Why are blood sugar levels so important when trying to get pregnant?

When someone says ‘high blood sugar’, most people may think ‘diabetes’; but did you know that your level of blood sugar can highly affect the ability for your body to successfully conceive a baby? Blood sugar can greatly impact both hormones and egg quality – let’s unpack each of these…

What’s the problem with having high insulin?

If we eat a high carbohydrate (sugar) diet then the body will release high amounts of insulin to allow glucose from that carbohydrate to enter our cells. If this becomes too much carbohydrate then the cells may become resistant to insulin, meaning that the glucose cannot enter the cell, and instead it stays and has a party in the bloodstream. This causes high blood glucose and even more insulin being made in a desperate attempt to get glucose to leave the party and go home (to the cells). This high insulin affects your levels of sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) – you need this guy to bind up excess oestrogen and testosterone and remove it from your body. If SHBG becomes too low, then this interferes with hormones which are integral to ovulation – luteinising hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). These changes can cause ovulation to become irregular or even stop, which is so frustrating when you are trying to track your monthly fertility cycle. So now your ovulation is out of whack and you may be feeling emotional, craving sugary snacks and your weight may be fluctuating – these are all additional consequences caused by high insulin. Fear not though, there are so many dietary and lifestyle changes you can do to bring your insulin levels down (read on to find out).

We’ve talked about high insulin, but how can high blood sugar affect egg quality?

More and more research is coming out with findings stating that the higher the blood glucose the higher the risk of poor egg quality. This is in terms of embryonic development, birth defects, foetus growth restriction and size of foetus. One Japanese study found that women who consumed more sugar in the run up to an IVF cycle had poorer egg quality, and although this research was on assisted conception, the same has been found for non-assisted conception in other studies. Now let’s not only focus on the ladies, because the same has been found for men – men with higher blood sugar levels were found to have more sperm DNA damage which can influence both chances of conception, and miscarriage risk.

So, what can we do to bring down insulin and blood glucose levels?

Exercise…

Exercise is one of the best ways to move that glucose out of your blood. The more you exercise, the more glucose will be needed to fuel your muscles, and the more you do this, the more efficient they will become at absorbing glucose. It’s a positive chain of events that only gets better at its job as time goes on! Any exercise is great, even a daily 40 minute brisk walk, but if you really want to utilise that glucose most efficiently then resistance training is the key as it uses your muscles more. As we all know, exercise also makes you feel good which lowers stress and therefore is conducive to conception.

Always eat protein with your carbohydrates, and cut out refined sugars…

When we consume just carbohydrate, and especially sugary drinks, our blood sugar will increase super quickly causing a massive spike in insulin. Then if we do this regularly during the day this spike will keep going up and down like a yoyo and cause havoc to our hormones. Adding a protein source with every carbohydrate will blunt the sugar rush causing less of a spike in insulin. Refined carbohydrates such as white bread, pasta, sweets, juices and soft drinks all hit the blood stream harder than complex carbohydrates like whole grains, oats and cereals so focus on getting whole, unprocessed carbohydrates instead of refined, and remember that protein source! Bear in mind, even natural fruit juice is very high in sugar because the fibre has been taken out, so it can enter the bloodstream very quickly. So, if you like juicing, try and switch to blending instead so you get the benefits of the fibre slowing down the sugar spike.

Reduce Stress…

As if the feeling of being stressed wasn’t enough, the cortisol that is released also increases blood sugar levels and insulin. Try and incorporate one stress reduction technique into your day everyday, this could be yoga, meditation, parasympathetic breathing, a walk in nature, or a lovely hot steamy bath. Our bodies are highly sensitive souls and don’t like to make babies when we’re stressed.

Prioritise Sleep…

Sleep is highly influential to blood sugar and therefore fertility. Just one night of broken or poor sleep can cause insulin to be raised the next day. Poor sleep can also alter our circadian rhythm which can increase stress hormones which alter ovulation processes.

If you would like support with your fertility journey with a comprehensive nutritional plan, recipes and support tailored only to you, please do get in touch!