If you think blood sugar balance is only a concern for people with diabetes or prediabetes, think again. Your blood sugar levels affect your energy levels, inflammation, weight, and overall health. Let’s look at the big picture of blood sugar control and how it impacts your body’s physiological functions. I will also give you some practical tips on how to balance your blood sugar with a 30 30 30 diet, which consists of 30% protein, 30% carbohydrates, and 30% fat. By reading this post, you will learn:
- What blood sugar regulation means and why it’s important for more than just diabetes prevention.
- How unstable blood sugar levels can cause energy roller coaster, inflammation, and other health issues.
- How to build a plate that prioritizes protein, fiber, and healthy fats, and limits starchy and sugary carbs.
What is blood sugar regulation and why is it important?
Blood sugar regulation, blood sugar stability, blood sugar control, no matter how you choose to phrase it, it has far reaching effects that go way beyond just diabetes. So let’s take a look at why it’s so important that we have blood glucose/blood sugar control.
Blood sugar, or glucose, is the main source of energy for your cells. It comes from the food you eat, especially carbohydrates. When you eat a meal that contains carbohydrates, the carbohydrates get broken down. The fiber goes to feed the gut. The rest of it gets turned into glucose or fructose, depending on what’s there. And the glucose is what is then either stored as glycogen to be used later or floods through your bloodstream.
The key is, when we talk about glucose control, we want to make sure that when we’re eating this meal, our glucose is going to spike. That’s normal. We can blunt the spike some way because we don’t want it spiking a lot in the high range all the time. Sometimes it’s fine, but it’s going to rise no matter what. When you eat a meal that has some sort of carbohydrates, it will rise at some point, and 2 hours later, we want it back to our baseline. That’s a regulated kind of glucose unless you’re constantly spiking it super high, we want moderate spikes when we eat, we don’t want ginormous spikes. the numbers are going to be different. There is no set number. We like to keep spikes within 30 to 40 points. We don’t want them jumping from 90 to 200. It’s harder to get it back down at that two-hour point, but we want this somewhat regulated, like small rolling hills throughout the day. So little spikes come back down, little spikes come back down. A lot of points where it’s just kind of flat. Exercise can raise your glucose because, like I said, it’s being stored for energy. Your body will release it to be used as energy. So there are a lot of reasons why your glucose fluctuates throughout the day. That may not just be related to food, but we want a set regulating regulation. We want to regulate it.
Why is this important? Because when you have too much glucose flowing through your system, you all think automatically, diabetes. But there’s more to it than that. Diabetes is pretty much when your body can no longer shuttle it into cells because they’re full. And there’s so much running through your bloodstream all the time, that you have this elevated glucose constantly. But what happens to the person that has plenty of room to store it or brings it back down, but has these huge spikes and they have these energy roller coaster? the energy goes up and down and up and down and up and down because their glucose isn’t regulated, so they don’t have stable energy, because of the way they’re eating or because of the way the glucose is being released in their body. It is not just a diabetic that has this problem. An average person can have this problem. they could be on the road to diabetes. They could have insulin resistance already, but they may not, or they may be developing all these issues. However, having unstable glucose, not only does it lead to this energy roller coaster, which, if you’ve lived that which most of us have, at some point, it’s no fun, because the minute you crash, you’re looking for food, because you need to bring your energy up. when your body can self regulate, meaning flowing back and forth from any energy that’s there, you don’t have these huge highs and lows. You just have energy throughout the day, all day long. You don’t have this lull where you’re searching for food or getting shaky looking for food. We’re looking for even energy, which generally. Generally, that word generally is in there for a reason, will indicate that you have stable glucose.
