Understanding Glycemic Response and Cheating Blood Sugar Spikes
Sources say 88% of the American population is metabolically unhealthy! Glycemic control is one element that plays a major role in helping us understand how metabolic health declines. We define metabolic disease as a waist circumference in men greater than 40 inches and greater than 35 inches in women. We may also see climbing blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugars at each yearly physical.
Continuous glucose monitors are making an impact in some circles to curtail these climbing health risks. They are all the rage in hip young athletic enthusiasts who are trying to understand their glycemic response and cheating blood sugar spikes.
It’s understandable to have concern about blood sugars when one in three adults in America have prediabetes and it is a major risk factor for developing Type 2 Diabetes and heart disease.
Does the young athlete have cause for concern for a glycemic response, too? If they are headed towards insulin resistance, yes.
Glycemic response is a reflection of circulating blood sugar after eating. The response will vary based on the amount of glucose absorbed from the food, it’s entry into circulation, it’s exit from circulation due to tissue uptake, and the liver’s ability to regulate glucose. (1)
The use of continuous glucose monitors among people with and without diabetes has brought to light how long a person’s blood sugar stays in a particular range. The time in range (TIR) for higher verses tighter glycemic numbers are associated with increased microvascular complications.
Although experts still argue about its validity, glycemic index and glycemic load have science to back up their use as a valid tool in managing metabolic syndrome. Simply because it helps those with metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and prediabetes choose foods that have less impact on blood sugar. The measurement of how quickly carbohydrates break down into sugar for these individuals is important!
Glycemic Control Matters, But It’s Not An Indicator of Healthiness
The higher the number on a scale of 1 to 100, the more a food increases blood sugar. However, glycemic index or load should never be considered in isolation, but in relation to the other aspects of a food’s energy contents, like fiber, micronutrients, and protein.
Just remember, whole food is and always will be your friend in health and preservative filled, packaged fake foods will not only spike blood sugar, but make your body work harder to detoxify its contents. Yep, fake food is your cell’s sworn enemy.
Therefore, a more sensible and accurate way to consider these other variables is to look at the glycemic load, which was developed by Harvard researchers.
| Glycemic Response—Glycemic Index | |||
| Glycemic Response | Glucose in the bloodstream after eating in the individual. **A Spike of 30 to 40mg/dl per meal is ideal in most sources** |
Rate depends on: Glucose absorbed from food, it’s entry into circulation, how quickly tissue uses it, and the liver’s ability to regulate glucose. | |
| Glycemic Index (GI) | The rate at which blood sugar rises with food in relation to pure glucose. It does not consider the overall nutrient profile (antioxidants/vitamins/minerals) | Low GI < 55 Medium between 56 and 69 High GI is >70 |
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| Glycemic Load (GL) | The quality and quantity of food. Cooking, amount of ripeness, and processing affect the glycemic load, too.
MAKE IT SIMPLE FOR YOURSELF AND DOWNLOAD THE FREE |
Low GL is 10 or less Medium is between 11 and 19 High is 20 or more |
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Keep in mind, the health of the individual and the ability of their muscles and liver to utilize the available glucose really does matter!
If someone has diabetes, gastroparesis, poor gut health, insulin resistance, fatty liver, inflammation, or is taking medication to lower their blood sugar; their glucose response is going to be different than a healthy individual with none of these issues.
Also, just because a food is low in glycemic load, does not mean it’s healthy! Remember hydrogenated trans fats? They are also low in all GI and GL numbers but a travesty to the health of our blood vessels. So, if you haven’t thrown out all your fake butter and pie crust yet, maybe start there.
Back to the main point: You and I need to understand even “healthy” individuals see a spike in blood sugar with simple carbohydrates (white flour, rice, sugar, juice, sodas, etc.). Therefore, since we are all different and blood sugar response is a concern for us, it makes sense to know how we respond to the food we eat.
Steps to Measure Glycemic Response and Questions to Ask When Numbers are High
However, we don’t need to invest in an expensive continuous glucose monitor to figure this out. We can buy a $30 glucometer at our local retail store and check how we respond to the food we eat.
How do we do that?
A fasting blood sugar is checked first thing in the morning without any food or drink on board, the desired result should be less than 100mg/dl. If it is consistently greater for more than a few days, we want to ask ourselves a few questions.
- “Did I eat late last night after dinner?”
- “Did the items I ate and drank for supper have too many carbohydrates and sugar and not enough fiber and protein?”
- “Did I get enough movement in yesterday?” “Am I getting sick with a virus, or am I stressed?”
All of which can elevate blood sugar.
Another way to check blood sugar is to eat breakfast, check blood sugar 30 minutes later to see how the blood sugar spikes. Then again two hours after the meal to see how well our bodies utilized the sugar available. Established entities today say two hours after a meal blood sugar should be less than 180mg/dl. If it’s the old Endocrinology standard and the optimal level of 140 mg/dl, even better!
Now, I realize three finger sticks may be a bit much, but you do not have to do this every meal. You can record the day’s breakfast numbers, then the next day check before and after lunch, the following day, check before and two hours after dinner.
Recording each day’s rotation of meals, food consumed, spikes, and post meal blood sugars, will give you a nice journal by the end of the week to evaluate and make changes. It will also be a journal to share with your health care provider.
Intentionality is Key
Knowing blood sugar levels after meals helps us be more intentional about the choices we make. “Why push our bodies to do the hard things they were not meant to do?” “Why tax and push our bodies to respond to repeated stressors like a high glycemic response, when it’s already working overtime to remove the everyday waste from our environment?
You know, the pollution, pesticides, herbicides, plastic particles, and ultra processed food without fiber.
Since we are becoming more aware of toxins, and endocrine (hormone) disruptors in our food with the Yuka app, it makes sense to check out an international table of glycemic index and glycemic load resource, too. It is available for you to review at Diabetes Care and will be found in this link:
You will see very clearly after surveying this list of foods how much we need more fiber in our diet and less simple carbs.
Fiber is Your Friend for Cheating Blood Sugar Spikes
An analysis of 135 million people across 185 studies suggests a15-30% decrease in all cause mortality in people who eat a higher fiber diet. This includes a decrease in deaths from cardiovascular disease, diabetes, colorectal cancer, and incidence of heart attacks and strokes. (2)
If you and I are looking for an easy and delicious way to decrease our risk factors maybe we can eat more fiber each day!
We can do that by simply adding nuts and seeds to our main dishes, or increasing our intake of fresh fruits and vegetables with every meal.
Why fresh?
It is thought that 80-85% of vital antioxidants, and nutrients are lost with cooking. We need the enzymes and phytonutrients available in our fresh produce to help us fight disease. The fiber present helps us remove waste products, keeps us feeling full longer, and feeds our gut microbes well!
In turn, the gut microbes give us short chain fatty acids that help us control blood sugar better and lower cholesterol.
Cheating blood sugar spikes just got a little easier and tastier, my friend! Check out the site for more information on tasty fiber and well rounded whole meal ideas.
References:
- Reynolds A, Mann J, Cummings J, Winter N, Mete E, Te Morenga L. Carbohydrate quality and human health: a series of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Lancet. 2019 Feb 2;393(10170):434-445. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31809-9. Epub 2019 Jan 10. Erratum in: Lancet. 2019 Feb 2;393(10170):406. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(19)30119-9. PMID: 30638909.