#14: How to Hack Your Brain for Better Blood Sugar

In today's episode of The Balanced Blood Sugar Podcast, we're exploring the fascinating connection between our thoughts and our health habits. Using both cutting-edge neuroscience and time-tested wisdom from Charlotte Mason's educational principles, we discover how to create lasting healthy habits through gentle, consistent repetition.

Learn how recent research proves the powerful impact of proper hydration on blood sugar control and inflammation, and discover practical strategies for building healthy habits that stick. Whether you're struggling with consistent hydration, medication routines, or other health habits, these science-backed techniques will help you create lasting change.

Key Takeaways:

• How neuroplasticity allows us to form new habits at any age
• The surprising connection between dehydration and blood sugar levels
• Practical steps for creating lasting habits through gentle repetition
• How to apply Charlotte Mason's principles to adult habit formation
• Biblical wisdom on training and habit formation

Resources:

• FREE Get Started Guide - If you need some inspiration about what habits you can start with, check out our cheatsheet at the beginning of this guide.
• Laying Down the Rails series by Simply Charlotte Mason: This series is epic! They’ve combined teachings on habit training from all the volumes of Charlotte Mason to create a roadmap of sorts for habit training yourself and your family.
• Pilates with Purpose - ALL the pilates without the yoga! She’s running her FREE 12 Days of Christmas right now → HERE

Stay Connected:

• Subscribe to The Balanced Blood Sugar Podcast for more tips and strategies to help you manage your blood sugar naturally.
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Thanks for listening!
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review and share it with someone who might find it helpful. Let’s help more people balance their blood sugar and live healthier, happier lives!

Medical Disclaimer:
The information provided in this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before making any changes to your diet, exercise, or medication. The content shared here reflects my personal experiences and research but should not replace individualized medical care.

Transcript

Hey there, friends! Welcome back to The Balanced Blood Sugar Podcast. I'm Adrienne Wheat, your Registered Nurse turned wellness advocate, and today we're diving into something fascinating - the science of how our thoughts literally shape our health, and how we can use this knowledge to create lasting healthy habits.

Now, if you've been around the wellness space for a while, you've probably heard lots of talk about affirmations and positive thinking. But today, we're going to look at something different - the actual science of neuroplasticity and habit formation, using proven techniques that go back over a hundred years. Plus, we'll look at how this aligns perfectly with biblical principles about renewing our minds.

We'll make this super practical by focusing on one specific habit - hydration. I chose this because recent research shows that even mild dehydration can spike blood sugar levels by up to 20%, and proper hydration can help reduce inflammation throughout your body. Plus, it's something we ALL need to work on - right?!

SEGMENT 1: THE SCIENCE OF NEUROPLASTICITY

Let's start with something amazing - your brain's ability to change. Scientists call this 'neuroplasticity,' but I like to think of it as God's gift of adaptability. Research from Harvard Medical School shows that our brains create new neural connections throughout our entire lives - not just in childhood. This means that you're never too old to build new habits!

Let me share a personal story that perfectly illustrates how this works. My two-year-old daughter Sophie has taught me so much about habit formation. Instead of constantly telling her 'Take off your shoes' when we come inside, I started asking her, 'Sophie, what do we do with our shoes when we come inside?' My goal wasn't just to get the shoes off - it was to build that specific thought pattern in her brain: 'When I come inside, I take off my shoes and put them away.'

And you know what? It has worked beautifully! Now, every time we come home, she automatically sits down and tries to take her shoes off - without being asked! Even when she can't quite manage it herself, that neural pathway is already there. And she's even started putting my husband's dirty laundry in the hamper when she finds it lying around! Because I’ve also been training her in the thought “Dirty clothes go in the hamper.”

This isn't just cute toddler behavior - it's neuroplasticity in action. Every time she thinks that thought and performs that action, those neural pathways get stronger. It's like wearing a path through grass by walking the same way every day, except it’s in your brain.

SEGMENT 2: THE SCIENCE BEHIND HYDRATION AND HEALTH

Now, let's look at some fascinating research about hydration's impact on our health. There have been studies that show that even mild dehydration can increase blood sugar levels, even by up to 20%. This happens because when we're dehydrated, our body produces higher amounts of a hormone called vasopressin, which prompts our liver to produce more glucose.

Additionally, researchers have found that proper hydration helps reduce inflammatory markers in the body by up to 40%. This is crucial because inflammation is often at the root of unstable blood sugar and many chronic health conditions."

SEGMENT 3: CHARLOTTE MASON'S WISDOM MEETS MODERN SCIENCE

This brings us to something powerful - the connection between Charlotte Mason's educational principles (from the early 1900s) and modern neuroscience. When she wrote, 'The mother who takes pains to endow her children with good habits secures for herself smooth and easy days,' she wasn't just talking about making life easier. She understood something fundamental about how our brains work. That everyone forms habits, but it’s up to us if those are good or bad ones. 

Think about Proverbs 22:6: 'Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.' This isn't just about spiritual training - it's about the very nature of how God designed our brains to learn and grow through consistent, gentle repetition.

Just like I do with Sophie and her shoes, we can apply this to our own health habits. Instead of beating ourselves up about not drinking enough water, we start by building the thought pattern: 'I drink a full glass of water before my coffee.'

SEGMENT 4: PRACTICAL APPLICATION

Let's break this down into practical steps:

1. Prepare Your Environment:

   - Fill water bottles the night before.

   - Place them strategically - by your coffee maker, on your desk, in your car

   - Use visible markers or timelines on your bottle

2. Build Your Thought Pattern:

   - Choose your trigger moment (like morning coffee, meals, or breaks)

   - Create your specific thought ('When I [trigger], I drink water' or “I drink water before my coffee.”)

   - And you can say it out loud for extra help remembering. As we talked about previously, our brains listen to our own words, more than they do anything else.

3. Track Progress Without Shame or Guilt:

   - Use a simple checklist or app

   - Celebrate small wins

   - Show yourself grace on “off” days; Your goal is 21 days straight, but some progress is better than no progress! So celebrate those small steps!

SEGMENT 5: EXPANDING TO OTHER HABITS

Once you've mastered hydration, you can apply these same principles to any health habit:

• Taking medications consistently
• Checking blood sugar at specific times
• Moving your body during or after meals
• Evening wind-down routines

The sky is the limit!

CLOSING

So this week, I want you to choose ONE habit to focus on. If hydration isn't your challenge, pick something else that would make a significant impact on your health. Remember:

1. Prepare your environment
2. Create your specific thought pattern; Bonus points for saying it out loud each time
3. Track your progress without shame or guilt, and celebrate those small wins!

Remember friends, we ALL form habits - it's just a matter of whether they're serving our health or not. So let's be intentional about building neural pathways that lead to better health!

Until next time, keep speaking life, over your life, and keep moving forward in your health journey.