Relation: Anxiety & Blood Sugar Dropping?

[Beukes]

Does anyone know of any established and clinically proven relation between the psychological experience of anxiety and nervousness within the context of golf or any other competitive sport, and the physiological experience of blood sugar dropping (nausea,  tremor, cold sweat, dry mouth, dilated pupils, etc)? Which is the cause and which is the effect?

It has happened a few times to me now that even if take care to eat a protein bar consisting of 30 grams of whey protein and low carbs, slushed down with my homebrew mix of flat Coke and water, before the round as well as after 9 holes, I feel my blood sugar dropping, presenting the above symptoms, whenever I am nervous or anxious before or during the round.

I am not diabetic, not overweight and actually physically very fit. These symptoms never manifest outside the context of competitive golf - only when the cards are down or I have to scramble constantly to stay in contention.

The closest I have come to a medical explanation is: "Traditionally considered a stress hormone, epinephrine (or adrenalin) is made in the adrenal gland and in certain cells in the central nervous system. Epinephrine also elevates blood glucose levels by making glucose available for the body during a time of stress.When this mechanism is not working properly, hypoglycemia can result".

Any advice from anyone please? Thanks in advance.

[saevel25]

it could be from the coke, Also Caffiene might do it. Caffiene is a stimulant, so it could increase the likely hood of you having those anxiety problems under stress.

I use to get anxious alot when i played golf. The old flutter in the stomach, start to get a bit wired. Its that highten sense similar to fight or flight symptoms. You can condition yourself to get rid of that. More is by just playing more competative golf. You also can condition yourself by creating a trigger.

Most people are happy when they eat a good meal, so if you have a really delicous meal, create a trigger. Like for example, pull on your ear lobe. Just do that all the time, some people create breathing techniques. But what you do is your conditioning yourself to relate that trigger to a good memory or a good feeling, a feeling of being calm. So just you set up for a drive, standing behind the ball, give your ear a tug, or do a breathing technique. Something to break the pressure, thats related to a non-pressure situation.

On a side note about HFCS and sugars... Note Sugars are 50% fructose and 50% glucose.

coke has HFCS, which is 55% fructose.. which goes straight to the liver for processing, 45% is glucose i believe, which goes into the blood stream. What happens is, that its such a high amount of sugar spike in your blood stream that you get the sugar crash, which can cause gitters.

I stopped drinking any pops or drinks that contain HFCS. I sometimes drink sweet tea, but i use to do a pop a day. I would have sugar gitters all the time, it drove me nuts. Now i hardly get them. I had an episode yesterday, but thats because i caved and had a hershey's chocolate bar.

Also note, that drinking high quantities of pop with HFCS can cause liver damage similar to drinking alcohal. My friends reletive died from liver failure because she drank pop all the time. Your body just can't handle that much imput of fructor or glucose, either to the liver or in the blood stream.