Controlling Blood Sugar

Given that I now have a high carbohydrate sensitivity (as mentioned in my first blog post), I have to constantly watch my carbohydrate intake. I am doing this very rigorously by eating a low-carb diet (almost borderline keto diet). I bought a blood glucose monitor to help me see which foods tend to raise my blood sugar too much. This is really helpful to get a clear picture of what is okay to eat. No one should have to wait to have diabetes in order to do that. When I eat something slightly sweet, right away it makes me want to eat more. So I really stay away from anything containing too much sugar at this point. Healthy fats are way more satisfying anyway!

To help you get a better handle on monitoring your blood sugar levels, there are different strategies that you can implement. Ben Greenfield highlights these in Boundless. Here are four of them:

Strength Training

Strength training helps lower blood sugar and improves insulin sensitivity, which also means less of a chance to store sugar as fat. Simple bodyweight exercises can be enough, such as: push-ups, lunges, and air squats. Squats are my favorite, since they’re easy to do throughout the day whenever you have a minute or two.

Pre-breakfast Fasted Cardio

According to research, exercising in the morning in a fasted state (meaning before you eat anything) can really help to keep your blood sugar in check.

Walking Right After Having your Meal

Short walks (20-30 minutes) right after eating are highly recommended too as they have been shown to lead to lower fat concentration in the blood.

Staying Physically Active During the Day

If walking after your meal is not always possible, then standing is the next best option (as opposed to sitting) in order to lessen post-meal blood sugar spikes. You can also switch between standing and sitting every 30 minutes or so. The main thing is to keep moving throughout the day, as mentioned in my two previous posts: 5 Simple Leg (&Hip) Stretches and Why Everyday Movement is Non-Negotiable.

In Summary

To help with maintaining desired blood glucose levels, the above approaches are simple habits to take on. As always, it doesn’t have to be challenging. Just one or two small new changes at a time in the right direction. Which strategy will you implement first?

Until next time!

Reference

Greenfield, Ben. Boundless : Upgrade Your Brain, Optimize Your Body & Defy Aging. Las Vegas, Victory Belt Publishing Inc, 2020, pp. 166–68.

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