Eating To Balance Blood Sugar Levels
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Eating To Balance Blood Sugar Levels
Did you know that balancing your blood sugar level can boost your energy, keep you fuller for longer and even support a healthy hormone balance?
One of the most essential steps for keeping your blood sugars steady is looking at your diet. With a few small tweaks, you can feel calm, energised and focused all day long.
Why do you want to balance your blood sugars?
First up, let’s take a look at why keeping a balanced blood sugar level is the goal. Your blood sugar is your immediate source of energy to fuel the body, including your brain and your muscles. If you have constant fluctuations, you’ll be prone to:
Ravenous hunger (and even feeling hangry)
Brain fog and poor cognitive function
Feeling shaky or dizzy
Mood swings – you’re happy and buzzing one minute, and the next you’re irritated, flat or overly sensitive
Reduced athletic performance
Needing to eat every hour or two to avoid any of the above symptoms
Some people are more likely to have issues with blood sugars than others. For example, if you have PCOS, you have an incredibly high risk of insulin resistance, which disrupts your blood sugar balance. This is one of the big reasons why it’s so difficult to lose weight when you have PCOS.
How to balance your blood sugars using food
Everything that you eat can either help to balance your blood sugar level or throw it off further. Here are some simple ways you can maintain a stable level throughout the day.
Eat more protein
Of the 3 macronutrients, protein is your best friend when it comes to blood sugars. Protein helps to slow the absorption of energy (glucose) from the gut into the bloodstream, giving you a steadier blood sugar level over a longer period of time.
Aim to have protein at every meal as a minimum. If you have insulin resistance, you may like to add it to every snack as well for greater control of your levels.
Up the fibre content
Another handy nutrient to increase your intake of is fibre. Fibre isn’t just good for the gut and keeping you feeling full – it also helps to slow the absorption of glucose.
Choose high-fibre, low GI options such as rye, wholemeal, brown rice and quinoa over lower fibre options such as regular bread, pasta and white rice. You can also add in high fibre ingredients such as berries, chia seeds and beans to increase satiety and steady blood sugar levels.
If you’re not used to high-fibre foods, aim for 25 grams of fibre per day as a starting point.
Add in some vinegar
One easy ingredient to help with your blood sugar balance is vinegar. Studies have found that vinegar helps to lower blood sugar levels by slowing the rate of digestion and absorption of food, which in turn slows the rate of glucose entering the bloodstream.
Research supports vinegar’s effects in people with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes as well as healthy subjects. As the effect is thanks to the compound acetic acid, you can enjoy your vinegar of choice, including:
White vinegar
Apple cider vinegar
Balsamic vinegar
Red or white wine vinegar
Skip the processed foods
This might seem obvious, but we want to keep processed and ‘junk’ food to a minimum. These types of food generally offer only empty calories (energy without much in terms of beneficial nutrients). Many of them also contain ingredients that can increase insulin resistance such as artificial sweeteners.
Does this mean that you can never have your favourite treats? Not at all – you just need to be aware that they will have a negative impact. Consider preparing your body by having a protein and fibre-rich meal before having your favourite dessert or snack.
Opt for wholefood options
Whenever you can, choose the ingredient that is closest to its unprocessed wholefood form.
For example:
Choose a fruit and vegetable smoothie (retains the fibre content) over a fruit and vegetable juice (removes the fibre)
Use wholemeal flours over white flours
Switch store-bought muesli for DIY muesli with oats, nuts and seeds
Keep the edible peels on your fruit and vegetables (make sure you give them a wash though!)
The closer a food is to its original form, the more likely it contains more fibre, vitamins and minerals that all support blood sugar balance.
Consider if supplements are right for you
Some people might benefit from supplements that help with blood sugar balance. For example, if you have PCOS and insulin resistance, you might need a helping hand to get your levels under control.
There are some herbs that may help to regulate blood sugar levels, as well as nutrients such as magnesium, chromium and inositol. As with any supplement, it’s best to chat with your healthcare practitioner to make sure it’s right for your needs.
Speak to your doctor
If you’re doing the above and you are still struggling to get a handle on your blood sugar, it’s time to do some investigating. Your doctor (or even your nutritionist or naturopath) can arrange for a glucose tolerance test. This can help to identify if you’re dealing with insulin resistance.
If you have PCOS and are juggling blood sugar issues, hormonal imbalances and stubborn PCOS symptoms, you don’t have to do it all alone.
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While we make every effort to make sure the information in this website is accurate and informative, the information does not take the place of professional or medical advice.