Laurie Villareal: The Role of Blood Sugar in Autoimmunity

I am joined by Laurie Villareal, aka The Blood Sugar Maven, to talk about the role of blood sugar in inflammation and consequently autoimmunity. We explore the reasons behind this link and she shares actionable steps to keep an eye out on your blood sugar regardless whether you've been told you're diabetic, have autoimmunity, or "feel fine".

For the complete show notes and transcripts visit inspiredliving.show/141

Creators and Guests

Host

Julie Howton

What is Inspired Living with Autoimmunity?

The podcast for high achievers who want to stay sharp, focused and full of energy despite their diagnoses. Those who know there has got to be something better than simply accepting decline.

Hosted by Julie Howton, a National Board Certified Functional Medicine Health Coach who used to suffer from crippling Rheumatoid Arthritis until she learned the tools and strategies to take her power back from autoimmunity.

In this podcast, Julie brings you interviews with thought leaders in the Functional Health and Wellness space. You will get actionable recommendations to Take Your Power Back and catapult your health. No fluff, just concrete, useful steps to improve your health!

My blood sugar was so high from
stress, I could feel it in my body.

Like my body felt, shaky,
nervous, weird, I could feel the

effects of that high blood sugar.

And then also the next day, you know,
like I felt very inflamed the next day.

Welcome back to the inspired
living with auto immunity podcast.

I'm your host, Julie Michelson.

And today I'm joined by Lori
Villareal, AKA the blood sugar Maven.

Lori is a national board certified
health coach, functional nutrition and

lifestyle practitioner and longtime
endurance athlete and movement

educator turned hormone specialist.

In today's conversation, we're
talking about blood sugar regulation

and the connection between
blood sugar and inflammation.

We explore how blood sugar may be
contributing to your symptoms, even if you

don't know it, and discuss tips to monitor
and improve your blood sugar regulation.

Subs by www.

zeoranger.

co.

uk

Lori, welcome to the podcast.

I'm so excited to be here.

Thanks for inviting me.

I am excited for our conversation.

This is such an important topic.

And I think the level of understanding
out there is like minute.

So, um, I'm excited to have the
blood sugar Maven on the podcast and

I have lots of questions for you,
but first I'd love for you to share

a little bit about your journey.

How did you become the blood sugar Maven?

Yeah, well, um, my fascination with blood
sugar started when I was a kid, actually.

Ah!

Um, surprisingly, but because I had
two parents with type 2 diabetes, and

I could see them pricking their finger,
um, to check, you know, not very often,

but occasionally pricking their finger,
um, they had a glucometer at home,

and I was very curious about health.

Um, I became very curious about diabetes
because I, I cared for my parents and also

wanted to, as a kid, help my parents out.

Um, and I would say that's when, where
my interest in health and also fitness

began, uh, was in my teenage years.

And I also began tracking my blood
sugar with them because I particularly

remember doing it with my mom's.

Um, because I would get out the
glucometer and think like, Hey, let's

all check our blood sugar today.

Because I thought that, I thought
that's what, you know, diabetics are

supposed to be doing on a regular basis.

And, um, and then I began, Getting
really into exercise because I

learned a lot about, you know, what
it took to be healthy as a diabetic,

but also to prevent diabetes.

I was very interested in that.

And, um, so I went down a
path of actually, um, getting

into endurance sports.

So I became endurance.

I became an endurance athlete in
my early 20s, beginning of my 20s.

Um, prior to that, I was really also
into fitness, um, mostly strength

training, but it was in that, um, you
know, in that period, I just thought

like, I want to be as healthy as I
can be so I can prevent diabetes.

Um, which also ran in my family.

Um, especially one side of my family.

Um, so I knew that there was a potential
for me to have those genetics, uh, but

it wasn't until I was in my mid thirties
that I began to discover my health

wasn't You know, like my health seems
like it was kind of falling apart and

I was active and I ate well and I was
doing all the things that I thought were

supposed to be good for my health, right?

