Keeping blood sugar levels stable is one of the keys to health, because it slows inflammation and decreases the risk of developing obesity, diabetes and other diseases. We tell you how to achieve it with the best tricks of Odile Fernández.
- What foods cause sugar spikes?
- What is the glycemic index?
- Foods to avoid or moderate to control sugar
- Foods with low glycemic index
- The order of eating that lowers blood sugar
- The order of eating to reduce glucose spikes: example
- Studies on food order and blood sugar
The ups and downs in blood sugar (glycemia) levels throughout the day influence the risk of a number of diseases.
When we eat foods that cause a rapid rise in blood sugar (“spikes” in blood sugar or blood sugar) we force the pancreas to produce insulin, the hormone that introduces excess sugar into the cells. The constant spikes of insulin stimulate inflammation in our tissues, which contributes to the appearance of obesity, cancer, cardiovascular and neurological diseases, acne, infertility, etc.
WHAT FOODS CAUSE SUGAR SPIKES?
The most frequent mistake is to eat foods rich in carbohydrates without accompanying them with fiber, proteins and fats. For example:
- Eat breakfast toast only with oil or butter.
- Eat pasta only with tomato.
- Consume sugary foods such as cookies, pastries, cereals or snacks type bars.
- Drink juices (even if they are natural) and soft drinks.
- Abusing bread.
- Sweeten with honey, sugar, molasses or panela.
- Drinking alcoholic beverages.
- Keeping sugar levels stable throughout the day, ranging between 70 and 130 mg / dl is ideal to enjoy a high level of energy and vitality. Achieving this stability is possible with a series of measures.
WHAT IS THE GLYCEMIC INDEX?
- Blood sugar levels depend on many factors, including insulin levels, how quickly sugar is absorbed into the bloodstream, and how much sugar is in a meal per serving. How do we know how much sugar our food contains and what effect will it have on blood glucose?
Knowing the glycemic index (GI) of foods can help us choose foods that do not cause sugar spikes and avoid or limit those that can trigger it. Foods are rated on a scale of 0 to 100, with pure glucose having a value of 100. The lower the glycemic index of a food, the slower the blood sugar rises after eating it.
GI is usually divided into:
- High GI (more than 70): We must be careful with these foods, since they increase blood sugar levels abruptly, and we must eliminate them from the diet, consume them occasionally or take them together with foods very rich in fiber.
- Medium GI (56-69): Foods grouped in this category should be consumed occasionally or in moderate amounts in the diet.
- Low GI (less than 55): Foods in this group are healthy because they do not increase glucose excessively.
FOODS TO AVOID OR MODERATE TO CONTROL SUGAR
In general, the more processed a food is, the higher its glycemic index, and the more fiber or fat in a product, the lower its GI. They tend to have a high GI:
- Ultra-processed foods made with sugar and refined flour, such as sweets, bread, cakes and cookies.
- Foods with a high proportion of carbohydrates and low fiber, protein or fat, such as white rice, white pasta and bread, mashed potatoes, cooked carrots, baked potatoes, ripe banana and cooked sweet corn, among others. For example, the glycemic index of white rice is 70. Remember that, if these foods are consumed in moderate portions and together with other products high in fiber, fat or protein, the impact of the food on glycemia decreases.
FOODS WITH LOW GLYCEMIC INDEX
Whole foods, such as whole grains, legumes, nuts, spices and aromatic herbs, vegetables and fruits, tend to have a lower glycemic index. The GI for brown rice is 50, for example.
Products rich in fiber, fat, or protein have a lower GI. The glycemic index of chickpeas is 10, for example. The egg is 0, because it lacks carbohydrates.
It is healthier to base the diet on this type of foods with low or medium GI. Research published in the journal Diabetes Care has shown that eating a low-glycemic diet for five weeks reduces body fat, increases muscle mass, and prevents insulin resistance and diabetes. In addition, it helps to lose weight, since by not producing insulin peaks we will notice a greater feeling of satiety and glucose will not be transformed so easily into body fat.
