In this post, I’ll be discussing why you should focus on ‘balancing’ blood sugar levels and easy tips you can include to help bring them back to balance!
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Why You NEED to Focus on Balancing Blood Sugar levels
Balanced blood sugar is IN, and should be your number one priority in 2024 — if not number one than certainly up there ;). Counting calories, dieting, spending loads of money on creams for acne, or random supplements for hormone balance doesn’t fix the root issue! Balancing your blood sugar and becoming more insulin-sensitive, will do more wonders than anything you’ve tried before.
When we eat food, in simple terms, the sugars are absorbed into our bloodstream. For our bodies to utilize this, and to reduce the amount in our blood, our body releases insulin. This helps get these sugars out of the bloodstream and into cells to be used for energy or stored. When blood sugar spikes high, we release more insulin to bring it down — this can cause damage to our cells over time if it is chronically elevated.
You’ve heard of type 2 diabetes, when insulin is too tired to keep up with demand and can’t do its job anymore, leaving the sugar in the bloodstream. Insulin resistance is SO common these days and diabetes is a little further along on that path, not to mention organ damage, fatigue, brain fog, headaches, acne, hormone imbalances, etc. Period irregularities, PCOS, and PMS are common symptoms of dysregulated blood sugar and poor eating habits.
Here are some possible complications that may be associated with longterm and shortterm blood sugar dysregulation:
- PERIOD IRREGULARITIES – PCOS has roots in metabolic dysfunction, heavy periods, clotting, long cycles, painful periods and PMS.
- Acne and skin changes – increased sebum production and damage to liver function can increase likelihood of skin eruptions like cystic acne and eczema.
- Gastrointestinal Issues: Dysregulated blood sugar levels can affect the tight junctions and function of the gastrointestinal tract, leading to symptoms such as bloating, diarrhea, constipation or sudden or new sensitivities. May feed “bad” bacteria in gut leading to dysbiosis.
- Negative Impact on Mental Health: Fluctuations in blood sugar levels can affect mood, cognition, and energy levels, contributing to symptoms of anxiety, depression, headaches and fatigue, energy crashes.
- Increased Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
- Cardiovascular Complications: High blood sugar levels can damage blood vessels and increase the risk of cardiovascular complications such as heart disease, stroke, and hypertension.
- High Cholesterol (specifically LDL)
- Nerve Damage (Neuropathy): Prolonged exposure to high blood sugar levels can cause nerve damage, leading to symptoms such as numbness, tingling, and pain, particularly in the hands and feet.
- Vision Problems: Diabetes-related damage to the blood vessels of the retina can lead to vision problems and even blindness if left untreated.
- Kidney Damage (Nephropathy): Elevated blood sugar levels can damage the kidneys over time, increasing the risk of kidney disease and eventual kidney failure.
- Impaired Wound Healing: High blood sugar levels can impair the body’s ability to heal wounds, increasing the risk of infections and complications.
- Increased Risk of Infections: weakening of the immune system, making individuals more susceptible to infections such as urinary tract infections, skin infections, and gum disease.
How does this occur?
Well, eating highly processed foods, high-fructose added foods like soda and other packaged treats, sugary carb-heavy breakfasts, overeating, trans fats, and even too much protein if not being active enough can spike levels, eating carbs alone and having low metabolic health.
Choose whole foods when possible. The majority of the time the healthiest foods don’t come with a label or have very few or single ingredients. Think veggies, meats, fish, yogurt, eggs, fruit, sweet potatoes etc. Avoid packaged foods with multiple ingredients, unknown additives, and especially high-fructose corn syrup.
An amazing resource is derived from Jessie Inchauspe’s book ‘Glucose Revolution’. This was truly a remarkable book that changed my view and understanding of the impact of blood sugar and insulin on our bodies. I recommend reading it if you have the chance.
See my point! Blood sugar levels NEED to be addressed. Here are some hacks to help keep your blood sugar and insulin off the rollercoaster.