I thought I was taking care of myself.

Um, so it was at that point when I
started to dive into kind of other,

other methodologies, uh, around health
and I discovered, um, functional

medicine and functional nutrition and
just this idea of root cause medicine.

And, um, And it's through that
education and that interest that I

began to realize that I actually, I was
probably overdoing, I was overdoing it.

And even though, even though as a
trainer, because I was also training,

I ended up becoming a trainer, a
fitness trainer and a endurance coach.

And, um, and I was performing
at a very high level.

And so were all of my clients.

And I knew a lot about how to balance
stress in order to recover well.

Right.

So that was very important.

Um, so I was able to maintain a pretty
high stress load because of my focus

on recovery and doing everything,
the sleep, doing everything you

needed to do in lifestyle to be able
to recover from that stress load.

It wasn't until other lifestyle stress
really began to pile on in my life.

Um, so, so like, you know, I, my dad got
sick and died and some other things were

going on in our family that, um, the
stress of that combined with tip center.

Yeah.

That was my tipping point.

Right.

That was my tipping.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And then I was just committed at that
point to like, to look at health and

from a whole new lens, right, which
was not, and I must say, even for a

while, it was mostly with a focus on
outward appearance than inner health.

Hi.

Um, so that was my shift.

And then I've.

I've been interested in blood sugar
ever since I've been tracking my blood

sugar ever since because I, I wanted
to always check in on how I was doing

and was my, how was my health evolving
towards diabetes or was I, you know,

keeping myself in the safe zone.

But it was through this that I began to
use these tools with my clients because I

knew the importance of blood sugar health.

I was beginning to learn the
importance of blood sugar health

and how important blood sugar was.

Um, as I.

As keeping blood sugar healthy, because
that could be a determinant, um, you know,

if you have a disease state or not, or
inflammation, or, you know, it could be

an underlying root of a lot of conditions.

Um, so we began to check in on blood
sugar, and actually, I started to see

some interesting things using real
time data, and how different people

can have such different blood sugar.

Like, sure, yeah, there's Yeah, and
even somebody, even somebody who,

who looks and appears to be very
healthy and very fit can have a very

different blood sugar profile from
somebody who maybe doesn't, um, and

that started really to surprise me.

And then I, I also started to learn
with this, with using data with my

clients and seeing how it, how related.

It was to their symptoms.

And when we were able to dial things
in and make adjustments that are

appropriate specifically from them.

So not just generalized
because we're individuals.

Exactly, exactly.

I want to touch on tracking and
collecting data and stuff in a bit.

Yeah, sure.

I want, I want.

everybody to understand that
this conversation is for them.

So let's talk a little bit about, you
know, somebody who maybe doesn't have any

diabetes in their family, has never had
any kind of diagnosis around blood sugar.

Let's talk about blood sugar
regulation and, and what is

balanced blood sugar versus not.

And, and the not is, is where we're
creating all kinds of problems.

But like you said, we might not know.

And so I really want listeners to know,
like, this is really important, even if

no doctor has ever mentioned blood sugar.

Absolutely.

And I would say, if you have symptoms,
it's If you have symptoms, if you're

a woman, especially if you're a
woman in middle age, um, especially

if you're a driven, ambitious,
high achieving woman, right?

You probably got a lot on your plate.

I would say checking in on your
blood sugar is a smart thing to do.

And the reason is because, um,

Because blood sugar dysregulation
is not something that a doctor

is going to diagnose unless
maybe you have, um, insulin

resistance, pre diabetes, diabetes.

But before that, we can have a lot
going on with dysregulated blood sugar

before we even get to that place.

And it's actually the dysregulated
blood sugar that gets us there.

So What that looks like is, um,
blood sugar fluctuations throughout

the day and high swings from
highs to lows throughout the day.

And this can affect people differently,
um, Because some people can really

feel symptoms when they have hot,
you know, blood sugar highs and

they have blood sugar lows, but also
the body is constantly trying to

bring the body back into balance.

