How Blood Sugar - and CGMs - Can Help Your Anxiety
If you’ve ever felt your heart race after a sugary snack or experienced an afternoon energy crash that made you feel anxious or low, it may not be "just in your head." These are real body-brain responses. Knowing this empowers you. A continuous glucose monitor (CGM) lets you spot your personal food triggers. It can help you decide whether your breakfast calms you or sets you up for a day of mental ups and downs.
Managing anxiety must always be about taking a look at the whole picture—how your body, mind, and environment interact to affect your health. One area of growing interest in both medicine and wellness is how blood sugar affects stress and anxiety. A device called a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) can give you real-time information about your body’s sugar levels, and help you feel more in control. Although CGMs were created for people with diabetes, a report by UCLA Health reveals how monitoring glucose may benefit those without diabetes. In this blog article, we’ll explain how it works and why it might matter for your emotional health.
How Does a CGM Work?
A CGM has three main parts:
Sensor: A small, thin filament is inserted just under the skin, usually on the back of the upper arm or abdomen. The sensor measures the glucose levels in the interstitial fluid, which is the fluid that surrounds the cells below your skin. Glucose moves from the bloodstream to the interstitial fluid, so the levels in both are very similar, although there may be a slight time lag. Sensors need to be replaced periodically, typically every 7 to 14 days, depending on the model.
Transmitter: Attached to the sensor, the transmitter wirelessly sends the glucose data to a receiver or smartphone app.
Receiver: This can be a handheld device or, more commonly, a smartphone app. It displays your current glucose level, tracks trends, and can alert you to high or low glucose levels.
How To Get A CGM
Discuss whether you are eligible to have your health insurance cover the cost of a CGM with your medical doctor. You may also purchase an over-the-counter CGM without a prescription from Dexcom (Stelo) or Abbott (FreeStyle Libre). All devices are very similar. This article goes through a detailed comparison if you wish further detail.
How Do Glucose Fluctuations Affect Anxiety and Mood?
Impact on the Brain: Glucose is the primary energy source for the brain. When blood sugar levels fluctuate, brain activity can be disrupted, leading to emotional instability and cognitive impairments. This can manifest as irritability, confusion, difficulty concentrating, and even low mood or sadness.
Neurotransmitter Disruption: Glucose regulation impacts the production and activity of neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine, which are crucial for mood regulation. Fluctuating blood sugar can disrupt serotonin production, leading to sadness, anxiety, irritability, and difficulties coping with stress.
Hormonal Response: Dips in blood glucose, or hypoglycemic events, trigger the release of stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol as the body tries to raise blood sugar levels. This can result in physical symptoms of anxiety like a racing heart and sweating, as well as feelings of crankiness and anxiety. Persistent hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) can also lead to long-term stress and hormonal imbalances.
Increased Risk of Mental Health Disorders: One study indicated that higher glycemic variability or inconsistent blood sugar levels, is associated with a greater risk of developing depression and anxiety disorders, even in individuals without diabetes (Kwon et al, Journal of Affective Disorders, 2023). Those with consistently high fasting plasma glucose had a significantly increased risk of depression.
The Gut-Brain Connection: Research suggests that diets high in added sugar can negatively impact the gut microbiome, leading to inflammation and insulin resistance. This gut dysregulation has been linked to increased anxiety and mood disorders.
Impact of High Glycemic Diet: A prospective study (Knüpper et al, Scientific Reports, 2017) showed that diets high in added sugars and refined carbohydrates, which can lead to blood sugar spikes and crashes, have been associated with increased odds of depression and adverse psychological health effects.
How Does Your Blood Sugar Level Make You Feel?
Your blood sugar naturally goes up and down during the day. But when it spikes too high or drops too low, it can make you feel tired, irritable, shaky, or even panicked. These symptoms overlap with anxiety, and the studies just mentioned show that people with unstable glucose levels are more likely to feel anxious or depressed.
What Foods Stabilize Blood Sugar?
One major factor behind these sugar swings is the kind of food you eat—especially high-glycemic index (high-GI) foods - think sugar and carbs - like white bread, chips, or sugary drinks. These foods cause a quick rise in blood sugar, followed by a crash. This crash can trigger the stress response in your brain, increasing cortisol (your stress hormone), which then makes your blood sugar go even more unstable. It’s a vicious cycle. Here’s where CGMs come in. Imagine if you could see in real-time that a muffin makes your sugar crash—and causes an anxiety wave. That kind of information is powerful.
Traditional Chinese Medicine Perspective
In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), we believe that food is medicine. We also believe that emotional balance comes from the proper flow of Qi (energy) and blood. When sugar spikes cause internal stress, it creates what we call “heat” in the Liver channel, which is linked to emotional unrest, frustration, and even insomnia. That’s why many of our clients feel so much better when they reduce sugar, eat warm, balanced meals—and support their system with acupuncture.
Acupuncture and CGM
At Seyhart, we are having clients pair CGM tracking with acupuncture treatments—and the results have been amazing. By understanding your unique glucose patterns and receiving acupuncture for nervous system balance, you can build a daily rhythm that keeps your mood steady, your mind clear, and your energy calm and focused.
This isn’t about perfection. It’s about self-awareness and small changes that add up. Replacing high-glycemic indexI foods with complex carbs, proteins, and healthy fats can smooth your sugar curve. Practicing stress-reducing techniques like acupuncture, deep breathing, and gentle movement can help keep your glucose (and your emotions) in balance.