14 Easy Balanced Blood Sugar Hacks You Need to Try
1. Carbs with Friends
Pairing your carbs (crackers, breads, pasta, rice, potato, granola bars, refined foods, fruits) with fiber, protein, and healthy fats can help to ease the blood sugar spike and slow the release of these sugars into the bloodstream.
Avoid eating heavy carbs or simple sugars as snacks. It’s so easy to grab crackers or a muffin, but pairing these with some tuna, avocado or nut butter can help to blunt the hit and keep you full longer.
2. Aim for 25-30g protein at meals (especially breakfast)
Many of us either skip breakfast or start the day off with a carb-heavy sugary breakfast (cereals, toast, bagels, pancakes, waffles, and sugared-up oatmeal). These are fine once in a while when paired with the right foods.
Starting your day off with a balanced breakfast of around 30g of protein with healthy fats and fiber, can help give you the energy you need for the day, keep your blood sugar stable and prevent headaches and energy crashes, plus you’ll be getting the nutrients your body craves.
Opting for a savoury breakfast can help you keep the focus off of the sweet and refined Eggos. Think eggs, power bowls, and breakfast burritos with lots of veggies, healthy fats and quality protein. A fruit and veggie protein shake filled with other health-promoting goodies can be a great choice as well!
3. Eat breakfast within 30-60 min of waking up
Eating breakfast within this timeframe can help us keep blood sugar stable and cortisol levels in check, thus keeping stress in check. If you are burnt out, stressed out, or dealing with a hormone imbalance, eating a healthy balanced breakfast in the morning is an important step to help nourish your body and protect it from additional stressors.
4. Eat every 4-6 hours, earlier if feeling hungry
When coming off the blood sugar rollercoaster, it is common to want to snack more or feel like you need to eat more often. Allow yourself to indulge in healthy snacks in between meals if you feel you need to. What we don’t want to do is deprive ourselves when those hunger cues kick in. This will cause your body to dip into its stores to raise blood sugar levels which raises insulin adding to the roller coaster effect.
Some great snack ideas to have on hand or in your purse are nuts and seeds, fruit like an apple or banana, a protein bar and grass-fed beef sticks like Chomps or Nick’s Sticks.
5. Keep a Balanced Snack With You
Sometimes you’re not home to make that amazing healthy lunch. We’re busy, and don’t always have time and we end up eating on the go! Keep a savoury balanced snack with you to prevent blood sugar crashes.
Some great snack ideas to have on hand or in your purse are nuts and seeds, fruit like an apple or banana, a protein bar and grass-fed beef sticks like Chomps or Nick’s Sticks.
6. Fructose is ‘Worse’ than Glucose
While fruits contain natural sugars like fructose, which can affect blood sugar levels, they also provide essential nutrients, fiber, and antioxidants that contribute to overall health. However, excessive consumption of fructose, particularly in the form of fruit juices, pop, agave, or sweetened beverages and snacks, can overwhelm the liver’s capacity to metabolize it.
Unlike glucose, which is readily absorbed by cells throughout the body, fructose is primarily metabolized in the liver. Excessive fructose consumption can lead to increased fat production and accumulation in the liver, potentially contributing to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and other metabolic complications.
7. Drink Water Outside of Your Eating Window
Try to avoid guzzling loads of water during meal times. This can increase the blood glucose response and cause a higher increase than what would ahve happened otherwise
Smaller amounts are fine but avoid large amounts. This can also dilute digestive enzymes and make it more difficult for your body to digest food which can lead to discomfort.
One more thing to make it more complicated is to make sure you are drinking enough water throughout the day. Being dehydrated can dilute blood making blood sugar more concentrated. A good rule of thumb is to wait 20-30 min before and after meals to drink your water and sip throughout the day.
