Sugar, health & happiness

Jane Arlow • November 12, 2021

My name’s Jane and I’m a sugar addict.

I'm not even a recovering addict. I’m in the full throes of my addiction. “They” say that the first steps in recovery are admitting you have a problem. So, I’m putting it out there, admitting it and sharing the research that I’ve been doing to educate myself on how and why I’ve got here.

You’ll have seen that sugar has been cast as the devil in recent years. And with some good reason.

We’ve all seen children who’ve eaten too many sweets go from delightful cherubs to energiser bunnies to grumpy monsters.

In fact, maybe you feel like this when you eat too much of the sweet stuff too.

Why is sugar so bad in midlife?

Well, it’s not great at any time, but during our middle years, it can start to have even greater impacts on our health.

This is because processed, sugary food directly affects almost every body system and can make menopausal symptoms worse.

Sugar can alter energy, mood, cognitive function, hot flushes, sleep, inflammation, gut health and hormones (insulin, cortisol, oestrogen, progesterone, testosterone).

And of course, there’s also adult - onset Type II diabetes and obesity just in case the others didn’t seem bad enough.

Hurrah.

Should I avoid eating carbohydrates?

As is so often the case, it depends.

Carbs are essential for many functions, at a cellular and hormonal level, but not all carbs are created equal.

During digestion carbohydrates are broken down into sugars (“glucose”) to be absorbed into the blood stream.

Glucose is fuel for our cells, and is either used immediately or stored (in the form of glycogen) in the liver or muscle cells.

Insulin is a hormone that’s produced by the pancreas and acts like a key that opens cells for glucose to move inside.

We need just the right balance of glucose for our bodies to function optimally, so not too much or too little, especially for the brain and nervous system.

If the balance is out of whack, our bodies will react.

Carbohydrates, like cakes, white bread and other processed sugary foods get converted to glucose and enter the blood- stream quickly.

These are known as “simple carbohydrates”.

Other types of carbs, like those from whole grains and brow rice, known as “complex carbohydrates” are processed by the body more slowly.

When there is glucose in the blood stream, insulin is released.

This means that if lots of glucose is dumped into the blood stream quickly as a result of consuming simple carbs, the body creates a spike of insulin to deal with it.

Foods that create these rapid spikes have a high glycemic index.

Complex carbs on the other hand, have a low glycemic index.

This means they raise blood sugar levels slowly and don’t cause insulin spikes.

Why don’t we want insulin spikes?

Firstly, insulin spikes are the culprits that leave you feeling fatigued with a low mood (why the crappy mood? Check out the gut/brain section below).

Every time the body identifies that there’s sugar in the blood stream, insulin is released. However, if too much insulin is released into the blood stream, as a result of regular sugar spikes, cells start to become insulin resistant.

This means that the insulin secreted by the pancreas stops being able to unlock cells – it’s like the key doesn’t fit the keyhole anymore. As the sugar is still in the blood stream and has not been used by the cells, the pancreas creates more insulin. But the insulin still doesn’t unlock the cells. So the sugar is still there, and the pancreas creates more insulin.

As the excess insulin is rejected, it’s left to float freely in the bloodstream, creating unbalanced hormone levels. The excess glucose that’s still floating in your bloodstream (as the insulin hasn’t unlocked the cells) is then sent to the liver.

Once in the liver, the sugar’s converted to fat and stored via the bloodstream throughout the body.

As well as insulin resistance being a precursor to Type II diabetes, an excess of glucose and insulin in the bloodstream causes cellular inflammation. Inflammation underpins chronic illness and conditions such as heart disease, cancer, arthritis and bowel diseases.

Since oestrogen helps to protects us against inflammation and our levels are dropping during menopause, this already makes us more susceptible to inflammatory conditions.

By pouring sugar on the fire, as it were, we increase our risks of all of these diseases.

How does sugar affect the gut and the brain?

Let me introduce you to your gut microbiome.

The microbiome is made up of between 300-1000 different species of microbes – actually the more species the better.

The microbes and the microbiome play huge role in physical and mental health. In fact, some people refer to the gut as the second brain due to its role in the production of neurotransmitters.

Neurotransmitters are the chemicals that drive emotion, learning, memory, mood and as well as physical control of the body.

For example, the gut produces about 95% of the body’s serotonin and dopamine, which make us feel good.

The microbes that specifically create these two neurotransmitters are also very partial to sucrose (glucose + fructose).

So, the more sucrose goes into your gut, the more they create the two neurotransmitters.

And as more dopamine and serotonin get sent through the blood stream to the pleasure centres of the brain, it both wants more (because they feel good) and also stops being so sensitive to them (like insulin resistance for the brain!).

This helps explain why once you start eating sugary foods, you want more of them.

In fact, this is why sugar can be as addictive as cocaine – it lights up the same pleasure pathways.

And why, when you stop feeding the microbes with sugar, it can really impact your mood – your brain has got used to shed loads of these neurotransmitters and now, it’s been deprived!

You literally go into withdrawal.

At the same time, excess sugar greatly affects the balance of good and bad bacteria in the gut and can lead to conditions like candida (yeast) overgrowth as candida thrives on sugar.

Candida is responsible for some inflammatory conditions as well as for chronic fatigue.

How can I bring my body back into more balance?

Nutritional therapist, Jackie Lynch says that “It’s all about the blood sugar. Controlling your blood sugar levels helps with so many unexpected and always unwelcome symptoms of menopause – from managing anxiety to controlling weight gain to maintaining bone density. Getting this basic nutritional process right - controlling blood sugars - is a no-brainer for women riding the menopause rollercoaster from peri to post!”

