four miscarriages. Niravi taught me to notice the heavy stress I carried, and she taught me to let go. That made a real difference in me. Biofeedback stress cards change color as your hand temperature changes. In one report, students who warmed their hands rated their stress 49% lower. A Bio Feedback Card lets you see stress you may not feel. So hold the card, breathe slowly, and watch the color shift.

Step One: Digestive Enzymes for Bloating

First, take digestive enzymes with your protein meals. Food must break down in your stomach before your body can absorb its nutrients. Low stomach acid can make protein feel heavy, so enzymes may help. Aging itself may not lower acid output, but atrophic gastritis, H. pylori infection, and long-term acid-blocking medicines can. My Enzyme Energy capsules combine hydrochloric acid, pepsin, and gentian root for this job. However, skip them if you’ve had ulcers, and ask your doctor first if you take medication.

Step Two: Protein Steadies Blood Sugar

Second, build meals around protein. I coach many clients to acheive 120 grams a day. The standard minimum is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight, and needs rise with age and activity. If you live with kidney disease, talk with your doctor first. Protein-rich breakfasts improve blood sugar cafter eating. In my experience, cravings settle as protein increases. For snacks, reach for a protein shake or bone broth. Nuts and seeds can feel heavy in a sensitive gut, so many of my clients skip them during flares. However, a large study of men found nuts did not raise diverticulitis risk, so ask your doctor what suits you. For gentler options, see my post on foods that heal diverticulitis.

Step Three: Orderly Food Combining Basics

Third, try orderly food combining. Eat proteins and carbohydrates at separate meals, and pair carbohydrates with vegetables. Plus, vegetables go with anything. Also, keep fruit away from other solid foods. Science has not confirmed that food combining changes digestion, but protein eaten with carbohydrates may blunt glucose spikes. In my clinic, many people feel less bloated and steadier. So try it for two weeks and track how you feel. My Food Combining Chart simplifies the plan.

What beats eating wild salmon? Eating like a salmon eats. A nature food study found wild fish like herring match or beat farmed salmon on many nutrients. Also, sardines are another small, oily fish worth trying.

My dad loved them, but the smell put me off. Last year I tried them again and fell in love. Because wild-caught tinned fish costs little, it makes an easy lunch. One standard can offers roughly 23 grams of protein, nearly a fifth of a 120-gram day.

For post-meal spikes, I now recommend my new Sugar Flush. This supplement targets blood sugar swings and carbohydrate cravings. Right now, Sugar Flush is 20% off this month, so the price drops from $75 to $60. However, check with your doctor first if you take diabetes medicine or self-monitor your blood glucose.

Stress and blood sugar crashes can bring anger, impatience, brain fog, shakiness, headache, or nausea. But not every symptom is emotional. During a crash, food may even upset your stomach. So I reach for a protein shake mixed in water. In our family, we carry protein powder in our water bottles. Protein Power is sugar-free, dairy-free, and gluten-free.

Because it mixes right into plain water, you need no milk or juice. In my experience, a shake steadies everyday dips. However, a true low is different. If you take insulin or other medicine that lowers blood sugar, follow your doctor’s plan. Doctors treat blood sugar under 70 mg/dL with 15 grams of fast-acting carbohydrate first, then recheck in 15 minutes.

Prevention works best. Instead, keep your protein steady, drink enough water, and plan ahead for stress. For example, pack a protein shake before a stressful meeting. Parents, watch for these signs in babies, toddlers, and teenagers. Therefore, ask your pediatrician about frequent crashes. Steady blood sugar now may protect their health later.

How can deep breathing help to calm bloat, headache and fatigue? Your gut sends more messages to your brain than the reverse. So slow breathing sends the message back down: you are safe. In one study, two minutes of slow breathing kept stress from rising before a demanding task. A second study found deep, slow breathing lowered anxiety and improved vagal tone. Practice for two minutes every two or three hours, when stress and blood sugar crashes hit. Then add a castor oil pack when you can. Many people find them warm and soothing.

However, research on castor oil packs is limited, so treat them as comfort care. Skip them during pregnancy, and stop if your skin gets irritated. Prepackaged packs from Queen of the Thrones on Amazon make the routine easy. Doctors may call a gut condition incurable. That word is a medical and legal term. Instead, I prefer the word healing. I have taught thousands of people to calm inflammatory gut conditions, and breathing is where we start. Of course, keep your doctor on your team.

1. Step away from the news.

You need not know everything happening everywhere. Heavy news scrolling links to higher stress and anxiety, though researchers cannot yet say which drives which. One of my clients lowered blood pressure 30 days away from the news. Keep your doctor involved in heart care.

2. Speak up: Say Your Peace

Because silence often stresses you more than speaking up, say what needs saying. Ask for support when you need help. Also, professional support counts. Release the unsaid things, the fearful things that you hold in your belly.

3. Forgive yourself.

Forgive yourself for what you did not know and what you did not do when a situation went astray. We often forgive others for terrible things before we forgive ourselves. In fact, reassure yourself that up you always did the best you could at the time.