Tip for October 2008:
Blood Sugar and Your Health
An important aspect of diet is to stabilize your blood sugar. There are many benefits to keeping blood sugar under control. Following a few guidelines can help tremendously!
Eat frequently during the day
Women experiencing perimenopause and menopausal symptoms do best when they keep their blood sugar stable throughout the day by eating frequent, smaller meals. If you are feeling fatigued, it would be best to work with your natural body rhythm to keep your blood sugar steady.
It’s important to eat before 10:00 am to keep your body from playing catch up during the rest of the day. An early lunch, before noon, is also better than a later lunch because your body uses up morning nourishment very quickly. Eating a nutritious snack between 2:00-3:00 pm will help to sustain you through the dip in cortisol levels that usually occurs between 3:00 and 4:00 pm. Your evening meal should be around 5:00 or 6:00 pm. If you get hungry later in the evening, a couple of bites of a high quality snack will be helpful. Nuts are often a good choice. They should be eaten raw and kept in the freezer. If you want to roast them, you can dry roast them at home by baking them on a cookie sheet in an oven preheated to 200 degrees for about 20 minutes.
Focus on portion size, not calories
Instead of calorie counting, concentrate on eating the highest quality food available in smaller portions. Cup your two hands in front of you. That’s how big your stomach capacity is. Overeating is associated with the over production of insulin and this will throw blood sugar off kilter.
Eat protein and a good fat at each meal
Good quality protein available from fish, chicken, eggs, dairy or a vegetarian alternative to animal protein such as soy protein powder or tofu will help to keep your blood sugar stable. Don’t forget to drizzle your food with 1-2 tablespoons of flax seed oil or sunflower seed oil or mix these in a ratio of 1:1. Fish oil is another great choice to get the essential fatty acids that you need each day.
Cut down on refined and high-glycemic-index carbohydrates
The rule of thumb is white and processed foods have a very high glycemic index, whereas whole foods and those high in protein typically have a low glycemic index. Eliminate most refined carbohydrates from your diet. This means cutting out rice, pasta, and other foods made from white flour such as muffins, rolls, bread, biscuits, crackers, snack foods, cookies, cakes, and pastries. You may still want to have some of these treats on special occasions, but as your blood sugar stabilizes, you’ll find that your craving for these foods decreases dramatically.
You can replace these foods with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. Remember the healthiest fruits and vegetables are the ones with the most color. You can also experiment with whole grains such as brown rice, millet and amaranth.