And it's also trying to bring your
blood sugar back into balance.

So that's a job all day long is to
bring your blood sugar back to your

more or less baseline is what I start
with is what I talk about the baseline.

But with somebody with a lot of
blood sugar dysregulation, they,

one, they may not have much of a
baseline because their blood sugar

might be up and down all day long.

So the body is, the body can struggle
to figure out where that baseline is.

And it's constantly using different
levers, different hormones to bring

your blood sugar back into balance.

And some of those hormones, for
example, are cortisol and adrenaline.

Yep.

So even people who have, um, who maybe
have a little trouble with stress or

having, you know, uh, turning down the
stress, I always think like blood sugar is

an important thing to look at because if
your blood sugar is like up and down and

up and down and up and down all day, and
you're constantly calling upon cortisol

and adrenaline, um, then you might have a
hard time calming down from that stress.

And then the

opposite.

Yeah.

I was about to say,

the stress is elevating your blood sugar.

So sometimes I see that actually
a lot of times, cause we, I

think we have similar clients.

Yes we do.

High

achieving driven person who is often,
you know, experiencing stress and not

that stress is a bad thing, right?

Um, we stress can, can also be good.

But it's one of my favorite,

like, I feel like you can say things
to people over and over and over again,

but when they can either feel it and
if they can't feel it, when they can

see the data, it's one of the things I
love about continuous glucose monitors

because I've had students So many
clients be like, Oh my gosh, I saw it.

You know, I had this like really
frustrating meeting and my

blood sugar just like shut up.

And I'm like, yes, it's not just food.

Yeah, it's not just food.

And often I find it's the stress.

Yeah.

And then when you, you have a lot of
stress and you have a lot of blood sugars.

peaks because of stress.

It also makes your body, it makes it
harder for you to regulate the foods.

Right.

So, so this dysregulation
creates more dysregulation.

So the better balance you have, the better
your blood sugars are balanced, the easier

it is for your body to have, um, maybe
a treat and not have the same impact.

So, um, so it's, I think it's
interesting to look at your blood

sugar and see what your triggers
are, how, How dysregulated it is, how

you can bring it back into balance.

And then also too, there's that
inflammation piece, which I don't

know if we're going to get to.

Well, we

have to, I mean, that's,

this is the Inspired Living
with Autoimmunity podcast.

So yes, please let's connect
this blood sugar regulation or

dysregulation to inflammation.

How is this, how, how is blood
sugar dysregulation driving

inflammation behind the scenes?

Thanks.

Yeah, the, it's the, the, the
peaks, the spikes, um, are

contributors to inflammation.

So somebody that's having very
dysregulated blood sugar, that's

having these highs and lows, um, is
having like little hits, you know,

of, to your inflammatory, little
inflammatory hits throughout the day.

You know, like these, like what I've seen,
for example, for myself, I've had, um,

my My highest on my continuous glucose
monitor, so I track my own blood sugar

sometimes, but the highest Spike that I
saw for myself was quite high actually

And the highest one I've ever seen and
I was very surprised was at like 11 p.

m At night when we had to go to the
emergency room for a family member

in the middle of the night I hadn't
eaten in like eight hours Yeah.

My blood sugar was so high
from stress, but not only that,

I could feel it in my body.

Like my body felt, um, like shaky,
nervous, weird, also cortisol.

Right.

But I could feel the effects
of that high blood sugar.

And then also the next day, you know,
like I felt very inflamed the next day.

Yeah.

Um, and

I love when baseline is
so good that you can feel.

That,

you

know, and you can put your finger
on, you know, Oh, you know, I know

this is exactly what happened.

Yeah.

And then the next day, the foods,
like the foods that, that maybe

weren't inflammatory for me
suddenly became inflammatory, right?

Everything seems inflammatory the next
day because I had that really high spike,

um, that lasted for a little while.

