Stress and diabetes don’t mix. Stress tends to aggravate the body’s ability to modulate glucose levels, and that’s a problem for diabetics, whose bodies typically do not produce enough insulin to process glucose under normal circumstances. This leads to a buildup of glucose in the blood instead of the cells, which need glucose for energy. It makes sense that reducing stress should lower blood glucose levels, and a study conducted at the Medical University of Ohio has found just that: The ability to relax at will using biofeedback techniques can reduce blood glucose levels.
“Very often people with diabetes feel there is not much they can do besides watch their diet and exercise,” says Angele McGrady, one of the study’s authors. “They may not understand why their blood sugar gets elevated. But if you don’t know how to manage stress, or if you have a lot of it, blood sugar levels will go up disproportionately.”
Biofeedback sessions that focused on the patients’ faces and necks, which store the most tension, helped study participants learn to relax muscles and lower anxiety. Their blood sugar levels dropped significantly as they learned to modulate their response to stress.
—Elizabeth Marglin
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