How to find your sweet spot
How to find your sweet spot
We all know that too much sugar can be bad for our health. But why? And how much is too much? This article outlines the importance of keeping our blood sugar balanced and offers some quick tips on avoiding blood sugar spikes that can undermine our health.
Not all sugar is created equal
First, let’s define what we mean by “sugar”, as different types of sugar have different effects on our bodies. Sugar is a carbohydrate found in natural foods like fruit, grains and vegetables. It comes in many forms, including fructose found in fruit and lactose found in milk. Our bodies have been designed to metabolise sugars and carbohydrates into a molecule called glucose because that’s the form our cells use for energy. It’s essential to human life! Glucose is the ‘sugar’ we refer to in ‘blood sugar’. These sugars are absorbed into our bloodstream at different rates, depending on how processed they are and whether they are mixed with other nutrients like fat, fibre or protein.
The sugar most quickly absorbed into our blood is called ‘free sugar’. Free sugar means that the sugar has been refined and processed, ‘freeing’ it from any other compounds (like fibre in fruit or protein and fat in milk). The presence of fibre, fat and protein in foods slows the absorption of sugar because our bodies take more time to process these other nutrients.
Free sugar is the type of sugar that will raise our blood sugar levels the most quickly and can cause the most damage.
Unfortunately, the food industry has taken full advantage of the fact that humans crave sugar. Many products have added sugar to improve taste, texture and, of course, the addictive quality that will make us crave and buy more. This overconsumption of sugar can come at a high price for many, as the modern rise in Type 2 diabetes and obesity has shown.
According to the NHS, Adults should have no more than 30g of “free sugars” per day, roughly equivalent to 6 teaspoons. Once you start reading labels and keeping track, you’ll be amazed at how quickly you reach this level.
Why blood sugar balance is key
It’s normal for blood sugar to fluctuate based on intake and energy expenditure, but too much fluctuation, either high or low, can affect our physiology, mood, and, in the long run, our health.
Steady blood sugar is essential to achieve optimum energy, hormone balance, mood and weight. When our blood sugar is too high, our body releases insulin to store any excess as either glycogen (stored in our liver and muscles for quick release on demand) or fat (a long-term storage solution once our glycogen stores are full). A spike in blood sugar often leads to a blood sugar ‘crash’. If this happens, our blood sugar level can drop dangerously low. Our bodies use another hormone called Glucagon and a stress hormone cortisol to raise it again quickly to protect our brain from being starved of energy.
Dietary intake of carbohydrates is not the only cause of elevated blood sugar level
When we experience stress, cortisol rises to quickly release the sugar our bodies need for our 'fight or flight’ response. In pre-modern times, this was very important because fighting a wild animal or running away from one takes a lot of physical energy. Unfortunately, our level of inactivity does not enable a more natural way to use up the higher sugar level we are experiencing when under stress.
What are the health consequences of excess sugar
Chronic high sugar intake can lead to systemic changes in the body that damage cells, impair function, and contribute to the development of various diseases.
Excess sugar molecules bind to proteins and lipids in the bloodstream, forming advanced glycation end products (AGEs). AGEs can cause inflammation, tissue stiffness, impairing wound healing and organ dysfunction.
Excess sugar metabolism generates free radicals, leading to oxidative stress causing cellular damage to DNA, proteins, and lipids in tissues. Oxidative stress also causes organ damage, contributing to the progression of heart disease, kidney dysfunction, and neurodegenerative disorders. This is promotes aging of cells and tissues.
Chronic high sugar intake leads to elevated insulin levels and eventual insulin resistance. This contribute to the development of Metabolic Syndrome, increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease. Insulin resistance promotes fat accumulation in the liver, leading to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Impaired Glucose Uptake also reduces cellular energy production and increases glucose toxicity.
High sugar intake activates inflammatory pathways, including pro-inflammatory cytokines like TNF-α and IL-6, causing damages to blood vessels, joints, and other tissues and contributing to conditions like arthritis, heart disease, and autoimmune disorders.
Excess sugar, especially fructose, is converted into fat in the liver, leading to dyslipidemia characterised by elevated triglycerides and LDL cholesterol with reduced HDL cholesterol. This contributes to liver inflammation, scarring (fibrosis), and potential cirrhosis. It also promotes atherosclerosis by encouraging plaque formation in arteries, increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke.
High blood sugar levels harm the delicate endothelial cells lining blood vessels causing vascular Damage, leading to hypertension and poor blood flow. Microvascular Complications contribute to diabetic retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy.
Excess sugar impairs the activity of white blood cells, leading to a reduction in the body’s ability to fight infections and impairing healing processes.
Chronic high sugar can disrupt the blood-brain barrier and increase oxidative stress in the brain, contributing to memory loss and increases the risk of Alzheimer's disease (sometimes referred to as "Type 3 diabetes") and contribution to mood disorders. Sugar affects neurotransmitter balance, potentially leading to depression or anxiety.
Five ways to manage sugar
It’s natural to crave foods with sugar – it’s one of our survival mechanisms. But it’s not 'natural' to be exposed to highly-processed high-sugar foods 24/7. Unfortunately, the food industry has hijacked our habits and health by exploiting this natural craving. Powerful advertising can brainwash us all to equate sweet things with being a ‘treat’ and something we ‘deserve’. This is especially true in children's foods, so we are programmed from a very early age
Below are five top ways I like to manage my sugar consumption that you may find helpful.
1. Learn how to read labels
Unless you have unlimited time, energy, and budget, my guess is that you rely on some packaged food like the rest of us. Unfortunately, all packaged food has a risk of being high in sugar, even things we don’t think of as ‘sweet’ (baked beans and salad dressings are some examples). Learning to read labels is essential so you’re not tricked into consuming more sugar than you realise.
