While many people struggle with normal blood sugar, a lot don’t know how high blood sugar can take a toll on the immune system. When you are trying to have a healthy immune system, keeping your blood sugar stable and in the normal range and avoiding added sugar is more important than ever.
Blood sugar spikes can take a massive toll on the immune system. Eating large amounts of sugar impacts your infection-fighting white blood cells by 50 percent for the first couple of hours after you eat. The decrease in effectiveness can be seen for up to five hours. If your blood sugar is continually fluctuating, that can mean yoyoing, long-term stress on your immune system.
High blood sugar can also harm your gut bacteria, lowering your immune response and leaving you vulnerable to infections. Having high blood sugar can create imbalances in your microbiome. You can end up having “bad” bacteria that don’t do their job to protect you as well. During a typical cold and flu season, that’s unfortunate, but right now with COVID-19, that’s worse than ever. COVID-19 has been worse for people with blood sugar concerns, and this could be one of the factors as to why. Even getting proper sleep, exercise and an otherwise balanced diet can’t undo the damage of high blood sugar.
Limiting your added sugar to under 25 grams of added sugar a day is the best way to keep your blood sugar stable and help your immune system function well. That is only six teaspoons of sugar. With such a small amount of sugar, you have to read labels carefully because so many foods have added sugar.
We know our customers are always looking for motivation and help to stay the course when it comes to keeping their blood sugar normal. It’s a struggle. This is one more reason to maintain healthy blood sugar. You should reach out to your community and doctor to talk about the best approach for you. Your diet is an essential part of staying healthy, and you have to find what works for you, what foods and diet “hacks” can help. If you are looking for low-sugar recipes, we always encourage you to check out our recipe section! We love sharing great dishes! And remember, you can search our site to find any sort of recipe you are looking for!
