A popular topic of late – and for good reason – is balancing your blood sugar. When the topic of blood sugar is mentioned it is often associated with diabetes. Although maintaining blood sugar levels is not only important for diabetics. It is important for lifelong health.
So, what does a blood sugar imbalance feel like? One of the most common signs that you may be suffering from a blood sugar imbalance is a sudden drop in energy that leaves you feeling sluggish, tired and in need of a quick pick me up – hello 3pm munchies.
The good news is there are so many ways to support your blood sugar naturally. Read on to find out how to reach for a blood sugar balancing choice when 3pm rolls around and how you can dodge energy crashes throughout the day.
What is Happening?
When eating foods containing a higher sugar content, such as carbohydrates by themselves - often referred to as naked carbs - these are rapidly digested and absorbed by the body. When carbohydrates are digested and begin absorption, insulin – our glucose scavenging hormone – works hard and fast to remove the sugar (glucose) from our blood and store it away into our tissues and cells as glycogen. This is an essential part of not only storing energy but also protecting our body from damage due to high sugar levels in the blood.
However, when this process happens too fast i.e. when glucose enters our blood quickly and is stored quickly, this causes spikes and drops in our blood glucose levels that leaves your body wanting to elevate blood sugar levels again. And quickly!
Quick bursts of energy are certainly okay in some instances; however most people want to sustain their energy throughout the day. And no, we’re not here to give carbs a bad rap. Certain carbs such as the refined kind – white bread, high sugar cereals, fruit juice – have a blood sugar spiking effect far greater than the whole carb kind – wholegrains, vegetables, legumes. This is known as the glucose index (GI) where the former are higher GI foods, and the latter are lower GI foods.
Carbs are important in every way, but there are certainly better ways to support their absorption for sustaining energy levels.
Protein + Fats
One of the most recommended ways to combat blood sugar imbalances is by pairing your carbohydrates with proteins and fats. Even at snack times. When we ingest protein and fats alongside carbohydrates this slows the digestion and absorption of the nutrients and components of food allowing both glucose to enter the blood stream and insulin to work at a slower rate.
This is due to protein and fats being harder for our bodies to breakdown, essentially requiring more work. Visually if we were to draw it on a chart, a meal that only contains carbohydrates would have a very sharp and steep peak happening over a shorter period of time. Whereas, if we paired those carbs with a protein source and/or a fat source the peak of the line would be gradual and occur over a longer period of time, leaving you with sustained energy levels and also feeling fuller for longer.
Some great examples of foods or meals to think about:
- Pairing eggs (protein) with your toast at breakfast
- Adding a side of raw veges (whole carbs) and hummus (protein) with your sandwich at lunch
- Sliced apple with nut butters or tahini (protein and fats) at 3pm
- Opting for Greek yogurt (protein and fats) and berries after dinner instead of ice cream (although of course we also love indulging in ice cream every once in a while)
Soluble Dietary Fibre
Dietary fibre has many beneficial effects in controlling blood glucose levels. In studies involving Type II Diabetes patients, an increased intake of soluble dietary fibre positively correlated with lower post-prandial (after a meal) blood glucose levels and increased insulin sensitivities. These effects are attributed to the way soluble fibre is digested, similar to fats and proteins soluble fibres have a delayed gastric emptying. When soluble fibres are ingested or mixed with fluids they also become viscous and create a gel-like consistency which prolongs carbohydrate absorption due to its slowed transit through the small intestine allowing for the slower absorption of sugars.
Soluble fibre containing foods include apples, certain forms of gums such as guar gum, psyllium husk, chia seeds and ground flaxseeds. Getting a variety of these kinds throughout the day and on a regular basis within the recommended 25-35g/day of dietary fibre will help sustain blood glucose levels. As the weather starts cooling we love incorporating apples, ground flaxseed and chia seeds into porridge for lasting energy and to keep us feeling fuller for longer.
One of our other favourite ways to dodge the dreaded 3pm blood sugar crash is by using our much-loved protein Active Collagen in our snacks, hot drinks and delicious goodies. Check out some of our killer recipes like Salted Tahini White Choc & Macadamia Cookies and Vanilla Almond Milk for blood sugar balancing goodness.
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Basturk, B., Koc Ozerson, Z., & Yuksel, A. (2021). Evaluation of the Effect of Macronutrients Combination on Blood Sugar Levels in Healthy Individuals. Iranian journal of public health, 50(2), 280–287. https://doi.org/10.18502/ijph.v50i2.5340
Basturk, B., Koc Ozerson, Z., & Yuksel, A. (2021). Evaluation of the Effect of Macronutrients Combination on Blood Sugar Levels in Healthy Individuals. Iranian journal of public health, 50(2), 280–287. https://doi.org/10.18502/ijph.v50i2.5340
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