Now, having this unstable glucose, like I said, can lead to diabetes, lead to insulin resistance, or any of the issues that insulin resistance is a trigger for. It is far more reaching than just diabetes. but let’s get back to why I started this is having unstable glucose and not being able to control it brings in a lot of inflammation. And it is the first step or one of the first three things we want to get stable in order for any healing protocols to work. So, if you have unstable blood sugar and you’re working on healing your gut and an autoimmune issue, just to put it in remission or to have a better quality of life, but your blood sugar is unstable, it’s much harder to do that. We got to start looking at the body and all of its physiological functions together. To get to that quality of life we tend to look at. Oh, I’m not sleeping really well, so I’m only going to work on sleep when there’s something deep down that’s causing that sleep issue. Could it be blood sugar issues? Absolutely. But we know unstable blood sugar does lead to extra inflammation, which will cause all sorts of issues in your body. And if you are trying to work on something else going on, you need to get your blood sugar under control. As I’m working with somebody beyond weight loss, let’s say that they came to me for weight loss, but they need to get healthy. They need their health. They’re complaining of these symptoms that we need to work on as well as the weight. Blood sugar regulation not only helps facilitate weight loss, it helps with some of the symptoms, but it’s before I can get the gut even healthy, I need the blood sugar balanced. That’s how all these steps kind of work. And I’m sharing this because too often people, you’ll go into a, holistic practitioner and they’ll throw a protocol at you because you’re having a symptom without noticing that your glucose regulation is horrid. And. And that’s a problem because with that being horrid, you’re just spinning your wheels and you might be spending tons and tons of money on supplements that aren’t going to get at the root of the problem. Not that the glucose is the root of the problem, but it could be. But it’s also going to be the thing that stops you from progressing. Like I’ve said in many of my previous episodes, is starting with the basics is fundamental. Without getting these basics somewhat down and from a healing perspective of your own body, getting certain fundamentals besides just eating real whole foods, making sure that you’re getting your blood sugar regulated, making sure you’re not anemic, or that you’re getting in the iron, absorbing the iron so that your bodies m can get oxygen into the cells, making sure your thyroid levels are optimum and functional. Those are three key things that if they aren’t working, everything you’re doing is just spinning your wheels. You might say, oh, yeah, I know, if my thyroid’s off, I’m never going to lose weight. That’s not just, it is. If you have some sort of thing like rheumatoid arthritis, that’s an autoimmune issue, and people are throwing a protocol at you, but not looking at your thyroid, not seeing if you’re anemic, not checking your blood sugar, you’re spinning your wheels, because those things keep throwing the whole body out of whack. Those are the three fundamental things to target. Now, when I talk about fundamentals, like, where you got to start is at the basics. It’s always eat real food, make sure you’re hydrated, move your body, get sleep, prioritize your protein. Those are the same things that help you regulate and get your body back into balance with anemia and blood sugar. Thyroid does require medical intervention. You cannot make your thyroid optimum if you are no longer making thyroid antibodies or the thyroid hormones. If you have thyroid antibodies and your thyroid hormones are not being produced, let me correct that.
How to balance your blood sugar with a 30 30 30 diet
So we want to make sure that we have the basics. And the biggest basic that is lifestyle is your blood sugar. I will do a secondary, episode, touching on the thyroid and anemia, because they’re much smaller topic, but blood sugar, we all know that blood sugar. I don’t care if your whole family is diabetic. It is a lifestyle. A, lifestyle change and dietary change can put this back into check regardless, unless you have let it go so far that you have damaged your pancreas and are insulin dependent, because you are no longer producing insulin like a type one, but there also is a type two that converts to one and a half, which means they’ve kind of killed the beta cells in the pancreas. That’s hard to undo. But regardless, making certain dietary changes to get your glucose back under control, whether you’re a diabetic or not, you can not be a diabetic. You can even be thin and still have glucose control problems. So we need to look at what we’re eating, how we’re eating. To correct this, depending on your personal choice of eating style, you will have to make different adjustments. For some people, a spike here and there is not the issue. It’s the constant up and down all day long. So if you choose a mediterranean diet, a keto diet, paleo diet, even a vegan diet, depending on how you gear everything, and depending on how severe your insulin resistance is, how severe your blood regulation is, you’ll have to make certain adaptations, paying attention to your energy levels and what you ate prior. When you eat a meal, you should eat a meal that prioritizes your protein and has a, lot of fiber filled vegetables. Vegetables. If you want some of those starchy carbs, they should be the smallest portion of your plate. Healthy fats are good. They’re saying about 30% of your diet should be healthy fats. An optimum diet. If you don’t want to go low carb or keto? Well, this still technically puts you in low carb is a 30 30 30% protein, 30% carbohydrates, and 30% fat. And you balance out your meals accordingly. One thing you don’t ever want to do is have a starchy, sugary carb all by itself. The glucose spike is immense at that point. unless you’re going to do something like exercise right afterwards, if you are strategically using it because you need that energy, because you can’t tap into fat during a high intensity exercise program, go for it. But learning how to adjust your meals so that you’re not getting the roller coaster of energy, making sure that you’re eating plenty of when you’re eating carbs, that there’s plenty of fiber in those carbs, and that you’re pairing it with protein and a fat. the 30 30 30 is something new to me. But the more I look at it, for an average person who does not want to go ketogenic, it’s probably the most optimum way to get this roller coaster of energy, the roller coaster of glucose, more in control. Now, when I say 30 30 30 on those 30% carbohydrates, I still expect you to get in mostly fibrous vegetables, your leafy greens, asparagus, brussels sprouts, cruciferous vegetables, things of that nature. And then a small portion would be something like a potato or a rice. To make it really simple, especially if you’re very visual, click on the show notes. I have a handout that will tell you exactly how to build a plate that will make your life, a lot easier. I know a lot of you just don’t want to track. I don’t track because it became unhealthy for me. Some of you will need to track whatever it is you want to make sure that you can lower that carbohydrate intake, especially from simple carbs, from sugary carbs, as much as you possible, so that you don’t have this roller coaster or that you can get off of it and then work on the rest.
