Feeling shaky and hungry are the common signs of hypoglycemia or low blood sugar. It makes sense to be hungry when our blood sugar is low because it’s our body’s signal that we need sugar. Our cells are starving for energy, which they get from sugar. But did you know you can also be hungry when your blood sugar is high? This may seem like a paradox – if my body already has sugar, why would it want more? If my blood sugar is high, why am I so hungry?
Polyphagia
Diabetics often experience excessive hunger, known as polyphagia. In fact, it’s usually a sign of undiagnosed diabetes.
When you eat, food turns into glucose and insulin transports glucose out of the bloodstream into cells. Then your cells use the glucose for energy. However, when your sugar is high and you don’t have enough insulin, your cells can’t use the sugar. To put it another way, sugar won’t enter the cells and be used for energy. Instead, it will build up in the blood. Thus, your brain will make you feel hungry to get the sugar it needs for energy. Even if you eat regularly, you could still feel hungry.
Another reason your cells may not get the sugar they need is that your kidneys get rid of the excess sugar by urination. As a result, you’ll feel hungry because your body is asking for the sugar it needs for energy.
In addition, insulin resistance can also cause high blood sugar and, as a result, hunger. Insulin resistance is when your cells don’t respond to insulin and can’t use the glucose from your blood. This leads to high blood sugar and increased hunger. Obesity can cause insulin resistance. In contrast, weight loss and exercise can help manage insulin resistance. Low-carb diets can also reduce insulin resistance.
In summation, hunger will prompt you to eat to get sugar for energy. However, this creates a vicious cycle in which your sugar is already high, and you are eating to satisfy your hunger. Eating will increase your blood sugar, causing more hunger.
How to Prevent and Treat Polyphagia
Here are things you can do to manage polyphagia:
- Manage blood sugar levels, which may mean adjusting insulin, medication, exercise, food, etc.
- Eat protein or a low-carb food with fiber to satisfy the hunger without increasing blood sugar even more
- Drink water to lower blood sugar – https://backtonaturediabetic.com/how-drinking-water-decreases-blood-sugar-levels/
- Try these four tips to lower blood sugar quickly: https://backtonaturediabetic.com/four-ways-to-lower-high-blood-sugar-quickly/
Ketones
Another problem with not having enough insulin is that if the cells do not have sugar to use for energy, they will turn to fat for energy, which can be dangerous. Ketones are chemicals produced when your body burns fat for energy. When ketones build up in the blood, they make the body acidic, leading to diabetic ketoacidosis, which can be fatal. Therefore, this is another reason you want to have enough insulin to cover meals and stabilize blood sugar levels. Symptoms of ketones include nausea, vomiting, fruity breath, and shortness of breath. You should always keep ketone test strips in your house, just like blood glucose test strips. They are available at most pharmacies.
Other Factors Can Cause Polyphagia
It should be noted that polyphagia is not a disorder but a symptom of uncontrolled high blood sugar or insulin resistance. It is also not the same as binge eating.
Additionally, there are other conditions besides diabetes that can cause polyphagia. They include:
- Overactive thyroid
- PMS
- Stress
- Medications such as steroids and marijuana
- Eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia
- Lack of sleep
Conclusion
Managing blood sugar is not only important to prevent low blood sugar, but also high blood sugar and polyphagia, which is excessive hunger. Your body wants sugar, even though it has it, because the sugar is not being used properly, meaning it’s not feeding your cells. Ensuring you have enough insulin and managing blood sugar levels will prevent wanting to eat because of polyphagia.
Quote
“Insulin is not a cure for diabetes; it is a treatment. It enables the diabetic to burn sufficient carbohydrates, so that proteins and fats may be added to the diet in sufficient quantities to provide energy for the economic burdens of life” – Frederick Banting.
