When we eat refined carbohydrates and sugar or we’re feeling stressed and anxious, our blood sugar can spike upward, leaving it to inevitably fall to low levels soon after. Spikes and dips (aka a blood sugar roller coaster) can have immediate effects, such as fatigue, cravings for carbs/sugar/caffeine, and irritability, just to name a few. In the longer term, unstable blood sugar increases inflammation and has been linked to just about every chronic disease, from obesity and diabetes to Alzheimer’s, cancer and heart disease.

Here’s a more in depth look at how blood sugar imbalance may affect the body: