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Have you ever had a bar of chocolate to cure your afternoon slump only to notice that the instant rush of energy was very quickly replaced by a wave of tiredness?
That’s because when your body receives too much glucose too quickly after eating, it experiences a blood sugar spike, Dr Mahrukh Khwaja, expert from Mind Ninja, explained.
The rush of sugar causes the mitochondria in your cells to become stressed and shut down.
Khwaja said: “This leads to inflammation and influences their ability to make energy adequately.
“Glucose spikes leave us feeling exhausted, hungry every few hours, and may cause low mood, hormonal imbalances, brain fog and fasten the ageing process through a process known as glycation.”
What’s worse, consistent glucose spikes can lead to conditions like type 2 diabetes over time, the expert warned.
While certain foods can be the very triggers for this harmful process, smart dietary choices could keep your blood sugar levels in check.
Fortunately, the expert recommended three simple dietary tweaks that could help avoid spikes.
1. Swap a sweet breakfast for savoury
Tucking into fruit juices, smoothies, cereals or acai bowls first thing in the morning can harm your mitochondria, spike your blood sugar and actually give your body less energy, Khwaja explained.
Therefore, she recommended switching to options like eggs, smoked salmon or hummus on rye toast, and Greek yoghurt with nuts.
“Note how you feel, how strong your cravings were and how much energy you felt,” she added.
2. Add a vegetable starter to your meals
Veggies are packed with fibre and eating this carbohydrate before anything else has a “powerful” impact on your blood sugar.
Khwaja added: “When fibre arrives in our upper intestine before other foods, it deploys against the walls of our intestine, creating a protective mesh.
“This mesh reduces the absorption of any glucose molecules during the rest of our meal, and therefore reduces the glucose spike of our meal.”
3.Try meal prepping in advance
Making your foods in advance could help take back control of what you’re eating and include more foods rich in fibre.
The expert said: “Make raw veggie bags and keep them in the fridge or use the steamed frozen vegetable bags for a quick hack to add to lunch or dinner.
“Avoid pureeing the vegetables as it impacts the fibre content.”
