How often during the day are you plagued by a sugar craving?
Sugar cravings are common but if they are excessive, they can indicate hormonal fluctuations, mood swings and heightened stress levels.
Most of the time, cravings are driven by your brain’s need for a “reward” not your body’s need for food.
If you can have only one bite and stop there, indulging a little when you get a craving is fine.
But if you tend to binge and overeat as soon as you get a taste of sugary foods, then giving in to the cravings is the worst thing you can do.
One of the most common underlying causes of these cravings is a glucose spike followed by reduced blood sugar levels after a meal
This makes us want to seek junk food. The solution doesn’t just limit to “controlling yourself”. The cause needs to be understood.
Low levels of protein and fat combined with high levels of fast-releasing carbs in meals and snacks will cause blood sugar levels to fluctuate.
So there are ways in which you can consume food in a way so that your blood sugar levels are steadier throughout the day.
Adding a little protein to sweet snacks like a handful of plain nuts with a piece of fruit helps stabilise energy release.
Apart from this managing, your glucose spikes are not just about adjusting macros.
Did you know that eating your food in a certain order affects the magnitude at which your blood sugar fluctuates?
Studies have shown that when the vegetables and protein were eaten before the carbohydrates, the glucose levels were 29%, 37% and 17% lower at the 30, 60 and 120-minute checks, compared with when carbohydrates were consumed first. Also, insulin was found to be significantly lower when the participants ate vegetables and protein first.
Primarily what we are doing is we are putting on some clothes on the carbs and flattening the insulin and glucose curve by first using the fibre to slow down gastric emptying and therefore reducing spikes of sugar!
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