Women's health, and especially topics like fertility and weight, are both very complex and sensitive. Many rumors circulate when it comes to cycle health, natural fertility, and hormones. We decided to address the most frequently asked questions and statements surrounding women's health, fertility, and glucose and conduct a fact check.
The fact check on women's health
1️⃣ Controlling blood sugar levels can help women maintain their weight.
💡 Fact : Women are more prone to weight gain than men. This may be due in part to women accumulating more body fat and generally experiencing more cravings (premenstrual syndrome). Learn more about the connection between blood sugar and weight control in our blog post.
2️⃣ Optimizing blood sugar levels can help women sleep better.
💡 Fact : Regardless of whether men or women need more rest, it is a fact that both sexes do not get enough sleep. Sleep and blood sugar levels have a bidirectional relationship. This means that poor sleep affects blood sugar levels, which in turn can affect the quality of sleep. Over time, poor sleep leads to serious conditions such as obesity, coronary heart disease and diabetes and shortens life expectancy (as does poor blood sugar control). Women suffer from insomnia more often than men. This is due to the hormonal changes that accompany menstruation, pregnancy and menopause, which can alter women's circadian rhythms and thus contribute to insomnia. In general, women are more prone to depression and anxiety, as well as to weight gain. The latter can be explained by the fact that women tend to have more body fat and greater cravings for food.
3️⃣ Optimizing blood sugar levels can help women overcome hormonal changes
💡 Fact : The female reproductive system is closely linked to energy metabolism and hormonal changes. This means that female hormones regulate women's weight, body composition (fat storage and distribution), and energy needs. Under normal conditions , female hormones fluctuate during the menstrual cycle and affect our energy metabolism. Women may have more difficulty losing weight and generally lose less weight than men who participate in weight-management programs. This may be due, in part, to gender differences in energy metabolism and appetite control caused by the release of reproductive hormones.
4️⃣ Optimizing blood sugar levels can promote natural fertility
💡 Fact : Female fertility is influenced by lifestyle and environmental factors such as stressful jobs, unbalanced diets, and unhealthy eating habits. Furthermore, a normal body weight and a neither restricted nor excessive energy intake are important for normal female reproductive function. Several mechanisms have been investigated regarding the effect of elevated blood glucose on female fertility, primarily through the absence of ovulation, disruption of ovulation and endothelial function, and ovarian inflammation and aging.
5️⃣ Optimizing blood sugar levels can help our microbiome.
💡 Fact: High blood sugar levels can negatively impact the female (and male) microbiome; however, there is a bidirectional relationship (similar to sleep) between blood sugar levels and the microbiome. Elevated blood sugar levels lead to changes in our gut bacteria, which have serious long-term consequences, including various diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, T2DM, impaired immune system, and negative modulation of the nervous system, with the gut-brain axis leading to depression, dementia, and Alzheimer's disease.
Blood glucose monitoring to promote general health
In short, there are many reasons to monitor your blood sugar levels to stay healthy. For women, it's especially important to understand what their body truly needs at each stage of their cycle to ensure it's properly nourished. Whether you want to increase your fertility, lose weight, or simply improve your sleep quality and energy levels, monitoring your blood sugar will help you achieve your goals.
