4 Achievable Ways to Balance Blood Sugar and Food Cravings

In this post, we’ll discuss what blood sugar is and then dive into 4 Achievable Ways to Balance Blood Sugar and Food Cravings.

Natalie in the kitchen by blender holding celery

The Truth on Dieting

I’m just going to say it…Diets don’t work. Sure they’ll help get you started with losing weight, but the truth is, once you stop you tend to gain the weight right back or worse, develop cravings and hormone imbalances. They’re so rigorous and restrictive in making you feel you need to count calories, develop an unemotional relationship with food, and are most of the time “all or nothing.” Diets set you up for failure, food cravings, and even food obsession not to mention they sometimes require you to cut out food groups that your body needs to keep you feeling full. Ever heard that fat is “bad.” Yeah… not true.

How about feeling like a failure the moment you eat something you weren’t “allowed” to eat on a diet. Let’s change that. For starters NO MORE CALORIE COUNTING! I urge you to take that out of your head and throw it in the trash. Trust me. This sort of concept that’s been engraved in our brains doesn’t allow us to trust our bodies and our food choices and can lead to food obsession and feeling bad for ourselves.

When we fuel our bodies with real food, no need to the calorie count. We’ve been told and made to think that things such as carbs and fat are “bad” for us when in fact, when we eat a healthy balance of fat, fiber-rich carbohydrates, protein, and greens, we’re fueling our bodies with all the necessary things to keep us satisfied, full, and our blood sugar in balance.

**Easy Pumpkin Overnight Oats**-Precious Time Blog

Sugar and Digestion

While the process of sugar begins in the mouth, the majority of sugar digestion happens in the intestine. When you eat simple sugar, your body uses it immediately for energy by absorbing it into your bloodstream. When you consume more complex sugars, your body must break them down into simple sugar first, before using them for energy. Once in the bloodstream, glucose can either be used immediately or stored in the body for later. If the liver has enough stored, the sugar gets converted to fat for long-term storage.

Balance Blood Sugar

What’s the deal with blood sugar balance? Blood sugar is carried to cells in the bloodstream for energy. Blood sugar levels rise after eating carbohydrate meals especially those, loaded with simple sugars, which are digested and absorbed quickly. The body works continuously to adjust and regulate blood sugar levels through hormone signaling. These levels are regulated by two primary hormones: insulin and glucagon.

When blood sugar levels are too high, known as hyperglycemia, insulin is secreted by the pancreas to help clear suagr from te blood and move it to cells where it can be stored.
When blood sugar is too low, hypoglycemia, insulin is secreted to break down stored sugar and elevate blood sugar levels.

Continuously elevated blood sugar, can contribute to weight gain, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes. [SOURCE] [SOURCE]

**BBQ Tofu Ranch Salad**– Precious Time Blog

How to Balance Blood Sugar and Food Cravings

Most of us have heard that we all should be eating about five to six small meals a day right? Well, unfortunately, this does not help manage blood sugar. In fact, when we don’t allow our bodies enough time to digest in between meals, that’s when our blood sugar is on a rollercoaster. The truth is when you consume things like Fat, Fiber, Protein, and Greens with breakfast, lunch, and dinner, your keeping your blood sugar in balance without causing an increase of insulin spike shortly after, or making you feel like you need an afternoon nap.

Having a blood sugar imbalance will affect your overall health and put you at risk of diabetes, chronic high blood pressure, and so much more. When people eat an imbalance of nutrients, starchy foods, processed snacks, your body’s pancreas begins making too much insulin leading to those illnesses. [SOURCE]

So next time you’re making your next meal, notice if you’re still feeling hungry in between meals or within 2-4 hours after eating. If so, add more healthy fat or protein a little at a time to see how much will keep you feeling satisfied.

When you include those fat, fiber, protein, and greens throughout each meal, you’ll feel full, satisfied, and actually lose weight because your body will burn fat and lose the actual weight in between your meals when your blood sugar is in balance. Sign me up right?!

Here’s how to balance blood sugar and food cravings!

4 Achievable Ways to Balance Blood Sugar and Food Cravings

As a health coach, one thing I encourage my clients to do is ask themselves, “what’s going to make me feel good?” “what’s going to keep me satisfied and full?”

A few things I always recommend are these 4 food groups: Fat, Fiber, Protein, and Greens. Yes, greens have fiber in them but some don’t contain as much. So, let’s categorize them separately and talk a little bit about each one.

