Five surprising ways to hack your blood sugar
The power of balancing your blood sugar
Living on the blood sugar rollercoaster isn’t a whole lot of fun. When I was in my 20s, I didn’t know much about food so I used to have a cinnamon bun and a latte every morning for breakfast, eaten at my desk at work.
And I used to feel like crap every single day… I had intense mood swings, bouts of depression, brain fog and fatigue. I tried doing more exercise and mediating, which would help in the moment, but I had no idea how to wake up in the morning feeling good.
Then I discovered the importance of food for health, and it completely changed my life forever. By adopting the principles of eating whole foods over processed foods and cutting out excess sugar, I found that I could feel consistently great. This became my new ‘normal’ and I’m going to show you how it can be yours too.
Why you should care about glucose spikes (even if you’re not diabetic)
Every time we eat something starchy (like bread, pasta, rice, or potatoes) or something sweet (like fruit, cookies or cake) they break down into glucose in your body and enter into your bloodstream.
We need glucose to function – it’s how we provide energy to our cells - but problems arise when too much glucose is delivered into the bloodstream too quickly. Too much glucose creates glucose spikes, and glucose spikes have lots of consequences.
Every time there’s a big change in blood sugar concentration levels, too much glucose arrives too quickly at your mitochondria (the energy powerhouses of your cells). The mitochondria become overwhelmed and shut down, and as they shut down they create free radicals. Free radical production lead to oxidative stress which the body tries to counteract by increasing inflammation.
Every glucose spike increases a process called glycation. Glycation underlies the ageing process – its responsible for wrinkles but it also damages your organs. To protect you, your body produces insulin which takes glucose and it ushers it away into your liver, your muscles and your fat cells. This is one of the ways that we gain weight.
When this process of blood sugar spikes happens repeatedly, the cells become less sensitive to insulin and this is how Type 2 diabetes develops. For all these reasons it’s important to keep your blood glucose stable and to try to limit spikes as much as possible.
What are the benefits of managing your blood sugar?
Flattening blood sugar (or blood glucose) levels is key to less hunger and cravings, improved mood, better weight control, better sleep and less risk of developing chronic diseases like Type 2 diabetes, Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), cardiovascular disease and dementia.
There are some fundamental principles about how to eat to keep your body in an optimal blood sugar state. These apply to everyone, whatever their dietary preferences.
Five easy hacks to keep your blood sugar in check:
1. Have a savoury breakfast: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day but not for the reason you might think. The magnitude of the blood sugar spike created by your breakfast impacts your hunger levels and cravings for the rest of the day. The bigger the blood sugar spike, the hungrier you are likely to be a couple of hours later.
Having a savoury breakfast, like an omelette, is the simplest way to avoid a glucose spike and delay hunger pangs until mid-afternoon. Only have whole fruits if you want something sweet in the morning, and cut out cereals, oats, muesli and fruit juices at breakfast.
2. Food sequencing: Eating foods in the right order - vegetables first, proteins and fats second, then starchy or sugary foods last – impacts your blood sugar response. If you eat the components of your meal in this specific order, you can reduce the blood glucose spike of your meal by up to 75%.
If you have vegetables first, the fibre lands in your small intestine first and turns into a viscous mesh that coats the inside of the gut wall. This prevents your body from absorbing too much glucose too quickly, thereby protecting you from a rapid rise in blood glucose.
The protein and the fat slow down gastric emptying and reduce the rate that carbohydrates move from your stomach to your intestine. Then when the sweet or starchy foods get there the fibrous mesh prevents too much glucose from getting through.
Starting your meals with a simple side salad or some grilled vegetables is a great way to put this recommendation into practice. Eat sweet foods at the end of a main meal, like lunch or dinner, rather than as a snack.
3. Incorporate vinegar into your routine: Vinegar contains acetic acid which helps to flatten blood sugar levels and can reduce spikes by up to 30%. Acetic acid communicates with your muscles and tells them to soak up more glucose from the bloodstream and convert it to glycogen for storage in the muscles.
Having 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar diluted in water before meals (or as part of a simple salad dressing) will mean that you experience much smaller glucose spikes without changing anything you’re eating.
4. Use your muscles after meals: After eating go for a short walk or do at least 10 minutes of postprandial exercise (e.g. wash the dishes, play with your kids, do an intense workout at the gym) to reduce the resulting glucose and insulin spike. This is especially helpful if you’re someone who suffers from sleepiness after meals.
When your muscles contract, they need energy to do it and the first place they look for energy is the glucose in your bloodstream. So if you start using your muscles within an hour after eating, your muscles will soak up any excess glucose in the blood to be used for energy.
5. Avoid naked carbohydrates: If you want a snack, make it a savoury balanced snack. Pair carbohydrates with protein, fats and fibre to help keep your blood glucose levels steady.
Some examples of balanced snacks include: Full fat yoghurt, mixed nuts and berries § Apple wedges and nut butter § Veg sticks with hummus § Full fat cream cheese and tomato slices on a couple of oatcakes § Boiled egg and handful of cherry tomatoes
