Maintaining Blood Sugar Balance During the Holidays
By Sarah Buck, ND T
he holiday season is upon us. As calendars fi ll up with social events through the next two months, our bodies can also start to fi ll up; with stress, and sugar, and all of those things that we rarely eat, or that we only eat in modera- tion. How can this year be different? If the holidays have become times of stress for you, then what will you do this year to take control?
Cookies and little, crumbly nibbly things abound at this time of year. Simply applying the puritanical “self-restraint” model won’t cut it. There are larger forces than good and evil at work here. How can you beat the system and stare down those cookies? You can eat something else. It is simple, and easy, when you’re prepared. And this is not advice to just carry around carrot and celery sticks with you all day. This is about eating delicious things that give you lasting energy.
A quick background on blood sugar: After a meal, the major nutrients
leave the stomach and are absorbed through the small intestine and circulated in the blood as glucose (carbohydrates/ sugar), fats, or amino acids (proteins). The hormone insulin leaps into action after a meal, putting the sugar from the food we’ve eaten into cells as either immediate
fuel (glucose) or stored fuel (glycogen and fat). In people with insulin-sensitive cells, a predictable rise and fall in the glucose circulating in the blood occurs as the sugar from the meal is ushered into cells in a timely fashion. In people with impaired insulin sensitivity and type 2 diabetes the cells don’t respond well to the insulin and the sugar is left to roam the blood stream. Sugar left in the blood stream will tend to wreak havoc on all delicate things (tiny blood vessels, kidneys, eyes, nerves). All of this can be moderated with what you consume in addition to sugar or instead of sugar. For example, protein eaten before carbohydrates can cause insulin to rise slightly, as if priming the body for a sugar intake. Protein has the added benefi t of making you feel sated, which will lead to less sugar consumption. Fats consumed with sugar will cause the stomach to slow down the amount of food that is released and delivered to the intestines and blood- stream. This will spread out the effect of the sugar, leading to a more even distribution. Fats also cause a feeling of satiety. Replac- ing just 5% of calories from carbohydrates with fat increases the body’s sensitivity to insulin. Adding fi ber does double duty elic- iting satiety and slowing down the release of food into the intestines.
Putting it into action:
• Snacks: Nuts and seeds contain fats, protein, and fi ber. Nuts are a great snack to have on hand. Eating a small handful before entering a situation where there will be sweets can stave off the cookie-monster effect. Not all nuts are created equal and to stay in the holiday spirit: walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts all work well, or almonds, cashews, pumpkin seeds, sunfl ower seeds. Just not peanuts.
• Eat Throughout the Day: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Even if you hate eating in the morn- ing, do try to consume some protein and fat before lunch over the next two months. It will help stave off those cookie attacks in the break room, where invariably someone leaves a fi ggy pudding for the taking. A hard- boiled egg, slices of ham or turkey, a handful of nuts, a cup of full-fat yogurt, a cup of bone broth (hot!). You see what I’m doing? Nothing here is particularly carbohydrate rich. This sets you up for success throughout the day.
Lunch is also important. Meaty soups, fi sh, ham and turkey sandwiches, quiches, loaded salads, broccoli with olive oil, hummus, cottage cheese,
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