And I actually didn't,
I wasn't looking at it.

I wasn't looking at it while
all this stuff is going on.

I'm not like, let me check my blood sugar.

Well, which is good because

sometimes cortisol higher.

And you know, it was actual data.

You were not interfering with the data.

And I, you know, we talk about this
so often when we talk about sleep and

people have that wake up, you know,
two, three in the morning and it's like

chicken or, you know, having an unravel.

Are you getting a cortisol spike, which
is driving blood sugar, or is your

blood sugar dropping, which is creating
a cortisol spike, which is, you know,

is so playing, playing with that.

But the, the, the stress response
and blood sugar are so, so connected.

I want to touch on, you mentioned, you
know, we may not, you're in a place where,

you know, What you're feeling when you're
feeling it, um, and, and so we can have

dysregulated blood sugar and not know it
for the people that maybe do feel some

things, what are, you mentioned, you
know, that, that kind of shaky feeling,

but what are, what are some symptoms that
people may discount we all, you know,

we only live in our own body, right?

So what are some things that, that.

might create that question mark
of like, huh, I wonder if I, if

I should check my blood sugar.

Well, fatigue is a big one.

Oh, well, that's everybody who has any
kind of active autoimmune stuff going on.

Fatigue is a big one.

And I would say another big
one I do see is, um, weight

loss resistance or weight gain.

Gain unexplained weight gain.

Like maybe I'm doing the same
things as I've always been doing.

I've been doing the same workouts,
eating the same foods and gaining

weight, particularly around the
midsection can be another one.

Um, things like getting up to
pee in the middle of the night.

It, it can be actually quite disruptive
to sleep, getting up to, to pee in

the middle of the night or even just
waking up in the middle of the night.

Um, I have seen be related to blood sugar.

And I'm sure

listeners are like, wait, I thought
all, all of those things you just

said also are, you know, could
be connected to hormone changes.

And we have to remember insulin is
a hormone, like our, this is all

connected to our hormone system.

So

absolutely.

Yeah.

And then cravings, cravings, like
feeling like you just, you're, you

want maybe carbs all day or you're
snackish or hungry or even hangry.

Um, not feeling like you can
go very long without food.

Grazers gotta be great.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Um, but then you can also
see it in other ways.

Like I've seen I've seen it
show up in period problems.

I've seen it show up in hair loss.

I've seen it show up in skin
issues, digestive issues.

Um, because, because we talked
about how that creates inflammation,

having dysregulated blood sugar.

And then also over time, dysregulated
blood sugar can turn into high levels,

like your baseline and your levels
can just start to creep up as well.

So those higher levels of blood sugar
can create just inflammation, you know,

like levels of inflammation all day long.

Once they start creeping up.

Um, and so having a look into blood
sugar can also help calm some of

that, which helps calm other symptoms.

Wow.

So, you know, I, I I'm like, Oh, okay.

Again, because we know there's
never one cause of anything.

And we're having this conversation
because every symptom you just

mentioned, people also can have.

when their blood sugar's fine, right?

And so again, that's how it can
become overlooked until, you know,

you mentioned insulin resistance.

Um, and I'm thinking, but like Western
medicine docs, like general practitioners

here, they don't, They're not catching
anything until somebody has full

blown metabolic syndrome, like they're
just, they're not even looking for it.

We do in functional medicine, you
know, we're, we're looking to make sure

things aren't giving us any signs that
we're heading in the wrong direction.

Um, So, because I don't , I, I always
feel like it's, it's kind of turned

into, um, when we talk about toxins,
, you know, it becomes so overwhelming.

It's like, holy moly.

Um, so let's shift to
like, things we can do.

First of all, how do we investigate?

What is a, a great way, you know,
people can, you don't need a well.

In this country a little bit.

I don't know about where you are.

Um, things like CGMs are mostly
prescription only in the United States.

Yes.

Still.

Are they there?

I know in the, they're not uk.

No.

You can go into the grocery or
drugstore and get one yourself.

It's the same.

Yeah, it's the same.

Yeah.

Because you're allowed
to have your own data.

Mm-Hmm.

, um,

.
But is that where you
tell people to start?

Or, or, you know.

I, yeah, I'd say checking in, like
you had mentioned, you could be

told by your doctor that your blood
sugar is normal and you still have

blood sugar dysregulation, right?

So checking in on a continuous glucose
monitor could be a smart thing to do.

I always like to say, check in on it with
a practitioner, because it's, you know,

It's nice to know a little bit more about
what you can, what the data means, what

you can do with the data, and also to not
freak out from the data, right, to be, to

be Googling things and not understanding
exactly because, you know, certain things

like exercise can elevate blood sugar.

Like I said, stress can
elevate blood sugar.

And also there are strategies.

There are a lot of strategies.

So once you have the data and you can see.

see what your triggers are, maybe
what your levels are, what you look

like through throughout the day.

And I especially like the data
at night, especially if anybody's

struggling with sleep, yes, quality
sleep or quality restoration.

Um, I'd say the data can be very
helpful, especially when you're

using a practitioner like yourself.

Um, um, And then having that, those
strategies that the practitioner has

as well that can help you look at
the data objectively and then decide,

okay, like, this is happening in
the middle, you're having a blood

sugar dip in the middle of the night.

So let's look at your whole day.

Um, and maybe that's a shift.

There's a shift that's needed in
the evening, or maybe there's a

shift that's needed in the morning.

But also aside from just having
data with continuous glucose

monitors, you don't even need.

A continuous glucose monitor to get
started with really you could start with

just paying attention to um to your food
intake and Um noticing if you have protein

fat and fiber with your meals, I would
even say, you know um, sometimes Fat.

Sometimes fat is enough.

Sometimes fiber, fiber is enough.

We respond a little bit differently,
each of us, but protein, fat, and

fiber can help slow down the release
of blood sugar into the bloodstream.

And having that with each meal
or snack can help keep your blood

sugar levels a bit more stable.

Everybody's different.

Um, but that's a good place to start.

Um, I would also say something as simple
as staying hydrated, staying hydrated.

I love that.

Yup.

And also help, um, keep your lip,
your blood sugar in better check,

um, having a good night's sleep
because a disrupted night's sleep

can also create more disruption
in your blood sugar the next day.

Um, so good sleep and movement,
movement throughout the day,

um, especially after meals.

I love the, all the studies and
there's a lot of data about just

taking a walk after a meal on how
that supports blood sugar regulation.

It's amazing.

Yeah, and I, I see it for myself.

I see it for clients, my husband.

Just to something as simple as a walk is
enough to bring, um, glucose levels down.

Um, and also there are, like, there are
things like, um, a simple exercise, like

legs at the wall, who would have thought
works so well for me if I just lay on

my, if I'm feeling a little bit, maybe
a little bit stressed, or I just had

a workout and I know my, you know, my
heart rates up and I was a bit excited.

And, um, um, I could just lay on the
floor, lift my feet up, put my legs up

against the wall, and that alone helps
bring my body into a more relaxed state.

So it activates the
parasympathetic nervous system.

For me and for a lot of people
that I suggest this to and can help

Bring your stress levels down and
therefore bring your blood sugars

your blood sugar down as well, which
is interesting to see so Bring in

great those kinds of inversions
are really good for sleep too.

Exactly

for the same reasons

Yeah, inversions.

So you mentioned inversions.

So inversions and any kind of
restful, um, restorative moments you

can have in your day can also have
a great impact, a positive impact

on your glucose levels as well.

It's such gold, you know,
again, because we're so trained.

We have all been so trained to
think, you know, we're back to

like calories in, calories out.

But like sugar in is the, you know,
end all be all for blood sugar

regulation and it's just not true.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Exactly.

Ah,

so much you can do.

So much you can do.