#1 FAT:

Healthy fat is your friend. Fat, also known as lipids, are key in our diets in order to achieve optimal health. The type of fat we’re eating plays a huge role in our health and when we avoid it, we’re not thriving at our best. Fat helps our food taste delicious and because it takes longer to digest, it keeps us feeling full and satisfied after a meal.

Try to aim for about 1-3 tbsp per meal. This will keep you full, helps absorb the nutrients from your food better, help keep hair, nails, and skin healthy. Fat also increases satiety, supports proper brain development, reduce fasting insulin levels, slow digestion, curb cravings, and makes us feel calmer and more relaxed. Yes…all of these are from healthy fats.

Fat Sources

Avocado
Walnuts
Coconut Oil
Nuts
Seeds
Nut Butters ( I like Artisana)
MCT Oil

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#2 FIBER:

If you’ve been following me on Instagram, then you know my love for fiber. The beauty of fiber-rich foods provides food for our good bacteria in the gut and helps keep our bowels regular. It also helps produce short-chain fatty acids which help prevent cancer and other health issues.

Fiber Sources

Veggies/Fruit
Chia Seeds (I ike Mamma Chia or Nutiva)
Avocado
Flaxseeds

#3 PROTEIN:

Proteins are considered the building blocks of life. Our skin, nails, bones, muscles, and cartilage are mainly made of proteins. Most enzymes and hormones in our bodies are also proteins. Protein digestion occurs mostly in the stomach and ends in the small intestine. When we digest our food, dietary protein breaks down into usable amino acids in the gastrointestinal tract to be transported to cells throughout the body. This helps the body perform a variety of functions.

Aim for 20-30g per meal (about the size of your palm). Protein has many functions in the body aside from giving us energy. This will help keep you full, satiated, rebuild muscle, and is a source of amino acids which build blocks of cells and collagen for cell repair.

Protein Sources

Quinoa (I like Tru Root Organics because they come pre-sprouted)
Legumes (beans, peas, lentils)
Seeds (hemp, chia, flax)
Nuts
Nutritional Yeast
Spirulina
Oragnic Soy Products (edamame, tofu, tempeh)
Organic Chicken
Fish
Meat
Eggs
Dairy
Protein Powder (make sure it clean and only made with a few healthy ingredients. I like Truvani brand.

#4 GREENS:

My love for greens runs deep. Actually, I may be slightly obsessed with greens. SO many beautiful greens that all do many different things for your body. For starters, they contain phytonutrients, phytochemicals, and antioxidants. They also serve as an anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and detoxification agents. Add them to smoothies, salad, main dish, soups, etc…

Aim to have half of your plate filled with greens and vegetables. Cook, roast, or eat them raw. You can even sneak some into pasta sauces, oatmeal, smoothies, muffins, and so much more.

Greens Sources:

kale
chard
spinach
collard greens
green cabbage
broccoli
brussel sprouts
artichokes
asparagus
celery
cucumber

The process of feeling and looking your best is simple. No matter what your dietary needs are, just be sure to add some healthy fats, fiber, protein, and greens throughout each meal and it’ll help you be more in tune with your body to determine what you need more of, lose weight, balance hormones, balance blood sugar and food cravings, and so much more.

**Vanilla Matcha Chia Pudding**– Precious Time Blog Recipe

Helpful Tips

Lastly, I wanted to add a few helpful tips when it comes to food cravings and balanced blood sugar. If you are going to have anything sweet, try having some protein and fat right before to balance blood sugar such as a handful of raw nuts. Drink more water. Sometimes we crave sugar because our bodies aren’t getting enough water. Lastly, preload on fat, fiber, and protein first when eating meals. Then go ahead and eat carbs. Final tip…avoid naked carbs (carbs on an empty stomach) as they tend to spike blood sugar levels way more than if you were to pair it with protein and fat.

If you’d like to schedule a FREE health coach consult, and need some assistance with being the best version of yourself, eating clean pure healthy foods, or any other health goals, email me HERE.

Precious Time Blog

4 Achievable Ways to Balance Blood Sugar and Food Cravings

The Truth on Dieting

Sugar and Digestion

Balance Blood Sugar

How to Balance Blood Sugar and Food Cravings

4 Achievable Ways to Balance Blood Sugar and Food Cravings

#1 FAT:

#2 FIBER:

#3 PROTEIN:

#4 GREENS:

Helpful Tips

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