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Bad moods and blood glucose levels
I wake up almost every morning feeling ratty. My husband says I’m worse than a bear with a sore head and is threatening to move out to the spare room unless I wake up in a better humour. I do feel a little better after my first cup of coffee but then I slump back into a bad mood after the lunch and get home from work feeling grumpy too. I need to make-over my moods. What can you suggest?
Your bad temper and rattiness is likely to be the result of severe fluctuations in your blood glucose levels according to the nutritionist, Ian Marber, who stresses this is a common problem which can also lead to feelings of tiredness and general irritability.
Excess carbohydrates in your diet, stimulants such as tea and coffee and refined sugar can all rapidly elevate blood sugar levels and then cause an equally rapid slump. This explains why you say you feel better after that first cup of coffee in the morning. Caffeine stimulates the release of adrenaline - which, in turn, raises blood sugar levels to make you feel more alert and energetic. The slump that follows, which leaves you feeling ratty and sluggish, is, sadly, inevitable.
You need to start changing your diet in ways that will help regulate your blood sugar levels to improve your mood. Avoid the refined sugars, which you now know can cause fluctuations and, says Marber, when you do eat, make sure you combine a little protein, fibre and carbohydrate at every meal.
For a mood-improving breakfast, try a bowl of unsweetened yoghurt with fresh fruit or have a couple of poached eggs on rye toast. Both these meals will provide a steady release of glucose, which means more consistent energy for you. Stay away from caffeine and substitute organic herbal teas for your usual tea or coffee.
Eating smaller meals more frequently should also help avoid the wild fluctuations that are making you bad tempered. A small snack at bedtime, say some fruit and cottage cheese, will also keep blood sugar levels stabilised throughout the night advises Marber.
He also suggests you might benefit from taking a supplement of chromium, which works with insulin in the metabolism of sugar. He recommends you take 300 micrograms a day, 200 of which you should take last thing at night to improve your mood when you awake. Biotics Research make a combination supplement called Glucobalance, which does just what the names suggests. It contains all the anti-stress B vitamins, the antioxidant A, C and E vitamins plus chromium, selenium, magnesium, and zinc. Take two with your breakfast and two again at bedtime.
Ian Marber is co-author of a new book called The Food Doctor, published by Collins and Brown, £14.99. He can be contacted on 0207-935 5700 or 0207-581 5060 or you can email him at ian@thefooddoctor.com. Glucobalance costs £19.95 for 90 capsules and is available from The NutriCentre (0171-4365122). Postage is free.