Why is my blood sugar high even if I barely eat sugar?
A high blood sugar result is not only about sugar in your diet. Stress hormones like cortisol, poor sleep, circadian shifts, illness, some medications, and insulin resistance can all push the liver to release glucose into the blood. Next steps are to investigate those drivers, then tailor food, movement, sleep, and other environmental factors to help create balance.
Blood sugar is a whole-body signal
Your number reflects how your body handles and releases glucose over 24 hours, not just what you ate at one meal. When cells become less responsive to insulin, the liver often compensates by making and releasing more glucose, which can raise fasting and daytime readings even with a low sugar intake.
As a functional medicine practitioner, I look at the web of inputs, genes, hormones, sleep, stress, and gut signals. At Dr. Kenny’s clinic we connect your timeline and symptoms with targeted labs so we stop guessing and start mapping why your glucose rises in the first place.
Hidden drivers that keep glucose high
- Stress and cortisol. Cortisol is a glucocorticoid hormone, it frees glucose for quick energy by increasing liver production and by reducing glucose uptake in muscle and fat. Chronic activation can nudge insulin resistance over time.
- Sleep and circadian rhythm. Even a few nights of poor sleep can reduce insulin sensitivity. Eating late or living out of sync with your internal clock also lowers glucose tolerance, so the same meal may spike more at night than in the morning.
- Morning surges. The “dawn phenomenon” is a normal early morning hormone rise that can elevate glucose before breakfast, especially if insulin signaling is sluggish.
- Illness and certain medications. Infections, steroids, and some other drugs can raise blood sugar by stimulating glucose release or impairing insulin signaling.
- Genetics and life stage. Family history, menopause or andropause shifts, and body composition changes can all alter how your body manages glucose
How we test, then tailor your plan
As your Root Cause Health Detective, I start with the conventional basics comanaging with your conventional practitioner, fasting glucose, A1c, fasting insulin with HOMA-IR, and even a continuous glucose monitor when helpful. We add Organic Acids Testing to check mitochondrial energy markers, B-vitamin needs, and carbohydrate metabolism byproducts, which often explain why the body is asking for more glucose under stress.
If symptoms point to hormone rhythm issues, I may map a cortisol curve across the day. When gut drivers are suspected, we assess digestion and microbiome balance because malabsorption and inflammation can amplify stress signals.
Your step-by-step blood sugar steadying strategy
- Consistent meals, protein, fiber, and healthy fats to slow glucose entry.
- Muscle first. Walk 10 minutes after meals or do brief resistance work to soak up glucose.
- Morning light, regular sleep window, reduce late eating to support your circadian system.
- Nervous system care, breathwork, time in nature, and realistic training loads to lower unnecessary cortisol spikes.
- Medication review with your prescribing clinician if readings rose after a new drug.
At Dr. Kenny’s clinic we phase care, stabilize daily rhythms, fine tune nutrition, then target root drivers with precise supplements, never a long random list. Retesting selected markers shows what is working so we can keep your plan lean and effective.
If your numbers feel confusing, let’s decode them together.
Answered by Dr. Kenny Mittelstadt, DACM, DC, IFMCP
Certified functional medicine practitioner specializing in advanced lab testing and personalized healing protocols to uncover root causes of health roadblocks.