If you find yourself ‘hangry’ every day, always cravings carbs and sugar, a bit moody, unable to shed any weight and just darn TIRED then chances are you are having issues with your good ol’ blood sugar.
I know balancing blood sugar doesn’t exactly seem like the sexiest or funnest topic BUT having a happy balanced stable blood sugar is pretty foundational for lasting awesome-ness.
Plus if we ignore this key area of health then we are also putting ourselves at risk for some pretty serious health consequences. This isn’t about ruining your sugar party, this is about setting you up for life long health.
Signs your blood sugar is potentially out of WHACK:
(taken from here)
- Irritability
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Mood swings
- Poor concentration
- Fat storage, especially around the midriff
- Brain fog
- Insomnia
- Cravings, especially for sweet foods
- Excessive thirst
- Addictions to caffeine containing drinks and/or alcohol and cigarettes
- Drowsiness during the day
- Excessive sweating
- Difficulty losing weight
And duhhhh always check this out with your doctor!
What’s the big deal?
The consequence of dysfunctional blood sugar will forever be marked in my mind after one gruesome incident. When I was a student I worked a few jobs and one was in a hospital as an untrained nurse. One day while assisting a patient by taking off their socks I uncovered a black, stinky, nearly dead foot. I nearly fell over but managed to gather up my sense of professionalism and be all blazé, you know cos I hang out with people with black dead feet all the time!
I had no idea the human body could do that to itself but it in this case of Type 1 diabetes and whole host of other health issues, it can.
Why? Too much glucose in the blood can have a serious impact on the body – including your feet!
The most obvious issue and condition it can lead to is Type 2 diabetes. Once associated with only the elderly this is now becoming common with children and young people and I personally believe it is completely preventable and can be managed through diet and lifestyle. On a very basic level, this form of diabetes is when our cells no longer ‘answer the door’ when the hormone insulin comes a knocking, AKA becoming insulin resistant. This means glucose in the blood increases and this causes a whole lot of problems in the body.
OR people can get way too low in their blood sugar levels, hypoglycemic, which also messes with the hormone insulin.
So what we want to do is ensure that our cells welcome insulin with open arms, we want to make sure you have a steady slow release of insulin and glucose in our blood. And this can be easily achieved through a healthy and delicious lifestyle. Surprise surprise…
And this is not just to prevent potential diabetes but as you can imagine having too much glucose swimming around your body doesn’t do your waistline any favours, or your mood, digestion or food cravings. If you constantly crave carbs and sugar then it probably because you are on a blood sugar roller coaster, meaning your body is constantly in a state of too much glucose and then dropping down to ‘panic stations‘ to potentially very low blood sugar.
I know for me that sorting out my blood sugar has been a massive part of my healing journey. I think my time on the GAPS diet, by Dr Natasha Campbell-McBride, helped the most in stabilising my mood and getting rid of the shaky ‘I-have-to-eat-now-or-I-will-pass-out’ kinda feeling.
All in all getting your blood sugar balanced is the B-O-M-B for your health.
8 ways to help balance your blood sugar
1. Ditch the junk.
Yes, I may sound like a stuck record but it’s because it one the best and cheapest things you can do for your body.
Ditch the processed yogurt, cereal bars and anything with ingredients in that sound like they belong in a test tube. And of course refined sugar is a no no. Most of our food converts into blood glucose but with some effort from the body but if you just drink a fizzy drink full of sugar, BOOM, your blood sugar is immediately elevated which is the thing we need to avoid.
Focus on whole food, food that doesn’t have ingredients but are ingredients. Switch in your favourite fizzy drinks with flavour kombocha, cakes and chocolate with some homemade goodness from The Sweet Treat Collection.
2. Protein and fat.
After vegetables, which are a health no brainer, these are the two foods that will help you thrive! They are the foundational foods that I teach everyone in my Flourish Community about as not only do they help with blood sugar but also weight loss and general healing and resetting of the body. That is why all recipes here focus mainly on vegetables, fat protein and zero gluten to boot!
3. Be a breakfast queen.
When we wake up our blood sugar is pretty low so if you then carry on with just a coffee your body can start to panic.
Ideally, if you know your blood sugar or adrenals are an issue aiming for a high protein and fat breakfast is the best option. Avoid sugar or even fruit salads for breakfast and only eat fruit if combined with fats and proteins like greek yoghurt.
Things like eggs and salmon or organic bacon, organic yogurt and seeds and berries, mettle, green smoothie or some homemade muffin even is better than nothing.
4. Cinnamon.
I add cinnamon to lots of things to help it taste sweeter but also research shows it can help blood sugars to boot! Add it to your smoothies, chilli, coffee and baking.
5. Snack wise.
These lemon coconut creams are the perfect blood balancing snack but there are loads more tasty snack recipes here or in The Sweet Treat Collection.
Munching on fruit all day is not ideal so you basically want to avoid high sugar/carb food and go for the FAT.
6. Avoid the wholegrain trap.
I don’t class whole grains as a health food, shocking I know! While eating wholemeal pasta is better than its white alternative it’s not something you want as a staple in your diet. You want to transition the staples of ALL your meals to the following:
- Begin with Vegetables
- Then add good amounts of Fat & Protein
- Then add naturally gluten free Carbs
I talk about this a lot in my Flourish Community but we need to flip how we build our meals. Veg first then fat, then protein, then some healthy carbs like sweet potato if you can fit it in!
7. Ditch the caffeine… especially coffee.
Chances are you will be craving caffeine if your blood sugar is wobbly but alas caffeine can cause a further imbalance.
I know you hate me now, right?
Some research suggests that caffeinated coffee can reduce your insulin sensitivity (more needs to be done to confirm this) so starting your day with a cup of coffee before you eat anything is not a good plan. Ideally, remove or just reduce your caffeine intake and if you must have your morning cup of tea or coffee then do so AFTER your high fat/protein breakfast .
8. Fast.
Say whhhhaaaattttt!!!! Intermittent fasting has been shown in some research to really help pre-diabetic bodies regain insulin sensitivity as well as a host of other benefits.
Intermittent fasting is basically allowing around 12- 24 hours between meals, so you don’t increase blood sugar during this time. Find out more about it here as it can be a great option when more serious healing needs to take place.
So it is time to say goodbye to the crazy ass rollercoaster of energy, hunger, bad moods and belly fat. Just start implementing ONE of the above things to help you.
You CAN do this. Super Natural Health is just a few actions away!
And if you want some expert help then I run a whole 21-day sugar challenge to help you Beat the Sweet and live one naturally sweet LIFE!
>>>>> Click here to find out more
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