Summer has already moved into the second half and the time full of sweet smells and sweet tastes continues…
A lot of seasonal fruits such as strawberries, raspberries, peaches and apricots are already ripening in our gardens and filling the stalls at the markets, and we look forward to baking delicious cakes from them.
In the south of Europe, figs, melons and other sweet fruits also ripen to sweeten our day. Some of us like to have a refreshing ice cream on hot days too.
But how to enjoy this time full of sweet tastes so that it is as gentle as possible for our body and therefore our health?
Not all sugars are the same. But all of them eventually turn into sugar=glucose in our body and then they are used as energy. This is a completely natural and ingenious mechanism of our body.
However, our diet has changed considerably over the past 100 years. Too much refined white sugar gets into our bodies, which does not need to be “broken down” and raises blood glucose levels very quickly.
So how does consuming more sugar and other stimulants relate to hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar?
If we eat sweet foods, drink alcohol or coffee and experience a lot of stress in our lives, our blood sugar rises and falls very quickly. Like on a roller coaster. I’m sure you’ll agree that you can’t stay a whole day or days on a roller coaster… and something similar happens in our body.
The moment our blood sugar drops too low (and too quickly) we feel restless, weak, irritable, shaky, anxious, our heart rate quickens, we start sweating and we may even pass out.
Does this happen to you?
We are usually surprised by these symptoms when we skip a meal or just eat late, after excessive physical activity, after coffee or after eating mostly sweet food.
It happened to me for the first time more than twenty years ago, when I had to take care of something at work, I was late for lunch, and in the tram I suddenly felt insanely weak, I started knocking and finally fainted… At that time I had no idea what was happening to me.
Hypoglycemia is not only a problem of diabetics, but a significant part of the population suffers from some form of it.
We are all different and therefore the intensity of these symptoms is different. If it´s an emergency, something sweet will help us with the symptoms, in the long run this “firefighting” will rather harm us, because the symptoms will be worse and we will need more sweets to calm down.
But if we observe ourselves patiently, over time we will know when during the day and under what situations hypoglycemia can attack us. In order to be prepared, it is good to always have a protein snack with us, which will benefit us more, because the protein in the food will slow down the rate of increase in blood sugar.
And so we balance its level with a regular small protein snack between main meals.
Repeated episodes of hypoglycemia can have a negative impact on our health. Glucose is also needed for our brain and nervous system, so in the long term we can experience anxiety, depression, chronic fatigue, panic, dizziness, difficulty concentrating, overweight, palpitations and many other symptoms…
Another fact is that in order for the body to balance the high sugar level, pancreas must release insulin, which allows the transfer of glucose from the blood into the cells, which thus obtain the necessary energy. If these changes are frequent, the pancreas can become “tired” and may not release enough insulin, leading to high blood sugar levels, thus obesity and diabetes.
So how not to burden the body with very rapidly changing blood sugar level?
- The regularity of balanced meals and physical activity is important
- We choose foods with a low glycemic index and glycemic load. The higher the index, the faster the blood glucose level rises. Examples of high indexes can be white flour and white rice, pastry and pasta, and examples of low indexes are all vegetables, nuts, dairy products or whole grain unsweetened products
- We limit sweets to a minimum, ideally we avoid refined sugar completely and only sweeten with, for example, high-quality stevia, chicory or dried mulberry… however, we try to avoid having to add sugar at all… and we always keep in mind that this “sweetness” contains high-quality protein, which will slow down the increase in blood sugar
- We also skip coffee or reduce it to a minimum if we drink it unsweetened and have a snack with quality protein
- We eat sweet fruit in moderation and in combination with protein
- We avoid alcohol and smoking
- We drink enough pure water. If we don’t drink water when we’re thirsty, within half an hour your body can send a signal that we’re hungry
- If we are experiencing chronic stress, we need to start working with it. There is an abundance of techniques, so everyone can choose what suits him/her the best:
- time in nature
- yoga
- tai-chi
- relaxing techniques
- breathing techniques
- dancing and singing
- swimming and other sports
- regular massages and self-massages
- meditation
- practicing mindfulness
- perhaps inevitable change in our life
Tips for protein snacks:
- Nuts, seeds and nut butters, which are excellent in combination with sweet fruit (for example mashed banana with almond butter, dates with cashew nut butter) but also in baked or raw cakes (banana bread with Brazil nuts, carrot cake sweetened with raisins and walnuts) and in a smoothie
- Organic white yogurt, ideally from goat and sheep milk in combination with sweet fruit (homemade raspberry ice cream sweetened only with banana, with fresh strawberries or blueberries, white yogurt with dried figs)
- Baked chips or cakes made from legumes such as whole lentils or peas with added brown rice, amaranth or quinoa
- Legume dips (hummus made from chickpeas and tahini with vegetables – carrot, cucumber, celery)
- Tofu- red beet spread
- Hard-boiled eggs mashed with avocado
In conclusion, it must be said that if these symptoms are stronger for you, I recommend that you completely avoid coffee, alcohol and any sweets and only consume complex carbohydrates with a low glycemic index in moderation, which will give you energy slowly and gently, thus not overloading your pancreas.
Sources:
1.Rudolph Ballentine, MD – Diet and Nutrition – A holistic approach
2. School of Health – course material
3.Martin Budd – Low Blood Sugar
Pingback: The quality of animal and plant protein - Zuzana Šafránková