Keeping your pancreas healthy and your blood sugar levels stable will help stabilize your hormones when you are trying to get pregnant. When our blood sugar levels are high, we suffer spikes that weaken the adrenal glands. Sugar frazzles the hormones and leaves our endocrine system exhausted. When we consume sugar, it drives our insulin levels high, and then drops them dramatically low, leaving our bodies with a down-right hormonal mess. When our sugar levels drop, our adrenals release both cortisol and adrenaline in an attempt to restore our sugar levels back to an even kneel, leading to hormonal imbalance.
The reason these sugar spikes impact our fertility is that progesterone, which is the main hormone required for ovulation, and cortisol compete for the same receptor binding sites in the body. Cortisol, however, will always win this showdown, and if the battle continues, it will disrupt the entire endocrine system, which in turn, disrupts all the sex hormones, including oestrogen, progesterone, and the androgens DHEA.
To keep your hormones in tip-top shape, reduce your sugar intake. High sugar levels can also cause miscarriage and cause congenital defects in a fetus.
Here are some ways to keep your pancreas healthy and your blood sugar levels stable:
• Eat foods that nourish your pancreas, such as blueberries, sunflower seeds, almonds, cherries, broccoli, garlic, red grapes, spinach, sweet potatoes. Prepare these foods ahead of time and carry them with you so you can have healthy food readily available wherever you go.
• Try to eat something healthy every three hours.
• Eat lots of spinach, which is high in magnesium and is known to help prevent type 2 diabetes.
• Avocados are also high in magnesium.
• Walnuts, which are high in monounsaturated fat, helps stabilize blood sugar levels.
• Get at least eight hours of sleep.
• Almonds can lessen the subsequent rise in blood sugar. Avoid sugar, soda and artificial sweeteners.