I love that.

So, oh my goodness.

paying attention.

It was where you said people
can really, really start.

And I love the, the, and again, if you're
experimental, you know, find some, find a

practitioner, you know, reach out to Lori,
reach out to me and, and, um, you can

gain so much data just by being curious.

You know, if you decide to, to go the CGM
continuous glucose monitor route, um, it

is really fun to, and I encourage people.

Like, okay, I know I've always said,
you know, eat your fruit with some

fat and some protein, but you know,
while you have the CGM on, eat it once

without, or, you know, so that you
really can understand what's going on.

And I love, you know, none of us get to.

Live in a stress free state.

So I love that you're sharing, you know,
your personal techniques of like, Hey,

if I work out a little too hard or I'm a
little too stressed, like here's a, a way

I can get my body back in and, you know,
and, and I say, visit the parasympathetic

state like you mentioned throughout the
day, because it is, that is an exercise.

Um, and so, you know, it's not only
going to help you regulate your blood

sugar, but bring that inflammation
down, digest your food, all the things.

Absolutely.

Um, so I, I love that you brought that
up because I had no idea we were going

to talk about legs up the wall while
we were talking about blood sugar.

It's my favorite, I mean, it works

for me.

Certain tests or if somebody is curious,
maybe they don't have a practitioner,

they're, they're, um, maybe not ready to
go to the CGM, you know, checking things

out, um, anything for them to, to test.

I mean, the problem I know with tests is
it's a snapshot in time, so, um, I don't

really know of a better way or another way
that's nearly as good unless you want to,

like, prick your finger a million times.

But, um.

I don't.

Yeah.

And even, well, and

even if you do that, I think it's
not going to be, you're missing

stuff.

Yeah.

And it's not going to be any, actually,
I think you could just as easily get

a continuous glucose monitor if you're
going to get the finger prick and

it's not different in price, actually.

Yeah.

And it's way more

comfortable and you get better data.

Are there, let's talk
about CGMs for a second.

Um, Are there are some better than others?

You know, what do if someone's like,
okay, you know, this has kind of been

on the back of my mind for a while.

I want to do it.

Um, obviously, if they're taking
your advice and they're working

with a practitioner, they're going
to use whatever the practitioners

recommending, but are there are they
all good is basically my question.

Um, so my favorite one is, I
think there are a lot of them

more and more out there right now.

Um, my favorite is Abbott's, um,
Freestyle Libre is what it's called.

It's pretty small.

It's like a cord the size of a quarter.

It fits on your arm.

Um, you can get it from a several.

There are several companies
out right now that offer them

straight direct to the consumer.

So you don't have to have a prescription.

You can also ask your
doctor for prescription.

And if they're.

Really cool.

They might say yes, um, or if they
know anything about it, right?

They, I think they need to know about
how these work and how it can help and

support you in order for them to say yes.

Um, but then in addition.

And if you work with a practitioner, of
course, they can also help support you

in in getting being able to use one.

And some of the companies that are direct
to consumer that use them have apps.

They have a little bit
of nutrition information.

And I would say, I'd like to say, take
some of that with a grain of salt,

because it can be very generalized and.

less supportive because
it's general information.

So that's why I think it's really nice
to work with a practitioner because

they can really help personalize it for
you and figure out what works for you.

Like for an example, sometimes
I've seen things like fasting is

great for blood sugar and it can
be, but it can also not be right.

If it's creating more stress in your body,

right.

So, um,

and different.

Yeah.

And that's such great advice.

Um, cause sometimes.

Some of that generalized information is.

just really rubs me in the wrong
way because sometimes it's just

not appropriate for the individual.

Um, I, I would say, you know, we
also, we play with Dexcoms as well.

I mean, and there's so many,
there's more and more new companies.

Freestyle Libre is really the, to me,
the original consumer friendly CGM.

Um, but think about
also what works for you.

You know, there are.

Some CGMs where you have
to scan it to get the data.

