Blood Sugar Balancing for Better Health
Blood sugar balancing is a hot nutrition topic these days, but learning to master this concept can be significant both for near-term and long-term health.
You might immediately experience more energy, a steadier and better mood, improved sleep, decreased cravings, and even weight loss. Eating balanced meals will make it easier to time your meals well, and when continued, this can reduce your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic health issues. To better understand this concept and how to regulate your blood sugar levels, let’s take a look at how carbohydrates are metabolized.
UNDERSTANDING CARBOHYDRATE METABOLISM
Carbohydrates from grains, vegetables, and anything with sugar get broken down into glucose (or sugar) molecules. Glucose is the dominant source of ATP, that’s our body's energy currency, and is tightly regulated by the hormones insulin and glucagon. When our blood sugar levels are too high, insulin is released, which helps our muscles, liver, and fat cells to store glucose; conversely, when our blood sugar levels are low, the hormone glucagon is released to increase our blood sugar levels.
Think of your blood sugar levels like a horizon. When your blood sugar levels spike too quickly, they fall just as fast. Those crashes can bring along feelings of fatigue, irritability, and cravings for foods that will spike your blood sugar levels again. This is why breakfast is especially important for managing blood sugar levels. If you start the day with a balanced meal, you’re less likely to hop on the blood sugar rollercoaster, which means fewer cravings, more energy, and more control over your food choices (imagine a nice rainbow-like elongated curve versus a sharp spike). A balanced breakfast includes adequate protein (ideally around 15-25 grams), fiber, and healthy fats. Some examples include my veggie frittata and this protein smoothie.
GLYCEMIC INDEX VS. GLYCEMIC LOAD
Managing your blood sugar levels can significantly impact the quality of your life and your ability to reach your health and wellness goals. Thankfully, you don’t have to avoid carbohydrates to manage your blood sugar. Whole food sources of carbohydrates like whole grains, fruits, and vegetables offer the added benefit of fiber to help slow digestion and blood sugar peaks. This reduces the glycemic index, a scale that represents the amount that a particular food will spike your blood sugar levels. The glycemic index ranges from 1 to 100, with a higher number indicating a more significant blood sugar spike from that food. For example, white rice has a glycemic index of 72, while its whole grain counterpart, brown rice, has 50. This means you'll experience less of a spike when eating brown rice.
However, the glycemic index of a food doesn’t take the whole meal, or glycemic load, into account. You can reduce blood sugar spikes by pairing a higher glycemic food with protein, fiber, and fat. For example, when we eat an apple with almond butter, we will experience less of a spike than if we ate the apple alone or just drank apple juice. And when having dessert, try to have it within 15-30 minutes of your dinner so you can take advantage of all the protein, fiber, and fat from your meal to offset any sugar in the dessert that might cause a spike.
LIFESTYLE FACTORS THAT IMPACT BLOOD SUGAR
In addition to food, your activity level, and mental health can affect your blood sugar levels and overall health in more ways than you might recognize. Here are some other ways to improve your blood sugar independent of what you eat include:
Exercise. Simply taking a walk after a meal can decrease a meal’s impact on your blood sugar levels.
Reduce stress. Your stress hormone, cortisol, is linked to your blood sugar and increased stress increases your blood sugar levels.
Prioritize sleep. Sleep deprivation is associated with higher blood sugar levels. Focus not just on the time you sleep, but also on the quality of your sleep so you start the day feeling balanced.
If you want to dig deeper into your blood sugar levels, you can get a continuous glucose monitor, like Levels, to measure your fluctuations throughout the day. Your triggers might be slightly different than someone else’s, and it can be an interesting exercise to try for a month and learn more about how to optimize your metabolic health, especially if you are motivated by data.