How to build a plate that prioritizes protein, fiber, and healthy fats
When you’re working on your health, you do have to do things you may not want to, like give up foods that aren’t working with your body, and highly processed, full of sugar foods don’t work with most people’s bodies unless you’re like an elite athlete and working them off. And even then, there have been studies that show elite athletes oftentimes can present as diabetics or insulin resistance because of the amount of carbs and the amount of stress they put on their body. On top of that, our goal is to be the healthiest version of ourselves. Does that mean I am telling you you’re never having dessert? Absolutely not. What I’m saying is dessert at every meal is probably not your best option, especially if you want to be mobile and independent as you age. We have to think long term and stop looking for that instant gratification of the moment. It’s hard. I struggle with it too. I struggled with my weight my entire life, but it wasn’t my weight that I truly struggled with. It was my health. And now, at the ripe old age of 53, I have to make sure I don’t ever go back over the edge into the unhealthy I was. I may not be a skinny size two, though. Honestly, I was never a skinny size two. I am a normal sized woman. I have a butt. I have thighs, I have cellulite. I am working on building extra muscle just like you. And every day I look at the foods I’m eating to make sure I get off the sugar roller coaster and stay there.
So how do I build a plate that helps me balance my blood sugar and keep my energy stable? Here are some simple guidelines that you can follow:
- Start with a palm-sized portion of protein. This can be animal protein, like chicken, fish, beef, eggs, or dairy, or plant protein, like beans, lentils, tofu, or tempeh. Protein helps you feel full and satisfied, and also helps your body repair and build muscles, hormones, enzymes, and antibodies.
- Add half a plate of non-starchy vegetables. These are vegetables that are low in carbs and high in fiber, like leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, carrots, celery, cucumber, zucchini, and so on. Fiber helps you slow down the digestion and absorption of glucose, and also feeds your gut bacteria, which are essential for your immune system and mood. Fiber also helps you lower your cholesterol and blood pressure, and prevent constipation and colon cancer.
- Add a thumb-sized portion of healthy fats. These are fats that are mostly unsaturated, like olive oil, avocado, nuts, seeds, or fatty fish. Healthy fats help you absorb fat-soluble vitamins, like A, D, E, and K, and also provide you with essential fatty acids, like omega-3 and omega-6, that your body cannot make on its own. Healthy fats also help you modulate your inflammation, hormone production, and brain function.
- Add a fist-sized portion of starchy or sugary carbs. These are carbs that are higher in glucose or fructose, like potatoes, rice, pasta, bread, fruit, or dessert. These carbs provide you with quick energy, but they also spike your blood sugar more than the other foods. That’s why you want to limit them to a small portion, and pair them with protein, fiber, and fat, to slow down the glucose release and avoid a crash later.
That’s it. That’s how you build a plate that helps you balance your blood sugar and keep your energy stable. You can adjust the portions according to your needs, preferences, and goals, but this is a general template that works for most people. If you want a visual guide, you can download the handout that I have prepared for you in the show notes. It will show you how to build a plate with different examples of foods for each category.
Conclusion
Blood sugar balance is not only a concern for people with diabetes or prediabetes. It also affects your energy levels, inflammation, weight, and overall health. In this blog post, I have shared with you the big picture of blood sugar control and how it impacts your body’s physiological functions. I have also given you some practical tips on how to balance your blood sugar with a 30 30 30 diet, which consists of 30% protein, 30% carbohydrates, and 30% fat. I have also shown you how to build a plate that prioritizes protein, fiber, and healthy fats, and limits starchy and sugary carbs.