8. Use Apple Cider Vinegar
Try adding 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar to water and sipping it within 20 min before your next meal. The acetic acid content can help reduce the blood sugar spike. This is because it inhibits an enzyme called alpha-amylase, which causes the sugar and starch to change into glucose at a slower rate thus allowing glucose to come in slower and reducing that spike. Acetic acid also enhances the uptake of glucose by our muscles.
9. Try eating a salad (fiber) with a vinaigrette dressing to help coat the stomach and reduce spike.
A double bloodsugar whammy! Having a salad for some extra fiber before your meals can help to coat your stomach, plus the vinaigrette dressing’s acetic acid content can help reduce the load as well!
10. Veggies First
When eating meals eat the veggies first, protein and fat second, and lastly the carbs and sugar. (if your meal allows for it. If it causes more stress or doesn’t allow you to enjoy your meal then skip it for that meal.
This is actually insane how well it works. In Jessie Inchauspe’s book ‘Glucose Revolution’ she mentions that according to the research “the effects of this sequencing is comparable to the effects of some diabetes medications that are prescribed to diabetics to lower their glucose spikes”. That’s pretty amazing!
The fiber in the veggies helps to down-regulate the enzyme alpha-amylase I mentioned earlier resulting in the slower breakdown of starch into glucose. It also slows the rate glucose flows into the bloodstream.
11. Exercise and Hot Girl Walks.
Exercising, especially resistance training in general will help insulin sensitivity and develop muscle which can improve metabolic health. Walking or working out after meals can help utilize some of your meal’s blood sugar content for energy, thus reducing the insulin spike. Try going for a walk within an hour after eating.
Working out is also great for your mental health and energy levels!
12. Read Food labels.
If you are purchasing packaged or refined foods, check the ingredient label and nutrition facts! Look for the sugar content, fiber content, and protein content. The more fiber and protein, the less the food will spike blood sugar and insulin.
Watch out for extra additives like hidden sugars – brown rice syrup, corn syrup, cane juice, anything that ends in syrup or “ose” like sucrose, maltose, fructose, and agave (really high in fructose yikes!)
13. Stress Reduction.
Yes, even stress can put you at higher risk for blood sugar dysregulation and diabetes. When we are chronically stressed this can cause an increase in cortisol (our body’s stress hormone – although not bad all the time), this can cause an uptake of glucose for quick energy, and long-term this may contribute to insulin resistance.
Try yoga, walks meditation practice, workouts, drawing, listening to music, dancing, talking with friends, joining a club, going out in nature, giving yourself the day off, getting a massage or your nails done, reading a book, even cleaning can give you a fresh start feeling.
14. Intermittent Fasts and Mealtimes
You’ve probably heard of intermittent fasting. This gives time for the body to rest and digest and can be great for those struggling with fatty liver. Generally waiting at least 12 hours before your last meal of the day and your first meal of the next day. Some people like to do 16 hours in between for more benefits or like to have a shorter eating window earlier in the day.
Be careful of intermittent fasting as women’s hormones are particularly sensitive to this kind of stress and may negatively impact hormones. Lots of the fasting literature is done on male subjects. If you want to fast, I suggest doing so at night and not skipping or delaying breakfast. Some may find this works and others don’t. If you are hungry in the evening then best to eat a light snack that includes a bit of protein to keep those blood sugar levels stable.
Conclusion
I hope you learned a trick or two to help keep your blood sugar more stable. It is so important for a healthy menstrual cycle and healthy living!
When I pay more attention how my lifestyle and eating habits affect my bloodsugar I feel I have more stable energy throughout the day, a clearer mind, I don’t get hungry OR HANGRY as often and i feel my PMS symptoms are reduced!
Many others feel it helps with weight management and skin related issues as well! Give some a try and let me know how these tips are working for you. Find me @caretotango on all platforms!
Resources:
Inchauspé, Jessie. The Glucose Revolution: The Life-Changing Power of Balancing Your Blood Sugar. Publisher, Simon & Schuster, 2022.
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