Metabolic Health: Why blood sugar matters

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The best thing about personalized nutrition and the beauty of listening to your body means that you get to choose a way of eating that satisfies your daily requirements, helps you achieve your goals, and ultimately makes you feel good inside and out. In our household for example, I like to call us “veggiepaleketofastoregenetarians”. A colorful, plant-forward diet, with good quality proteins, lots of healthy fats, and some intermittent fasting sprinkled in. This way we’re taking all of the good components of “one-size-fits-all” diets and doing what works for us. 

Children are a bit different in that they don’t yet have an established connection in their brain between what they eat and how they feel and behave, so for a while, we must serve as their guide. And as it turns out, it’s one of the most important roles we’ll ever play. 

When advising parents on family meal-planning, I let them know that if there’s one diet I would definitely advise against, it’s the standard American diet (SAD). This is one that consists primarily of processed foods, high sugar & carbohydrates, industrialized fats, and very little vegetables. In my 16 years of practice I have not seen anyone thrive on this way of eating. Yet sadly, this sinister trifecta of industrial complexes (big agriculture, pharma, & media) have led us on a very confusing path of misinformation and ultimately sickness. 

Refined Carbs: Why are they a problem?

Eating foods high in sugar and refined carbohydrates (a typical meal in the USA), is peaclosely linked to type 2 diabetes. Children are not an exception here. Diabetes in kids is on the rise. According to the CDC (center for disease control) “29.1 million people are living with diagnosed or undiagnosed diabetes, and about 208,000 people younger than 20 years are living with diagnosed diabetes in the United States.“ Non alcoholic fatty liver disease has also become a chronic disease among children and is very much tied to diet & lifestyle.

The good news is, according to the latest research, eating diets with good quality fats and protein (along with veggies of course) prevents, and can even reverse these conditions. In other words, aside from eating whole, nourishing foods, we must have a proper macronutrient balance. This is of course in addition to the elimination of ultra processed junk foods, refined carbohydrates, and industrialized seed oils like vegetable, canola, safflower, peanut, sunflower (not to be confused with actual sunflour products).

To illustrate my point, I usually show parents this chart and explain, “Here’s what happens when we eat starchy carbohydrates, processed grains, and high sugar.

I explain in many of my blog posts that each time we eat, our blood sugar naturally slides up and down, and the RATE AT WHICH IT FLUCTUATES on a consistent basis can make or break our health. If we eat a naked carb (carbohydrate by itself)....let’s say a piece of fruit or bread….the blood sugar comes way up (well over 100) and quickly comes back down, usually within the hour.  And the higher up it goes, the lower the crash. If these blood sugar peaks and valleys continue over a longer period of time, we develop what’s called insulin resistance. Since it’s insulin’s job to deliver sugar from the bloodstream into the cells, it basically says, “hold up, I’m kinda sick of doing this over and over again.” This causes a cascade of symptoms affecting mood, energy levels, and stress levels (the stress hormone cortisol is also closely linked with insulin) and long term it can develop into type 2 diabetes.

But when you add the healthy fats and less refined carbs…..

We stabilize blood sugar since the fat slows down the release of glucose into the bloodstream. This lowers inflammation in the body, helps with appetite stability, hormone balance, and even the stress response since….(did I mention that insulin and cortisol are very much connected?) We cannot forget that anxiety in children and teenagers is also on the rise. Aside from social isolation, food insecurity, etc, I believe it’s largely due to eating habits. 

So next time you put together a snack or meal, consider balancing your macros. Do this for a period of 3 months and see what physical and mental outcomes you witness. 

Other examples of balanced snacks include:

*banana w nut butter

*handful gluten free crackers & guacamole 

*apple w full fat string cheese

*hard boiled egg (w fruit or veg)

*full fat yogurt w pumpkin seeds & berries 

*handful raw carrots w 2 Tbsp hummus

For more snack inspiration, check out these posts!

References:

Russell WR, Baka A, Björck I, et al. Impact of Diet Composition on Blood Glucose Regulation. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2016;56(4):541-590. doi:10.1080/10408398.2013.792772 

Shukla AP, Iliescu RG, Thomas CE, Aronne LJ. Food Order Has a Significant Impact on Postprandial Glucose and Insulin Levels. Diabetes Care. 2015;38(7):e98-e99.

Ley SH, Hamdy O, Mohan V, Hu FB. Prevention and management of type 2 diabetes: dietary components and nutritional strategies. Lancet. 2014;383(9933):1999-2007. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60613-9