What we do know for sure is that the abundance of sugar has a negative effect on the fascia and makes it less elastic. Stress also affects the fascia in a disadvantageous way
The Fascia Guide · 24 Feb 20202 min read
Key takeaways
01Cut excess sugar intake — high blood sugar stiffens and damages fascia directly
02Manage stress actively; cortisol raises blood sugar, which in turn harms fascia elasticity
03Keep the body moving to let the viscoelastic gel flow freely in all directions
04Chronic inflammation can lock fascia in a disrupted healing state — address it early
05A balanced internal environment (homeostasis) is the foundation of healthy, unrestricted fascia
The food we eat, and other things we stuff into our bodies, such as alcohol, tobacco, sugar etc., also affects the feeling of ourselves and thus the fascia! Some food is more inflammatory, which also is individual how we can tolerate different things.
What we do know for sure is that the abundance of sugar (if we don’t burn it directly) has a negative effect on the fascia and makes it less elastic. High blood sugar levels damage the fascia and make it stiff.
Stress also affects the fascia in a disadvantageous way. Stress causes, among other things, high levels of the stress hormone cortisol in the body and cortisol in turn extracts sugar from the sugar repositories and thus increasing blood sugar levels.
A healthy body has a healthy fascia! For the fascia to be healthy, the viscoelastic gel has to flow without restriction, in all directions and the network of collagen fibers moves freely and does not impede the flow.
Then the body is in balance, homeostasis. The flow of nutrition and waste to and from cells, lymph and blood circulation work, communication between cells, the nervous system and all tissues in the body work. An obstruction in the flow gives an increased pressure where the “fluid is stationary”, which prevents tissue communication.
The composition of the extracellular matrix (ECM) is relatively stable in a healthy tissue. In the event of an injury and healing process, the composition of the ECM immediately changes. Specific components of ECM interact with cells to create the condition for healing, create inflammation, allowing new cells to easily move and heal the tissue. Sometimes the healing process does not stop but the inflammation becomes prolonged, it gets chronic. Why this sometimes happens is not quite clear yet.
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