A good way to assess safe sugar levels is to read the nutrition label. Anything with 5g or less of total sugars per 100g is generally safe to eat without spiking blood sugar.
Another simple way to calculate the impact on blood sugar is to look at the ratio of carbohydrates to protein. Refined carbohydrates are quickly processed into glucose, so even some foods without ‘added sugars’ can spike our blood sugar. When carbs, protein, fat and fibre are consumed simultaneously, it takes our body longer to break down everything, including the carbohydrates. Research has shown that eating a carb-to-protein ratio of 4:1 will help keep your blood sugar from spiking too quickly. So, if the package lists 40g of carbohydrates and 10g of protein, you can assume it won’t spike your blood sugar too quickly.
Reading labels will make you realise quickly how many “healthy” foods are actually high in sugar. For instance, various brands of organic fruit yoghurt for kids has 9.7g of sugar per 100g. So one tiny pot of yoghurt contains almost half of the recommended amount of sugar per day! This is mainly because the fruit in the yoghurt has been highly processed, ‘freeing’ the sugar in the fruit. It would be healthier (and cheaper) to buy a pot of organic full-fat yoghurt and top it with a few berries and a teaspoon of honey or maple syrup.
A word of warning! Beware of ‘low sugar’ or ‘no added sugar’ claims. These food products often have artificial sweeteners, which are known to influence our health and blood sugar levels negatively.
2. Retrain your sweet tooth
I can’t drive this point home enough: the food industry has taken advantage of our biological programming to prefer sweet foods. They know how addictive sugar can be and use this to sell more products.
Please be gentle with yourself and implement any dietary changes in a way that works for you. Some slowly wean themselves off as quitting sugar ‘cold turkey’ can cause unpleasant ‘withdrawal’ symptoms. For others, a quick and thorough change in habits is the only way to do it.
Be warned – cutting out the sweet stuff will be hard if you’re used to foods with added sugar! There are no studies to prove how long it takes to ‘retrain’ our taste buds to detect the natural sweetness in foods or to get over sugar dependence. However, most people report an improvement in as little as 3 or 4 weeks.
So keep the hope, and soon you’ll wonder why you used to like your usual ‘treats’ as they will taste sickly sweet once you’ve retrained your taste buds.
3. Smart Sugar Swaps
Many articles talk about the ‘glycaemic index’ or ‘glycaemic load’ of various foods, which can be very informative but can also get confusing quickly. I like to give my clients easy tips that will help keep things simple. Here are some simple swaps you can do to lower your sugar consumption without feeling deprived.
Swap this high-sugar food > better option
· milk chocolate, sweets > 70% dark chocolate
· white bread > whole meal bread (sourdough is best)
· white pasta > whole grain pasta
· white rice > brown rice or basmati rice
· fruit juice > flavoured water with mint, fruit, ginger
· dried fruit > fresh fruit
· high sugar fruits (e.g. mango, ripe banana) > low sugar fruits (e.g. berries)
· fruit yoghurt pot > greek yoghurt drizzled with 1tsp honey, fresh berries
· breakfast cereal > low sugar granola, porridge with berries and maple syrup
4. Exercise
Your blood sugar levels will decrease as you exercise because your body uses glucose to provide the energy your muscle cells need to move. The blood sugar balancing effect can last up to 72 hours after exercising, showing how effective a bit of movement can be in keeping us healthy.
You're lucky if you love exercising, but I know this is not always the case for some. A study published in 2016 showed that a short, 10-minute walk after eating could lower blood sugar by 22%! So, if you don’t like to exercise, I hope this simple fact will inspire you to do a bit more as even a tiny bit can have a significant effect.
The best exercise
The absolute best exercise you can do to keep blood sugar low and your moods high is the one you love to do the most.
Find which activity fills you with joy, and you’re more likely to do it. Find a walking buddy and go for a ‘walk and talk’ a few times a week. Have a kitchen disco and dance around while you make dinner (the only side effect may be severe cringing if you have teenagers in the house). Join a group exercise class or find a dog to walk. The most significant benefits come from doing at least 30 minutes of exercise daily. Note that the 30-minute goal does not have to be all in one chunk. A 20-minute walk plus 10 minutes dancing around the kitchen would count!
5. Manage Stress
We've all heard that managing stress is essential for many aspects of health, and blood sugar is no exception. Just as low blood sugar can cause a release of your stress hormones, chronic stress can wreak havoc on your blood sugar levels.
Wearing a continuous glucose monitor to measure how your blood sugar levels respond to certain foods can help understand the individual variations we have to foods. For example eating high-sugar fruit, e.g. grapes or bananas can spike blood sugar. Equally blood sugar can go very high when under stress. We often can feel our stress levels rising, but we have no idea our glucose level is also rising.
How you manage stress is up to you. Just like exercise, finding the one that resonates with you the most is the one that will help. My biggest tip is that no matter what, always being kind to yourself (even when you feel like you're failing!) will help keep extra stress at bay. We can't control what happens to us in life, but we can control how we respond and treat ourselves.
Key Takeaways
I could write much more about blood sugar, but I like to keep things simple, accessible and actionable. Try the tips above and keep track of how you feel. Hopefully, you’ll start to feel an improvement in your overall energy and health once your blood sugar is balanced.
If you have any underlying health conditions, please talk to your doctor or health professional before changing your diet or exercise.
Please get in touch if you’re still finding it hard to tame your sweet tooth, manage your stress, or balance your blood sugar. Everyone is different, and I can help pinpoint the areas that will most likely benefit you with a personalised consultation.
