Blood Glucose Rise & Crash — Ultrahuman

Written by Ashima Raizada

Summary

• Glucose metabolism
• Non-diabetic glucose crash (reactive hypoglycemia)
• Non-diabetic glucose rise (postprandial/reactive hyperglycemia)
• Ways to prevent and manage reactive hypoglycemia
• Ways to prevent and manage reactive hyperglycemia

Blood sugar levels fluctuate all day long. Patterns of rises and crashes can offer valuable and actionable insights about your metabolic health .In this piece, we delve into the causes behind these glucose highs and lows, why your blood sugar surges steeply after you eat, why it drops after alcohol intake and more.

Firstly, it’s important to understand the different ways in which the hormone, insulin, behaves in the body and the process of glucose metabolism.

Glucose metabolism

is a hormone created by the pancreas that controls the amount of glucose in a person’s bloodstream at any given moment. It helps store glucose in the liver, fat, and muscles, and regulates the body’s metabolism of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. After eating, blood sugar levels rise. Insulin released by the pancreas helps the cells to absorb blood sugar for energy and storage. With this absorption, glucose levels in the bloodstream begin to decline. The pancreas then produces glucagon, a hormone that prompts the liver to release stored sugar. This interaction of glucagon and blood sugar ensures stable blood glucose levels in the body and the brain. The cells of individuals who have insulin resistance don’t respond well to insulin, barring glucose from entering them with ease. The glucose level in their blood rises over time even as their body produces more insulin as the cells resolutely resist insulin.

Circulating glucose is gleaned from three sources: intestinal absorption during the fed state, glycogenolysis, and gluconeogenesis. The dominant determinant of the speed with which glucose appears in the circulation during the fed state is the rate of gastric emptying. Other sources of circulating glucose are mainly hepatic processes: glycogenolysis, the breakdown of glycogen, the polymerized storage form of glucose; and gluconeogenesis, the formation of glucose primarily from lactate and amino acids during the fasting state.

Glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis are partially under the influence of glucagon, a hormone produced in the α-cells of the pancreas. During the first 8–12 hours of fasting, glycogenolysis is the main mechanism by which glucose is made available. Glucagon facilitates this process and thus promotes glucose appearance in the circulation. Over longer periods of fasting, glucose, produced by gluconeogenesis, is released from the liver.

https://blog.ultrahuman.com/blog/blood-glucose-rise-amp-crash