LIMIT SIMPLE CARBOHYDRATES START YOUR DAY OFF RIGHT Breakfast is the most significant way to set yourself up for a balanced day. To ensure you are getting enough protein, fat and fiber, begin with a #bewellsmoothie. This will help keep you full until lunch and keep cravings at bay
You can naturally balance your blood sugar by avoiding simple carbohydrates and hidden sugar. Simple carbohydrates include various forms of sugar (look for words ending in “ose”), such as sucrose (table sugar), fructose (fruit sugar), lactose (dairy sugar) and glucose (blood sugar). They can be metabolized quickly and are therefore most likely to cause an insulin surge. This is why it is possible to feel hungrier after you drink a 100% fruit smoothie than after you eat an egg omelet — the subsequent fructose crash will have you craving and eating more throughout the day.
MAKE A DATE WITH THE SANDMAN Get good sleep, those 8 hours not eating and resting will help bring blood sugar back to a healthy state.
WATCH OUT FOR HIDDEN SUGAR: It can be frustrating to clean up your diet and not see results. “Hidden” sugar can be everywhere and may be the culprit. Check the nutrition information on everything you buy and eat. Processed foods: There may be sugar in processed foods like bread, ketchup, salad dressing, canned fruit, applesauce, peanut butter and soups. Beverages: Sugar can also be present in beverages; especially coffee and alcohol and liquid sugar creates the fastest insulin surge.
Fat free foods: Sugar is often used to replace the flavor that is lost when the fat is removed. Juices: Watch out for 100% fruit products that contain concentrated fruit juice or fructose. Juicing your way through the holidays really just means a liver full of fructose and muscle loss (fructose is 100% metabolized in the liver).
The holiday’s can be hard with excess champagne, cookies, chocolate and cake. Monitor how you respond to simple carbohydrates and add fat or fiber to your snack or meal to decrease spikes and crashes. If you decide to indulge, do so mindfully and remember that those aftershock cravings are just caused by excess insulin; so drink water, eat fat and protein, go workout to burn off the sugar rush and sleep off the alcohol.
WINTER 2015
15
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