The Secret Root Causes to Belly Fat. #2: Blood Sugar Rollercoaster
You don’t have to eat donuts every day and be overweight to have blood sugar issues. In fact, many of my patients who are skinny still deal with the metabolic rollercoaster of sugar spikes and dips that leads to stubborn belly fat – and other more serious health concerns down the line.
The “Hangry” Cycle and Insulin Resistance
Ever felt ‘hangry’, ie THAT hungry, that you are someone’s throat? If so, you aren’t alone. Many know that feeling. In fact, it is that common, that most people constantly carry snacks around with them, because they feel they constantly ‘need to eat’ – or else…
But it doesn’t have to be that way – and even, shouldn’t be that way. The just described scenario is a sign of a blood sugar spike, followed by a dip, making the brain think you are starving and need to eat now!
Here is what happens:
- You eat something sugary or high-carb (without enough protein, fat or fiber to slow its absorption and keep the blood sugar steady. More on this later!)
- Your blood sugar spikes.
- It crashes—hard.
- You get hangry, tired, and crave more sugar.
- Your body starts to become insulin resistant over time (the cells stop responding to the sugar regulating hormone insulin as well any more).
In the short term, these blood sugar spikes cause microdamage to our body (including inflammation, as previously discussed!), and in the long run, can contribute to Alzheimer’s, cardiovascular disease, cancers, and … you guessed it, belly fat accumulation.
Some of the ‘acute’ effects of blood sugar spikes and resulting crashes include:
- Cravings and ‘hangriness’
- Fatigue and energy dips, in particular also that ‘mid afternoon slump’
- Waking in the middle of the night (usually related to ‘reactive hypoglycemia’, when blood sugar drops after it was too high during the previous day).
Note: Blood sugar issues are not the only reasons for waking in the middle of the night, other ones might be at play, such as high histamine and cortisol issues – work with an experienced Functional Medicine practitioner to get to the bottom of yours if you struggle with sleep.
- Inflammation, which makes the brain send signals to store weight around the waist.
- Faster skin ageing and wrinkles from cellular ‘rusting’ via a process called ‘glycation’, where sugar attaches to protein and fats inside the body (and most of our body is made of those 2!), forming ‘advanced glycation end products’, short ‘AGEs’, literally ‘aging’ us!
Even if your overall caloric intake is low, these spikes and dips wreak havoc on your metabolism and can signal your body to hoard fat around your belly.
And with sugar I don’t only mean the white table sugar found in candy and donuts. The body actually converts ALL carbohydrates into sugar inside the body, so this also includes rice, potatoes, bread, lentils and bananas. While ‘complex carbs’ (the whole foods variety that includes fiber, such as brown rice) are slower to release their sugar content, and have less of a detrimental impact on blood sugar, they still DO contain sugar, and if consumed excessively, and not combined with protein and fats to slow their absorption further, can cause problems.
Insulin resistance = weight gain around your waist.
Insulin is a hormone that helps shuttle sugar (glucose) into the cells to be used for energy. However, if we continuously over consume sugars (but in fact also overeat in general), our cells stop listening to insulin, making them ‘insulin resistant’. Being insulin resistant, much like inflammation, makes the brain send signals to store weight around the waist, even if one isn’t overall overweight. In addition to that, in order to be able to burn the stored fat, insulin needs to be low, as it acts like a switch between fat storage and fat burning.
Long-Term Effects of Blood Sugar Imbalances & Insulin Resistance
- The ‘obvious’: Type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome, but also:
- Cardiovascular disease
- Cancers
- Alzheimer’s (this is even called ‘Type 3 Diabetes’ in scientist circles, due to its high correlation to blood sugar and type 2 diabetes!)
- Premature aging (wrinkles, joint pain)
- Mood swings and fatigue
- Hormonal imbalances and infertility
Expert Tip: Many “skinny fat” individuals consume small amounts of sugar regularly—just enough to keep them on the blood sugar rollercoaster. The secret isn’t just cutting sugar; it’s stabilizing your levels strategically. More on that in a future post.
The third and last one of the three main trigger for belly fat accumulation, even if the rest of the body is slim, is one that might just be the hardest to address, but oh so crucial. Stress!
Head to part 4 of this blog post series to find out all about:
Root Cause #3: Stress and Cortisol—The Hormonal Trigger You Can’t Ignore
Mirthe
It is my goal to empower you to become the CEO of your health trajectory, preventing and optimising with precision and science backed strategies to live your best life & thrive.
HI, I'M MIRTHE
It is my goal to empower you to become the CEO of your health trajectory, preventing and optimising with precision and science backed strategies to live your best life & thrive.
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