The Hidden Factor Sabotaging Your Blood Sugar (And It’s Not What You Eat)
You’re doing everything right.
Eating the food, moving your body, checking the boxes.
Maybe your blood sugar is “under control.” But could it be better?
Or maybe it’s still all over the place—and something in you knows there’s more to the story…
What if the missing piece isn’t what you’re eating?
(Then tomorrow, in the paid subscriber weekly companion guide, I’ll share a grounding audio practice, simple daily tools, and real-life ways to deepen the kind of connection that helps your body feel safe—so you can stop bracing, and start healing.)
If you’re someone who thinks, “Yeah, stress is a factor, but probably not that important for me,” this article is for you.
Maybe you’ve dialed in your diet. You move your body. You’ve swapped out processed foods for whole plant-based meals. You’ve taken real ownership of your health—and you’ve seen the benefits.
And yet… your blood sugar still isn’t optimized.
Or worse, it’s stubborn—spiking at unexpected times.
Your cravings are unpredictable.
You’re doing everything “right”—and something still feels off.
Here’s what might be missing: connection.
Not the fluffy, surface-level kind. Not just “having friends” or being social. I’m talking about real, authentic, nervous-system-regulating connection—starting with yourself and extending to your closest relationships.
Because just like we once underestimated the power of food to transform chronic disease, many of us are now underestimating the power of connection to reshape our physiology.
It’s Not Just About Major Stress
When we talk about stress and blood sugar, people tend to imagine acute, dramatic events—panic attacks, financial crises, intense arguments.
But the kind of stress that wrecks metabolic health often hides in plain sight.
It’s the daily, quiet disconnection from ourselves and others:
Overriding our body’s cues to meet deadlines
Suppressing emotions to keep the peace
Smiling through discomfort to avoid rocking the boat
Ignoring our needs in order to maintain artificial harmony
Feeling unseen, even in a room full of people
Your nervous system doesn’t wait for catastrophe to activate the threat response. These moments—subtle but constant—can chronically shift your body into threat physiology without you even realizing it.
How Threat Physiology Disrupts Blood Sugar
When your body senses disconnection or emotional danger, it prepares you to survive. That means activating the HPA axis, which releases stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline.
Here’s what happens next:
Cortisol tells your liver to release glucose into the bloodstream (so you can fight or flee)
Cells become temporarily insulin resistant so that glucose stays in the blood, available for action
The immune system ramps up inflammatory cytokines (like IL-6 and TNF-α), which also impair insulin signaling
Over time, this stress state becomes chronic, not adaptive
And this isn’t just a theory. These are measurable biochemical changes happening in your body. For people living with diabetes, these mechanisms make it significantly harder to manage blood sugar, even with a clean diet and consistent movement.
Even Without Diabetes, Insulin Resistance Affects Everything
If you don’t have a diabetes diagnosis, this still matters.
Chronically elevated cortisol and suppressed insulin sensitivity affect:
Weight loss resistance (especially abdominal fat)
Cravings and emotional eating
Mood swings and anxiety
Hormonal dysregulation
Energy crashes and brain fog
Your body was never meant to live in a prolonged state of bracing. And yet, that’s what so many of us are doing—tightening our jaws, silencing our truths, striving to be “fine.”
What You Eat Matters. But So Does How Safe You Feel.
This is not about choosing between connection and nutrition. Whole food, plant-based eating is deeply powerful—it’s changed my life and the lives of countless others. The evidence is overwhelming.
But we’d be leaving an enormous opportunity on the table if we stop there.
Eating well and exercising while staying chronically disconnected is like putting premium gas into a car with the emergency brake on.
To unlock the full power of your body’s healing capacity, we need to release the brake—and that means shifting from threat to safety physiology.
And the fastest way to do that?
Authentic connection.
But I Have Friends… Isn’t That Enough?
Maybe you’re thinking, “I’m not lonely. I’ve got people.”
That’s not quite the same.
What matters isn’t how many people you’re around—it’s how safe, seen, and authentic you feel in those relationships.
False Connection looks like:
Playing a role to keep things smooth
Avoiding conflict to maintain surface harmony
Hiding parts of yourself to fit in
Feeling emotionally alone even when physically together
True Connection feels like:
You can say the hard, honest thing—and still be held
Your nervous system softens in their presence
You feel nourished after interactions, not drained
You’re able to bring your full, unedited self
It’s not about being a “people person.” It’s about being your person—and letting others meet you there.
Simple Practices to Shift Toward Connection
You don’t have to overhaul your life overnight. Start with small, consistent actions that signal safety to your body.
Here are a few low-effort, high-impact ways to begin:
1. “10% More Honest”
Next time you’re tempted to say “I’m fine,” try saying something 10% more true. Let your nervous system stretch gently toward authenticity.
2. Body Check-In After a Conversation
Pause and ask:
Did I feel more seen or more masked in that interaction?
Did my body relax or tighten?
Let that inform how you spend your relational energy.
3. Mini Repair or Reach-Out
Text someone with a simple check-in or acknowledgment:
“Hey, I’ve been thinking about our last conversation—just wanted to say I appreciated you.”
Tiny moments of attunement build deep connection.
4. Name What You Need
Practice identifying and gently expressing a need, even if it feels vulnerable.
“I need to feel heard right now more than I need advice.”
This Isn’t About Perfection. It’s About Repatterning.
You will still disconnect. You will still suppress. You will still default to people-pleasing sometimes. That’s okay.
This work isn’t about being perfectly authentic or perpetually zen. It’s about recognizing the micro-patterns that keep us stuck—and slowly choosing something different.
It’s about making connection a part of your metabolic medicine.
Because your blood sugar isn’t just responding to what you eat. It’s responding to how you live.
How you breathe.
How you relate.
How you speak your truth.
How you let yourself be held.
It all counts. And it all heals.
Tomorrow’s Deeper Dive for Paid Subscribers
If today’s article helped you see connection in a new light, tomorrow’s guide is here to help you build it—clearly, gently, and in real life.
You’ll receive a short, grounding audio practice you can return to anytime your body starts to brace or your mind rushes to fix.
You’ll also get concrete weekly practices to help you create the kind of connection that actually supports blood sugar regulation and nervous system safety.
Not more to learn. Not more to perform.
Just small, daily moves toward connection that actually nourishes.
If you’d like support weaving this into your life, I’d love to have you join us as a paid subscriber.
We’re building this slow and steady—together.
I believe that this is also very affective for managing high blood pressure. Thank you for these great thoughts and advice.
Tom C
This is very powerful and well described.