These easy to implement Blood Sugar Hacks help blunt the blood sugar spike and keep your insulin under control for weight control and reduce risk for illness.
The Blood Sugar & Insulin Control:
Our blood sugar levels regulate our insulin level which is an incredibly important hormone in keeping all of our hormones in balance.
Here is what is necessary to balance our blood sugars …
1: Plenty of quality protein, healthy fats, fiber, & color
AKA: The Critical 4
This is where blood sugar control starts. A diet high in quality protein (ex: wild caught fish, pasture raised eggs, grass fed beef, organic beans), healthy fats (ex: nuts, seeds, olive oil, fatty fish), and natural fiber (ex: non-starchy vegetables), will promote blood sugar control. If eating a packaged food high in carbohydrates, look for 5:1 ratio of carbohydrates to dietary fiber.
2: Prioritize the first meal of the day
Breakfast time (whether that be at 6am or 11am) is when our bodies are the most reactive to sugar. Eating a breakfast high in healthy fat and protein, and low in carbohydrates, can improve our blood sugar balance throughout the day. Go for the savory breakfast over the sweet options.
3: Re-organize the food on your plate
By eating your fibrous vegetables first, followed by your healthy fats and protein, and lastly any starchy or higher carbohydrate food can blunt the blood sugar spike by 70%. An amazing result for a simple strategy. If everything on your plate is mixed, start with a side salad. If you must have bread or a sugary drink, save it for the end of the meal.
4: Consider adding vinegar
Having vinegar before a meal can blunt the blood sugar spike by up to 30%. Consider drinking 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar with a 12oz glass of water before your meal to reduce the blood sugar spike. If you are currently pregnant, avoid apple cider vinegar as this is often unpasteurized. You can also have the vinegar over a bed of leafy greens at the start of your meal to blunt the spike. If morning glucose spikes are the problem, consider 2 tbsp with 12oz of water/tea before bed.
5: Avoid or minimize snacking
Waiting to eat for your next meal rather than snacking allows for your blood sugar and insulin to return to baseline. This is necessary to improve our insulin sensitivity. If insulin is always elevated, our bodies stop responding and more insulin needs to be released to get the job done. This has a negative impact on our reproductive hormones. Drink water or tea instead!
6: Move after eating
Exercising or going for a walk after a meal reduces the blood sugar spike and allows our muscles to uptake more sugar from the blood stream without the use of insulin. This is a very good thing! If you have the time, go for a walk or do squats after a meal.
7: Add fat to your carbs
If you snack on occasion or have dessert, add healthy fat. This slows the uptake of carbohydrates from our gut to our blood stream. Examples of this would be to add peanut butter to an apple or cracker, or to add a spoonful of Greek yogurt to your dessert. This also helps keep us full for longer.
8: Check the label
Sweeteners (even artificial calorie free sweeteners) increase our insulin release and can lead to insulin resistance. If something tastes sweet, it is likely effecting your insulin levels. Be sure to avoid artificial sweeteners as they also have a negative impact on our gut microbiome. Add your own flavoring to things like seltzer water. Click here to read alternative names to sugar that you may see on the label. Barley malt sounds harmless, but is just another name for sugar.