I recently weighed in on the topic of how you can balance your blood sugar for weight loss in this article for Veracity — a super cool company that uses hormone testing to personalize skincare.
You know from my Ozempic posts, I’ve been a tad obsessed with the topic lately….
It’s important to understand balanced blood sugar is the key to not just weight loss, but what’s more important…
Your body finding it’s ideal weight – the weight that is part of your personal, optimal health, is a happy little side effect of the body (and especially hormones!) coming back into balance.
In conventional medicine it’s long been thought that weight loss comes first, and that then is reflected in lower levels of insulin and blood sugar.
What we know now though is it’s the other way around.
Balancing Blood Sugar for Weight Loss
It’s the stabilization of blood sugar, effectiveness of insulin, and appropriate levels of each that sends the signal to the body that it is safe, the world is secure, and I no longer need to store fat like a squirrel hiding acorns away for winter.
When we balance our blood sugar weight loss happens naturally. It’s a side effect of everything – blood sugar, hormones, metabolism – coming back into balance.
The more you know about how it all works, the more it all makes so much sense…
This article explains more, and includes my tips for balancing blood sugar from day to day and avoiding those blood sugar spikes that not only can lead to Hangry mood swings, but can also set you on that slippery slope toward insulin resistance and weight gain.
Tips for Balancing Blood Sugar
- Avoid “naked carbs” by pairing carbs with fat or protein, like having a handful of nuts along with mango for a snack, or an apple with almond butter.
- Increase the amount of fiber in your meals – for instance by adding a big green salad – also eating that fiber first can significantly slow the absorption of sugars into the blood.
- Incorporate vinegar into your meals (like in a salad dressing) slows down the break down of carbs and reduces the spike in blood sugar.
- Go for a walk after eating has been shown to reduce any post-meal blood sugar spike.
- Beware of coffee on an empty stomach which will spike your blood sugar. Always have coffee with a meal or protein and fat (like cream and collagen).
- Cook and cool starchy veggies like potatoes, rice and oats. When cooked and cooled these form resistant starch which is especially beneficial for certain bacteria in our microbiome and have been shown to have a positive effect on insulin sensitivity and blood sugar levels. I like to bake or roast sweet potatoes and store in fridge for salads during the week.
- Tend to your terrain (a.k.a. take care of your gut). Gut health is linked with blood sugar management and weight. So tending to your terrain by eating a variety of fibers from plant foods that support a diversity of microbes and healthy balance in the gut is a way of supporting the long game of maintaining good metabolic health and healthy blood sugar levels.
- Stay away from stress – Remember too, anything that spikes your cortisol (stress hormone) can spike your blood sugar too. This is how stress all by itself can cause insulin resistance, completely separate from diet. Don’t underestimate the basics here — how you’re sleeping, how you’re breathing, how you’re managing stress levels — all these things can be affecting your blood sugar too. Note: This includes physical sources of stress, such as food sensitivities, microbial imbalances in the gut, or underlying infections. These things can stealthily be driving higher cortisol and thereby contributing to higher blood sugar.