There's some where they're, you know, so
you maybe miss certain windows of data.

There's some that are, you know,
the app really is truly continuous.

Um, so it's all a matter of, and
Prices really have come down.

They have, absolutely.

Which is, which is fun.

And I do notice they're
always changing, too.

So it's like, okay, you know, we
get crafty with, you know, who's got

the best prices right now in the U.

S.

as far as sometimes it really
does make a difference of which

pharmacy you go to to pick it up.

Uh huh, yeah.

I've heard, yeah, I've
heard some good news.

Things like you can get deals at Costco.

Yeah, that's what I was just thinking
and you can, and then, but then I

had a client who literally, you know,
two weeks later was going to go to

Costco and it was double the price.

Yeah, there

was something at the
beginning of the year.

I, and I hate to.

I don't know if it's a conspiracy theory,
but like all of the CGM surged in price.

And maybe it's because it was the
beginning of the year and people are

health

focused.

I don't know.

Um, yeah.

And so it was like, Oh, you know, but
then I think here in the U S like, you

know, Walmart had the good price, you
know, it just, it's always changing.

So

yeah.

Yeah.

It just gets a little crafty.

Yeah, exactly.

And those are interesting.

And you had asked earlier about
tests, and I would say, like, tests

to look at could be the HbA1c, your
fasting glucose levels, and insulin.

Um, yeah.

And insulin is a really good one actually
to fasting, fasting insulin and fasting

glucose and even doing the, I don't know
if you call it the HOMA IR over there.

I don't know, I don't know what that is.

So you get both the fasting glucose
and the insulin done at the same

time, and so that can give you an
interesting idea of how they are related.

At that same time,

that's exactly what I, what is missing
in standard Western medicine, at least

here, they're not testing fasting insulin.

If your glucose seems like it's fine
and in range, they leave it at that.

And why I love the A1C is
because You know, I, I'm going

to throw my mother under the bus
because I love her and I can.

My mom has been a sugar a
holic my whole life anyway,

um, and she's really adorable.

She lives right next door.

She's, thank goodness, healthy and
vibrant and knows all the lifestyle

things and sometimes reverts to, you
know, I'm going to live on gelato for

the week or, and so she, her, her blood
sugar is always beautiful on labs because

she knows when she's getting labs done.

Yeah.

So.

But the A1C does not lie.

It's going to show you.

So it's what it's not going to do is
really show you, you know, are you

having spikes and fluctuating a lot,
but it is going to show you like, Hey,

you think you've been, you know, eating
less sugar, but yet your A1C is higher.

Right.

To, to dig a little deeper.

So I love, I love that one in particular.

Yes.

For honesty.

Yeah.

For honest feedback.

And again, over time,

right?

Yeah, I would, I would agree.

Yes.

And that in a way is kind of giving
us an indication of your baseline.

Right.

Um, and then too, when you look
at that through the conventional

lens, so like your doctor typically,
or pathological lens, right?

Like they're, um, they may not, um,
They may say your blood sugar is fine

and it still could be at a pretty
higher than optimal level, right?

For, for maybe for feeling your best or
reducing inflammation or recovering or

putting a condition into remission, right?

You might want to bring that down lower.

So that's another reason why it's
helpful to work with somebody to

figure out what that could look like.

Absolutely.

Because again, so, you know, and
we're, we're talking a lot about

the non food related drivers,
stress, and things like that.

But also, um, my partner has a patient at
the clinic who's always had a beautiful

A1C, um, had some GI issues that we didn't
know about, went to a GI doctor and they

put him on the BRAT diet, um, which is
bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast.

And this gentleman was
consuming so much applesauce, he

literally gave himself diabetes.

Oh, he went from totally fine.

So diet does count too.

Yeah.

Um, but it, I mean, it is always
so, and, and he's correcting it.

It's all good.

Um, but luckily he's has a
functional medicine provider who's

testing and following because.

