Stay Balanced with Hacks to reduce Glucose Spikes
As I think most of you know, I’m always in the mode of collecting information. Information gives us the power for reflection … and reflection gives us the power to make beneficial decisions that impact our well being as we go through our day.
My mission with this blog is to make each of you a collector too - a collector of information that you can choose to use or discard. But I hope many of you opt to experiment with some of what I share, and in so doing discover new ways to energize your day and find the focus you need to do whatever is most important to you.
A couple recent blogs were about managing blood glucose, and the danger we can find ourselves in when we’re regularly eating foods that create blood sugar spikes.
I wanted to conclude that series with some proactive measures that help us minimize glucose spikes when it is just too hard to eliminate all those craveable foods in our diet that are the primary culprits of blood sugar dysregulation. Like …
Pasta … Bread … Bagels … Pizza … Potatoes … Rice …Cake … Cookies.
Gulp. It’s hard to give up some of these foods. So if you just can’t, these hacks will give you the ability to literally have your cake and eat it too … in a much safer way.
As a quick refresher on blood sugar, our body needs glucose and when operating efficiently, we convert glucose to energy.
When we eat foods that create glucose spikes, our body reacts by releasing insulin into the blood to carry that glucose to our cells for energy. But when we’re flooded with too much glucose too often, our body stops performing this function optimally.
These spikes lead to consequences like unhealthy cravings, wrinkles, hormonal imbalances, sleep issues, weight gain, and ultimately put us on the path to pre-diabetes/diabetes and other chronic illnesses.
I know it’s hard … because we don’t have a window into our body that enables us to see what happens when we eat something. But when we become aware of just what the typical drivers of spikes are - those often irresistible sugary, starchy, processed, and fried foods - and then become aware of the consequences - this awareness may be just enough for us to approach meals in a different way.
Here’s another way to think about the importance of striving to keep our blood sugar balanced.
Picture this. You’re the pilot of an airplane. You really don’t know much about flying or what the seemingly endless knobs and levers in front of you can do.
But what you innately know is that you want to keep the plane on a level course. You want to avoid steep inclines and drops. Because what happens to all your passengers if you don’t stay steady?
It causes extreme stress. It increases blood pressure. It may cause nausea. I know when I’m flying just a little bit of turbulence puts me in an uncomfortable zone of high alert. These reactions aren’t too dissimilar to what’s happening within your body when you eat food that causes a sugar overload.
The good news is that there are documented hacks that help us process what we eat and create buffers to slow down the release of glucose in our system.
So what can you do? I would like to share some strategies from Jessie Inchauspné, a Biochemist and best selling author of The Glucose Revolution. She shares many strategies that can help calm down a glucose spike - and the following are three action steps that I particularly found interesting, effective, and easy to do.
#1 Eat your food in a certain order.
Eat your vegetables first
Then your protein and fat
Next, the starchy carbs, and
Finally, dessert, if you are having it
I know. This immediately makes me think of when I was little and would literally eat by working my way around a plate. Although I think I worked in the opposite direction then - dessert first!
When eating veggies first, they go from the stomach to the small intestine and as the fiber is broken down, it creates a viscous barrier around the intestine that slows down glucose release of the subsequent foods that you eat. So by the time you get to those starchy carbs or a sweet dessert, you have set up a system that enables a slower release of glucose into your bloodstream, lowering the spike.
#2 Think about a new kind of cocktail, starring vinegar.
The amazing super power of vinegar can have a dramatic impact on controlling our glucose spikes. Thirty minutes before a meal, mix 1 tablespoon of vinegar (like apple cider vinegar) in a tall glass of water - and drink. When I first tried this, getting through that first glass of water was a bit challenging. I must say now though that I don’t mind it at all, and in fact almost like it.
The acidic acid in the vinegar communicates with your muscles to absorb more glucose than they normally would, reducing spikes by as much as 30%. Pretty magical.
#3 Move those muscles within an hour of eating for at least 10 minutes.
A post-meal walk. Doing the dishes or even folding laundry. A few jumping jacks perhaps. Just move; don’t sit. As we use our muscles and they contract, they absorb glucose to be used for energy. The result? The glucose spike is reduced, and our body doesn’t need to release as much insulin to get the glucose into our cells.
So, this weekend you're headed out to a nice Italian restaurant, and you don't want anything to get in your way of enjoying a delicious bowl of pasta and crusty bread. So what's the best approach to minimize glucose spikes?
Drink a tall glass of water with a splash of vinegar before you leave home.
Ask for the warm, crusty bread to be served with the meal, and have your salad first. When you eat the bread, accompany it with a fat source, like butter or olive oil. This too will slow down the glucose spike.
And finally, go for a walk after dinner. Maybe park your car a little bit further from the restaurant to accomplish this task without thinking.
These relatively simple measures can work wonders in keeping you balanced and feeling good.
If you have any questions on this topic, feel free to shoot me an email.
P.S. The picture above is a picture of the spike in my blood glucose level after eating an organic vegetable pizza. The bread will get you every time!