Ditch the white stuﬀ!

I’m switching white carbs for brown:

Brown carbs are full of ﬁbre and have a low glycemic index. The gut loves fibre too!

Most white foods (bread, rice, pasta, sugar, ﬂour) are primarily made up of reﬁned carbohydrates and tend to be lower in other nutrients, so cutting them out of your diet is one of the quickest ways to stabilize blood sugar (which affects mood).

I’m not usually a big eater of processed foods anyway but I am getting more careful about labels! Many “healthy” foods have hidden sugars.

I’ve also added some foods that provide nutrients for insulin pathways:

· Zinc- (insulin production and binding to receptors) I’ve added pumpkin seeds, nuts and seeds to my morning yoghurt as well as having my daily dose of chickpeas (hummus!)

· Chromium - (increases receptors and binding) I love broccoli but have also added some barley, oats

· Magnesium- (prevents insulin resistance) While I already eat green leafy veg, nuts and seeds, I’ve also added a supplement which I take at night to help with sleep quality.

· Manganese - (insulin production and quality) oats, rice, spinach, pumpkin, seeds

· Vitamin D (increasing evidence)- As the sunshine levels between autumn and spring equinoxes are a bit shoddy, I’m supplementing this as well as adding more oily fish.

Eating for my microbiome:

· Dietary fibre – I’m trying (and not always managing) for a high variety and volume of vegetables to improve microbiome biodiversity.

· Eating the rainbow - For anti-inflammatory proanthocyanins (purple), catechins (green tea), carotenoids (yellow, orange and red) etc. Also, it looks nicer on the plate.

· Fermented foods- The thing I struggle with most. I manage sourdough and yoghurt. But could do with more sauerkraut, kefir, kimchi, apple cider vinegar “with mother”, unfiltered balsamic vinegar, tempeh, miso and tamari.

I’ll keep you posted on my sugar addiction – let’s see if I can kick it this year!

For more menopause management tips on healthy diet and exercise, check out some previous blogs that will be sure to help!

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October's Breast Cancer Awareness Month and if you haven't done it recently, please let this be the nudge you need to give them a good feel up. Here 's a link to the NHS website below showing how to perform your check and what to look for. If you're one of my gentlemen readers, please don't think this doesn't apply to you. It does. Men can still get breast cancer. And if you find something that doesn't seem right, please contact your GP as soon as possible. 80-90% of lumps are likely to be benign, but for the small percentage of those that aren't, early detection and treatment are your best chances of having successful treatment and being around to annoy friends and family for a long time. Don't skip your mammogram I know having mammograms is really uncomfortable. But this is one of the best ways to check for cancers that aren't otherwise easily spotted. So if you get invited, please go. (And don't skip your smear test either!!!) Know your risk factors 1 in 7 women will get breast cancer in their lifetime. Here are some of the risk factors: - Age : older women are more likely to get breast cancer than younger women and age is the highest risk factor. - Genetics : Breast cancer risk is higher if you have first-degree relatives who've had it (although 85% of women with a relative with breast cancer WON'T get it). - Breast density (relates to the percentage of non-fatty tissue): the risk is highest for those with the most dense tissue. You can ask your radiographer to tell you whether you have dense tissue at your mammogram. - Lifestyle factors: These include having overweight or obesity, alcohol consumption, tobacco use and insufficient physical activity. - Exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals: These "forever" chemicals, such as pthalates and parabens, show up in makeup and toiletries. Risk doesn't normally come from one exposure to one chemical, but from prolonged exposure to many different chemicals over a long period of time. You can read more about the risks here It's worth noting that even if you get a diagnosis, it's unlikely you'll ever know if there was "one thing" that caused it. What happens if you get a diagnosis of breast cancer? I am in no way competent to comment on the treatment plan your medical team recommend for you. Everyone I know who's had breast cancer has had a different treatment plan, depending on: the stage of cancer; whether it had spread further; whether it was hormone-receptive; whether it was due to genetic mutation; and the age of the woman. I do know that for all of us, it was a really scary time. You should be given access to resources outside of the surgical and oncology team, often via a Macmillan nurse, who can answer questions on topics from your treatment and reactions, to claiming for extra benefits. They're also great if you're not sure what questions to ask. While you're in the heat of the panic, it can be difficult to think clearly about what you need to know. Using "what should I be asking that I'm not?" is super helpful. Keep moving after your diagnosis, during and after treatment The one thing I can advise you on with all confidence, is to keep moving. Exercise is safe, possible and helpful for individuals with breast cancer, throughout the treatment cycle. In fact, international guidelines say you should try to get back to your normal activities as soon as possible. Exercise can help reduce the risk of cancer coming back; and may stop stage 1 cancers from growing further; and can also reduce treatment side effects like tiredness, cognitive impairment or lympoedema. Yes, you may need to dial back your usual activities if treatment leaves you feeling exhausted. But whenever you can, please aim for 150 minutes of exercise in every week. Many forms of treatment also lead to a higher osteoporosis risk, so please also do resistance-based and/or some impact-based exercise every week. I'd also recommend paying attention to shoulder mobility. Scar tissue and "guarding" of surgery sites can reduce your range of movement a lot. Check in with your medical team to confirm if there's any specific movements you should avoid during your treatment plan, and when you'll be signed off to go back to them. One last piece of advice someone else gave me... When you tell people you have cancer, a lot of them will have an opinion on your treatment plan. Especially if they're of the "my friend cured their cancer by just eating this one thing.." type. Unless this person is an oncologist, you can safely ignore them! So, what are you still doing reading this? Go off and give yourself a fondle!