Balancing Blood Sugar Guide
Do you crave sugar and carbs? Get “hangry” or feel shaky if you skip a meal? Low energy? Have brain fog and difficulty concentrating? Can’t lose weight despite eating like a bird? Have higher triglycerides?
These scream blood sugar dysregulation which I provide plenty of solutions for inside my blood sugar course in ???? ???????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????????????, including tests & supplements to discuss with your practitioner.
But let’s start with food choices first.
When your blood sugar (glucose) dips, you start to feel hungry. Our brain depends on glucose to function so naturally, we crave sugar since it’s a quick, usable form of energy.
BUT if you constantly choose foods that spike blood sugar levels, then over time, the spikes of sugar are also followed by massive dips.
When blood sugar levels drop too low, the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline come to the rescue and provide quick amounts of glucose as an emergency response.
But daily life should not be in a constant emergency state. When that happens, insulin resistance can evolve to full-blown type 2 diabetes.
What’s the solution?
????????Create meals that follow my ????????????+???? principle. Ensure it has ????egetables, ????roteins and healthy ????ats first and foremost. I touch on complex ????arbs in a separate post.
????????Limit the foods that spike blood sugar levels (see infographic above) consistently for a few months.
????????Test your blood sugar levels before and after to track progress.
It’s more than just what you eat
Keeping blood sugar levels stable is one of the best ways to optimize your health since it affects so many organs and systems in the body.
Of course our food choices and levels of stress play a huge role, but here are 3 additional tips to help reduce blood sugar spikes & insulin release:
1. Go for a walk.
Go for a walk, especially after a carb-rich meal. The faster the pace, the better.
2. Don’t eat your simple or starchy carbs alone.
Combining it with a protein or healthy fat will help decrease the blood sugar spike in the bloodstream. Ex. apple and nut butter
3. Include veggies with your meals.
Since the body can’t digest and absorb fiber, it helps prevent blood sugar spikes the way simple carbohydrates can.
The biggest effect on reducing blood sugar spikes, comes from what you eat, stress reduction & the amount you move, but these other tips can help as well:
4. Drink water!
Drink water! When you're dehydrated your body wants to retain water through the hormone vasopressin, which also prevents the body from flushing out excess sugar in urine.
In fact, a study showed that if you drink 1 liter of water per day, you are 21% less likely to develop hyperglycemia! PMID: 21994426
5. Add some spice to your life!
A teaspoon of cinnamon can increase insulin sensitivity as well. There are 2 common types of cinnamon: cassia & ceylon.
Cassia is the type found in most supermarkets. Ceylon is a bit more expensive but may contain more antioxidants.
Note: If you're using cinnamon daily, the Ceylon version is safer because the cassia contains a potentially harmful substance called coumarin.
6. Add magnesium to help insulin sensitivity. See the image below for magnesium-rich foods:
7. Add Chromium: In a small study adding chromium reduced blood sugar spikes by 20%. PMID: 15310739
What can you do when a sugar craving hits while addressing diet and lifestyle changes? I've got you covered too...
Amino acids:
Amino acids from the proteins we eat help produce neurotransmitters that affect mood and behaviors, including curbing sugar cravings from hypoglycemic reactions, fatigue, stress, etc. I usually recommend a few drops of an amino acid blend like Amino Acid Quick-Sorb under the tongue 1 to 3 x per day when needed.
Hydrate with water!
Cravings are often an early sign of dehydration, and dehydration can raise your blood sugar via multiple mechanisms:
- It increases the release of vasopressin or the antidiuretic hormone (ADH) to help you retain water… like a cactus!
- ADH also stimulates the breakdown of glycogen (the storage form of glucose) to glucose, therefore raises blood sugar levels
- It’s a mild stress to the body which stimulates the stress hormone cortisol to push your blood sugar level up
Adjust your meal’s fat-to-carb ratio:
If you find that your craving is always after a specific meal (i.e. lunch for example), then it could be a macronutrient imbalance.
Fats can slow down the absorption of fast-acting carbohydrates and sugars. Adding in more healthy fats (i.e nuts, seeds, avocado, olives, etc.) with your meals often resolves cravings. PMID: 6368300
On the contrary, if adding in healthy fats doesn’t help, you may want to try increasing your starchy carbs - especially if you exercise! I see this often in clients who avoid complex carbs altogether.
Hope these tips and suggestions are helpful. Please let me know if you have any comments or questions below.
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