THE ORDER OF EATING THAT LOWERS BLOOD SUGAR
It’s important to choose foods with a low glycemic index, but so is the order in which we eat them. Glucose peaks can be reduced by up to 73%, and insulin, up to 48%, if we eat food in a certain order.
It seems like magic, but it has an explanation: if we take food in the right order, we flatten the glucose curve after eating a meal. This can be revolutionary for people with type 2 diabetes. Something as simple as the order in which you eat food can improve glucose control! The correct order to eat food is:
- Fibre
- Protein and fat
- Starch
- Sugar
Why this order? When we chew food, it passes through the esophagus to the stomach where digestion begins, from here it passes to the intestine and, from this, to the bloodstream and the rest of our body. Depending on how fast or slow food passes from one organ to another, blood sugar will rise more or less.
Sugars pass quickly from stomach to intestine, and from there to the blood and the rest of the body. There is a direct association between sugar and high blood sugar.
Fiber produces the opposite effect: it slows down the passage of sugars into the bloodstream, as it slows the passage of any liquid or solid into the intestine.
If after taking the fiber we take the fat and proteins, the absorption of sugars becomes even slower. Therefore, potato starch, for example, will not produce a blood glucose spike after the meal if foods with fiber, fats and proteins have been consumed before.
THE ORDER OF EATING TO REDUCE GLUCOSE SPIKES: EXAMPLE
You can bring the latest knowledge about glucose and inflammation control into daily practice by bringing dishes to the table.
- First, raw vegetables: We should start our meals with vegetables, preferably raw, such as a lettuce and tomato salad, a raw carrot or a cucumber seasoned with salt and vinegar. If we do not feel like raw, they can be sautéed vegetables, artichoke hearts or steamed vegetables. Another option as a vegetable starter would be vegetable creams or purees, a green smoothie or a glass of gazpacho, but we will always prefer whole foods to crushed ones.
- Healthy fats and proteins: After vegetables, we will present at the table foods rich in proteins and fats, such as legumes, soy derivatives, eggs, avocados, etc.
- Next, starches: Then we will eat foods rich in starches, such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, brown rice or pasta. If we have cooled these foods for a few hours before, the proportion of resistant starch will have increased, which behaves like a fiber, which will also reduce the impact on glucose compared to simply cooked food.
- Sugars, in the end: If we want to eat something sweet now is the time, for example, a small piece of cake. The fruit should also be eaten after fat and protein, for example, a yogurt with nuts and then the fruit.
- The mixture also works: We can order the intake of food in this way when it is simple, because it should not disrupt our habits too much or become a problem. We are used to mixing foods with different characteristics in the same dish, which is not bad either. The important thing is to make sure that there is enough fiber, protein and fat on the plate. We can adapt most recipes to achieve a balance of different macronutrients and not produce blood glucose peaks. The Harvard plate norm is a good guide: half should be occupied by vegetables, a quarter by protein, and another quarter by starches, washed down with a little olive oil.
STUDIES ON FOOD ORDER AND BLOOD SUGAR
The finding of the importance of order in intake on glycemia does not yet have consensus among nutritionists and doctors, but a Japanese study has shown changes in the metabolism of food depending on the order in which they are consumed. According to research from Kanazawa University, eating vegetables first, then eggs, legumes, meat or fish (in the case of an omnivorous diet) and, finally, carbohydrates significantly improves blood glucose and insulin levels after meals.
The study was conducted among men and women with no family history of diabetes. All of them, after a day of fasting, were provided for three days different combinations in the order of food. After each test, glucose and insulin levels were measured. The results showed that the participants who had eaten the rice last showed a significant decrease in blood sugar compared to those who had taken it in second place, and much less compared to those who did it in the first place.
Following this routine when eating food can have, in the long run, many benefits in both healthy and diabetic people.
In another study conducted in China, two groups of diabetics were followed for five years. Those in the first group were asked to always eat the vegetable before the main course, consisting of meat, fish or soy, and carbohydrates at the end. In addition, they were advised to chew each bite thoroughly. The other group was given no advice on the order in which they should eat food. After five years of intervention there was a significant improvement in the levels of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1C), which is measured to diagnose diabetes and prediabetes, in patients who had been prescribed a certain order to eat food.
