Do You Feel Constant Hunger, Experience Daily Fatigue, or Crave Sweets Frequently?

.The problem may just lie in your blood glucose. I will let you in on what blood glucose is and what can be done to manage it!

Before we get started, a great resource regarding blood glucose and how to manage it, is the Glucose Goddess herself, Jesse Inchauspe, follow her instagram for many tips and tricks to magian your blood glucose levels! (https://instagram.com/glucosegoddess?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=)

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

So, what is blood glucose?

-Your blood glucose is the sugar found in your blood. Many, many factors play a role into what your blood glucose is. Including:

• how much you eat

• what kind of exercise you do and how frequently

• Illness

• Stress

• Menstral cycles

• Pain

• Dehydration

• Some medications

-In general, according to the CDC, a healthy fasting blood glucose is around 99 mg/dL. Meaning, before you have eaten anything, your blood glucose is around 99 mg/ dL blood. After eating, a healthy blood glucose remains under 180 mg/dL. A glucose spike can occur for a variety of reasons (discussed below) following a meal and can cause serious issues. A few symptoms of large glucose spikes, according to Jesse Inchauspe, an accomplished biochemist, include:

• Cravings following meals

• Being Hungary all the time

• Fatigue

• not sleeping well

• Acne

• Fertility Problems

• Brain Fog

• Mental health complications

(Of course, check with your provider if you are experiencing any of these symptoms to rule out other diagnosis's.)

Before we dive into how to manage glucose spikes we must answer: How do blood glucose spikes occur?

-Other than the underlying problems which can cause blood sugar spikes like diabetes, insulin resistance, PCOS, (all of which can be managed with the tips discussed below!) They can occur for many different reasons including:

• Order of foods eaten at meal time

• Activity before and after meals

• Consuming carbohydrates with no fats, protein, or fiber to accompany it

• Alcohol Consumption

So now, for the important stuff, how can we manage blood glucose spikes?

1) Whenever you eat a meal/snack eat a carb, fat, protein, and fiber! Dress your carbs up!

-When we consume carbohydrates on an empty stomach, the glucose (what carbs get broken up into in the digestive track) get directly digested and can cause a spike in blood sugar.

2)The order you eat your foods in matter!

-Start by consuming a fiber which can be vegetables or a salad.

-Then, eat you protein. (chicken, tofu, ground beef, greek yougurt,etc.)

-Next, eat your fats (nuts, nut butter, avocado, etc.)

-Then, eat your carbs!

-Finally, this would be the time to eat soemthing sweet, if you would like!

3) Move after you eat

-Let your muscles use the glucose you just consumed, this will prevent a blood sugar spike. This could be a 10 minute walk, cleaning, washing dishes, a short workout, walking up and down the stairs a few times. Anything to use those muscles a bit.

4) Consume vinegar of some sort before you eat!

-This could be diluted apple cider vinegar water, or a vinaigrette on your salad as dressing. A tablespoon of vinegar has been shown to cut glucose and insulin spikes by 20%. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31221273/)

Now that you know the steps to manage your blood glucose, what will it look like and feel like to not have glucose spikes?

• Sustained energy throughout the day

• Feeling full after consuming meals

• Reduced cravings for sweet foods

• Better sleep

• Reduced Acne

• Better mental health

I hope you begin incorporate these habits into your life and begin feeling amazing!! Start slow and begin adding 1-2 habits in and then stack more on top once you are ready. Thank you for reading and let me know how you feel after adding these habits!!

Regan Erdmann