May 2026

Hello, and welcome to this month's article! How are you doing? It’s a great time of year to get outside and take advantage of the season. The beauty of nature can feed the soul.

One of the key elements for a happy life is keeping things in proper balance. With so many things in life vying for your attention, make sure you can focus on the important things.

The foundation of a successful life is good health. The better you feel, the more you can enjoy your days.

Your body’s innate goal is to keep everything in balance. And one of the best ways to keep your body in balance is through your regular massage sessions. Countless studies verify that massage is an excellent tool in maintaining optimum health.

You can improve the results from your massages through your lifestyle choices. One example of this is addressed in this issue’s feature article on sugar intake prior to massage.

This month’s other health tips are massage-related as well. Water can help you get more benefit from your massages and your regular massages can help you to sleep better.

Take good care of yourself; see you soon for your next relaxing massage!

A Sugary Drink Beforehand May Ruin A Massage
Reviewed by John Anderer

Pre-Massage Sugar Intake Keeps the Stress System Running, Research Finds

Most people treat a massage as a reliable escape from stress. But new research out of Germany suggests something as small as what someone drinks beforehand can quietly undermine the body’s ability to fully unwind. Scientists at the University of Konstanz found that consuming glucose, the sugar that floods the bloodstream after a soda, juice, or sweet snack, kept part of the body’s fight-or-flight system more active than expected during a relaxation massage. ...

Published in the International Journal of Psychophysiology, the experiment tested whether blood sugar levels interfere with the heart’s ability to shift into a calmer state during massage and rest. Glucose didn’t block every relaxation pathway, but it selectively targeted the branch of the nervous system responsible for revving the body up, and held it there.

Inside the Sugar and Massage Study— Researchers recruited 100 healthy adults, mostly in their early twenties, and randomly divided them into four groups. After fasting for at least four hours, each participant drank either a glass of water mixed with 75 grams of glucose, roughly the sugar equivalent of two cans of regular soda, or plain water. Half then received a 10-minute standardized shoulder and neck massage, while the other half sat quietly with eyes closed in the same position.

Throughout the session, scientists tracked blood sugar, blood pressure, heart rhythm, and a specialized measurement that captures how forcefully the heart is being driven by stress-related nerve signals. Participants also reported how aroused or relaxed they felt at several points.  ...

What Sugar Does to the Body During a Massage— Both the massage and quiet rest successfully activated the body’s rest-and-digest system, the calming branch of the nervous system. Heart rhythm patterns associated with relaxation increased during both treatments, and the massage produced a notably stronger effect. Participants also reported feeling less keyed up afterward.

Sugar, however, activated the fight-or-flight system, as measured by how forcefully the heart was being driven by stress-related nerve signals. In the glucose groups, that stress-side pressure stayed elevated even during the massage.

Participants who drank water before their massage showed a clear withdrawal of fight-or-flight activity, meaning their bodies genuinely downshifted. Those who drank glucose before the same massage did not show this withdrawal. Sugar essentially prevented one of the body’s key physical signs of deep relaxation from fully kicking in.

Crucially, glucose did not appear to interfere with the calming branch of the nervous system. Relaxation-linked heart rhythm patterns increased across all groups regardless of what participants drank. So sugar wasn’t a total relaxation blocker; it was selective, keeping the stress-activation side elevated while leaving the calming side mostly intact. ...

Sugar and Relaxation Routines: A Practical Consideration— Whether it’s a sweetened tea before yoga, a granola bar before a spa appointment, or a sports drink before a cooldown stretch, glucose circulating in the bloodstream may be quietly working against the body’s relaxation machinery. Mood still improved and the calming nervous system still responded in the sugar groups, so the experience of relaxation wasn’t erased. But failing to fully dial down the fight-or-flight response could mean people aren’t getting the complete physiological benefit they’re counting on. ...

For anyone who routinely pairs sugary food or drinks with a relaxation practice, that biology makes a straightforward case: the body has a harder time letting go when it’s still running on a surge of sugar.

Source: studyfinds.com

For better health ...

Make sleep a priority— Sleep is vital for every process in your body. Sleep is a time for your body to repair cells and restore energy. Your brain also performs many essential functions while you’re sleeping, like storing information, removing waste, and strengthening nerve cell connections. Sleep deprivation can increase your risk of: high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, depression, and a weakened immune system.

Stay hydrated— Drinking enough water each day is key to good health. Your body needs water for many important functions, like maintaining your body temperature, aiding digestion, keeping your organs working properly, and delivering nutrients to all your cells.

Staying hydrated also keeps your brain working well. When you don’t take in enough fluid, you may feel tired, have trouble concentrating or focusing, and experience headaches and mood changes.

Make water your go-to beverage. Avoid sodas and energy drinks which typically contain a lot of added sugars and extra calories.

Source: healthline.com

Dreams are the seeds of change.
Nothing ever grows without a seed,
and nothing ever changes without a dream.
— Debby Boone

The content of this article is not designed to replace professional medical advice. If you’re ill, consult a physician.
© 2026 Massage Marketing. Used with permission; all rights reserved.