Meditation and Diabetes
Updated: 5/6/22
Can you sit quietly and reduce your blood sugar? Well, research says “YES!”
All information provided is intended to be used for informational purposes only. This article is not medical advice nor is it intended to replace medical advice.
Meditation is used as a way to settle down our minds. It also gives us the ability to take charge of our thoughts!
How often do we let our minds race from one stressful thought to another? How often are we reacting to our lives instead of creating a life we enjoy?
Meditation aims to reduce stress. While stress seems like its “all in the head” it really does some nasty things to our bodies.
Some stress can be positive as it motivates us to take action. Distress or too much stress can wreak havoc on our endocrine, immune, cardiovascular, and central nervous systems.
There are many different types of meditation across all different cultures. Today, we are going to focus on the practice of mindful meditation. Mindful meditation is the practice of bringing awareness to the present moment. This type of meditation typically involves focusing on the breath, mental imagery, body, or mind. In short, mindful meditation is used to help you live your life more fully!
What does the research say???
A study found that individuals who practiced meditation for 6 months found that those who meditated had a significant decrease in their fasting blood sugar, post-meal blood sugar, and hemoglobin A1c compared to the non-meditation group (1).
Participants in this study found a decrease in post-meal blood sugar in just two weeks of practicing meditation.
This 8-week study looking at people with type 2 diabetes found that the mindfulness group had significant decreases in hemoglobin A1c, fasting blood sugar, anxiety, and depression.
Not all studies found these same results. A 6-month study found that individuals with diabetes had no significant decrease in hemoglobin A1c but did find that participants had a significant decrease in diastolic blood pressure (2).
More research needs to be done… but the results are trending positive for:
Decrease in blood sugar, fasting and post-meal!
Decrease in hemoglobin A1c
Decrease in blood pressure
Improving emotional well being
Meditation and Blood Sugar
As we just learned, meditation may actually improve your blood sugar.
But, why does this happen?
Our bodies live in one of two different states: fight/flight or rest and digest. We are in “rest and digest mode” when we are resting and digesting…of course! During this time our bodies are mostly concerned with digesting the food we have eaten or resting our bodies for the inevitable “fight/flight mode.”
“Fight/flight mode” is switched on in response to stress. Back in the day, our caveman ancestors had to fight off invaders, and their bodies needed ALL of the energy it could store so they could ward off their enemies. This meant turning “off” the functions they didn’t need at that moment, like digestion and rest.
Today, our “fight/flight mode” is also turned on by stress but the causes of our stress are a bit different (hello traffic, bills, work, and noisy neighbors!). Stress causes the body to release different hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol. Adrenaline increases the heart rate and blood pressure. Cortisol increases our blood sugar.
Problem is, we don’t need our blood pressure and blood sugar to be raised during rush hour traffic. Our bodies aren’t actually fighting off ANYTHING. We aren’t utilizing the extra blood flow or blood sugar. We are just sitting on our butts in our cars. Not good for our bodies!
If you find yourself dealing with chronic stress, you may be living in “fight/flight” mode more often than not. So, it is important to find ways of dealing with this stress.
Meditation can help manage stress, which can help balance out those “fight/flight hormones”, which can lead to decreased blood sugar.
Try it out for yourself! Make a fun game out of meditation: test your blood sugar before and after a meditation session. How do they compare? Were you able to reduce your blood sugar in one meditation? Or maybe over a week of daily meditation?
How cool is it that you can sit down, relax, and improve your health!
How to practice Meditation for Diabetes
First, don’t worry! Meditation is just a fun tool you can use to help manage your diabetes. This is not meant to overwhelm or cause stress over being another thing I have to add to my daily “to-do list.”
Quick steps to starting meditation
Find a quiet spot
Set a timer- start with 10 minutes and add more time as you like!
Find a comfortable seat or lay on your back
Close your eyes
Focus on your breath- either count the breath or focus on the movement of the breath
When you notice your thoughts drifting (they will!), just refocus yourself back to the breath
Relax ;-)
These are simple steps to meditation. If you would like more guidance find a youtube meditation that you enjoy. There are also many great meditation apps such as HeadSpace or Calm to help you along your journey!
However you decide to meditation enjoy it and see how much positivity it brings to your day!
Meditation is used to bring awareness to your life, to help you live each moment to the fullest! It is here to help you create a thoughtful response, rather than just reacting, when challenging situations arise.
Tell me about your meditation journey. I would love to hear how it is helping you in your life.
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