EAT protein and Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs)

Tip number four for kicking your sugar habit is one that your whole body is going to benefit from, not just your blood sugar levels.

When you eat in balance, your body is free from cravings. You will feel satisfied with the food you eat and eat to satisfy physical hunger, as opposed to appetite. The two are in fact very different! Many people eat for appetite because their blood sugar dips at 3pm in the afternoon, they feel a little tired and then hit up Starbucks for a coffee and a cookie or muffin sending their blood sugar on a rollercoaster. Coffee does a wicked job of sending your blood sugar on a ride, as does sugar. The key here is balance and making sure that at every meal and snack you eat a lean protein food and a get a source of EFA, (your good fat) along with your complex carbohydrate.

When you do not follow a diet of balance, this is when your body gets out of whack and you have constant cravings, are never satisfied and could eat and eat and eat. I hear this so often from my clients that they feel they don’t know when to stop eating and this is because they are likely not eating the right ratio of carbs/protein/fat.

Protein and good fat do a wonderful job of slowing the rate (just like fiber) at which sugar enters your bloodstream. This is why people who eat an overload of carbohydrates and not enough protein and good fat typically weigh more, eat more, get sick more often, suffer from cravings and disrupted slept. Blood sugar imbalance affects nearly every process within your body.

Protein and good fat take a good few hours (and sometimes more) to digest. Carbohydrates require much less digestion, so if you eat a meal with all three macronutritients – carbs, protein, fat, you are literally slowing your digestive time down and this translates to a slow release of sugar into your blood, management of cravings, avoidance of mindless eating and most important your body is satisfied!

Good protein sources are foods “with a mother”, such as eggs, chicken, fish, turkey, red meat (from an organic source). Non-meat protein sources are legumes (beans), tempeh, quinoa, nuts, seeds and vegetables. The key with a vegetarian diet is to eat from a variety of non-meat sources to ensure you get all the essential amino acids, otherwise you will become deficient because you cannot depend solely on one source for your protein. I have not listed soy here because I am not a fan of soy products (soy milk/cheese/cream/nuts) and I do not recommend it.

Good fat sources are olive oil, fish oil, avocado, nut butter, seeds, eggs, butter and kefir (fermented yogurt). Full fat dairy like whole milk, is a good source of healthy fat too (if you are okay consuming dairy) and you are getting it from an organic source (very important).

The ratio of carb/protein/fat is equally important as well and everyone is unique in their body requirements. What makes me satisfied may not work for you. For example, my metabolic type is a “Fast Oxidizer”. This means my body very quickly converts food to energy. I am the typical person who if I eat too many carbs, it sends my blood sugar for a ride and I’m craving more! As opposed to some people who are better off eating a diet slightly higher in complex carbs. Everyone is different. I encourage you to read up on Metabolic Typing because it’s customized eating for your metabolism and it’s a blood sugar management plan. Or email me about it because I am an Advanced Metabolic Advisor through HealthExcel – joy@joyoushealth.ca 

Stay tuned for my last tip, coming soon. And remember if you eat in balance, the result is that you will manage your blood sugar and you will FEEL in balance.

Happy Sunday!

Joy

DRINK SOMETHING GREEN!

I hope by now that you have incorporated a few small changes into your diet by eating more fiber and/or chromium rich foods. If you are reading this post and have not read the other posts on reasons to get sugar out of your diet and tips, then I encourage you to do so by clicking HERE!

Taking sugar out of your diet cold turkey is a great way to start a new healthy habit. You will find that after 2 weeks of no sugar, then when you do eat a sweet treat, it will taste 10 times more sweet and it will likely be TOO sweet. This is a good thing!
I am excited to share with you my tip #3 for kicking your sugar habit

Eliminating sugar is one thing, but balancing your blood sugar everyday is really the key to not eating sugar (refined carbs) and having complete control over your craving. Often times, people keep binging on sugar because their body is legitimately craving it. This is not an excuse to eat sugar, but rather to emphasize the point that when you keep your blood sugar levels in balance, then it is a million times easier to manage the urge and the cravings. Make sense?

Drinking greens first thing in the morning on an empty stomach and between meals is an excellent blood sugar balancer for the whole day.  Look for a greens drink that has spirulina - this fresh water algae, sometimes called blue-green algae, is packed with protein, vitamins, trace minerals, chlorophyll (blood cleanser) and nucleic acids. Spirulina gives your body a supply of Beta carotene, Iron, Vitamin B-12, Gamma Linolenic Acid (GLA) and more.

Spirulina increases energy, aids in weight loss, lowers cholesterol and increases immune function – making it a superfood! Other ingredients that you will find in “GREEN” drinks that are equally beneficial include: wheatgrass (see my previous post about wheat grass), barley juice, beet juice and probiotic cultures. My favourite green drink that came highly recommended by my Nutritionist friend Andrew, who works at a health food store (so he’s an expert on this stuff), is a brand called TROPHIC and it’s the “Greens Concentrate” formula. I add a couple of teaspoons to some watered down juice and give it a little stir. You could add it to your protein shake or smoothie in the mornings.

You are now armed with 3 tips for kicking your sugar habit and if you incorporate even just one of these over the next week, you will see the benefits!

Stay tuned for tip #4 coming soon!

Happy Sugar Kicking!

Joyous

Eat Fiber Rich Foods with every Meal and Snack.

Fiber has a plethora of benefits, but it’s wonderful for blood sugar balance because it’s slows the rate at which sugar goes into the bloodstream.

Let’s look at the example of an apple vs. apple juice. An apple contains fiber and requires digestion, this means it takes time to work it’s way through your digestive system. Apple juice requires little to no digestion, has no fiber and very quickly spikes blood sugar because it’s absorbed into the blood stream as fast as a race car. As you can see, it’s best to eat the whole food.

Fiber can be found in ALL plant foods and North Americans are seriously deficient in this most beneficial part of food. Fiber is proven to be incredibly efficient at lowering cholesterol. Fiber binds with cholesterol and flushes it out our body when we have a bowel movement.  So efficient in fact, Cheerios recently got their hand slapped by the FDA because they were advertising this very benefit on their packaging. (SIDE NOTE: The FDA doesn’t particularly like it when foods are advertised with their health benefits. As to why they did this – well, food politics are a nasty beast and that’s for another post).

Back to our bowel friend, fiber – it prevents constipation and provides bulk to your fecal matter so that when it passes through your digestive tract, it cleanses your colon wall. Fiber is like the broom for your colon! It reduces the risk of heart disease, diabetes, supports healthy detoxification and elimination and helps maintain a healthy body weight.

I read a crazy statistic recently that the average person has anywhere from 7-25lbs of impacted fecal matter in their intestines. That’s a lot of people full of crap! This is a major health issue.  Imagine a glass of milk sitting on a picnic table in the boiling hot sun for 24 hours – ok now, imagine what is going on in your intestines when you are not eating fiber and not having 2 bowel movements per day.  There is serious putrefaction and rotting going on in your belly. Sorry for the mental visual, but it helps to illustrate the importance of fiber and regularity.

There are many supplements on the market to increase fiber in your diet. Today, I suggest you start by eating more vegetables, fruit and whole grains. As well, get yourself some ground flax seeds and sprinkle it on everything from cereal, to salad, soups, pasta and more. Make sure you drink plenty of water to ensure you do not get bloated.

Stay tuned for Tip # 3 on How to Kick your Sugar Habit!

Happy Fiber Eating!

Joyous