You know, another doctor told
him basically just, you know,

live on carbs and sugar for a
few months and see how you feel.

Oh, gosh.

Um, so it, it is, food
definitely can play a role too.

Well, he,

he learned some things
from that experience.

But I can tell you're
a data geek like I am.

And so to have that data is like, wow.

Wow.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Absolutely.

And I like to also say, I love data.

I've been using it for a long time,
but I usually tell my clients that,

you know, I, I look at the trends
most of all trends over time and

I, I'm not a slave to my data.

Like I will.

I will.

Easily take it off, not
wear it for a while.

Um, check back in later.

I don't have on right now.

Yeah.

Like I don't let my data stress me out.

It's just information . Yes,

yes.

Right.

Yeah.

But it can be fun.

I if you're playful and you
hold it, light it, it can

Exactly.

It can be really fun to, it can.

I love it.

.
So we're at that point in the
interview where I get to ask you for

one step that listeners get to take.

starting today to improve their health.

And it can be, it doesn't even
have to be blood sugar related.

Totally up to you.

Oh, one step today.

Well, we, I

would

say it's

a

personal favorite.

So there are a lot of steps anybody
could take to improve their health.

I love finding, finding
your personal favorite.

Stress buffers, I call them.

So dipping into the parasympathetic, um,
you were saying, I think you were saying

that to be into the parasympathetic mode.

And, um, my favorites are inversions.

Like legs up the wall.

It's so, they're so simple.

They're so easy.

And I've even told people that
like, you can get on your phone and

check your email if you want to,
you know, like if you have a hard

time turning down, you don't have to

meditate.

It doesn't have to be.

You can

start simple.

You can start simple with just
doing something, um, like laying

on the ground and putting a couple
pillows underneath your hips.

Yeah.

Right.

That's another one.

That's a great tip.

Um, and, and also pay attention to how you
feel while you're doing it, because if it

doesn't feel good, right, if you, if it's
stressing you out, okay, maybe it's not

the thing for you, but find the thing.

It's

probably being really gentle,
but then again, get curious.

Why would laying down for
a minute stress you out?

I did have a client who, when we were
doing, um, some breathing techniques

because she just totally always
lived in a high stress environment.

state.

She was the first person who had
given me the feedback of she was

like, I'm doing it, but it would bump
her heart rate because it was such

an unfamiliar feeling for her body
to, to leave the sympathetic state.

She stuck with it.

It didn't take very long, maybe
like a week for her body to

be like, Oh, I remember that.

That actually feels really nice.

So I'm not as clearly, I'm
not as gentle as Laurie.

You need to do it more often if
it stresses you out to do it.

Or find the one that
there are lots of them.

Find the one that, that works for you.

Right.

Yeah.

But I love that one because it can
trick you, obviously, if you, if

it's not a painful position for you.

Right.

Um, because as you even just said,
like, You know, you're giving the

grace of you can check your phone.

You can.

Right.

If you need to.

If

you, it's a good place to start.

Yes.

Yes.

Oh, I love it.

For people that are listening on the
go and are not going to check the show

notes, where's the best place to find you?

Um, I would say the best place
is probably if you just typed in

your blood sugar quiz dot com.

There you go.

And then you can, and then you can take
my quiz and check in on your blood sugar.

Um, and you can easily.

Find more out about me and, um, otherwise
you can certainly find me at my website,

uh, which might be a little tricky
because it's my name at lauravillareal.

com.

So it's l a u r i e v i l
l l a r r e a l dot com.

So that's my website, but you
can easily get there by just

going to yourbloodsugarquiz.

com and taking my quiz.

Perfect.

So easy to remember.

Lori, thank you so much.

You gave us amazing gold today.

So good to be here.

And thank you.

Thanks everybody.

Who's been listening along

for everyone listening.

Remember you can get those transcripts and
show notes by visiting inspired living.

show.

I hope you had a great time and
enjoyed this episode as much as I did.

I'll see you next week.