Let’s talk about blood sugar. Most of us know what blood sugar is and generally speaking, most of us know that it is something worth looking after.
But what does ‘stabilising your blood sugar’ actually mean? A lot of people refer to a stable blood sugar as having a consistent level of energy throughout their day. If your blood sugar is low, then you will tend to be low in energy. Your brain function goes down so you are not able to function at your optimal capacity. Basically, if you don’t have enough glucose in your body, your body will struggle to run itself effectively.
The dangers of not regulating your blood sugar levels are also pretty well known, namely type 2 diabetes. However, your blood sugar can also affects numerous other aspects of your life, such as fat loss and women with unstable blood sugar are more likely to develop Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS).
There are numerous ways to keep your blood sugar in control, things like eating more lean proteins, more vegetables and cutting down on processed snacks, but they are all a given. Instead, today we are focusing on the lesser known methods that you can start doing in order to help keep your blood sugar consistent throughout your entire day!
1) COCONUT OIL IN WARM WATER.
Coconut oil is a fantastic source of healthy fat and is available at most supermarkets. One of the first things you will want to try is dissolving a teaspoon of coconut oil into some warm water and drinking it. It may sounds strange, but coconut oil acts as a great stabiliser for your blood sugar and by having it at the beginning of the day, it becomes a lot easier to keep your blood sugars stable throughout the remainder of your day. This is the same reason we always recommend our clients to have a high protein, high healthy fat breakfast!
The reason coconut oil is a little better than olive oil is because it keeps its properties under warmer temperatures, meaning you can also cook with it too!
Bonus side note: In the same way as coconut oil, cinnamon also acts as a fantastic tool in helping increase your insulin sensitivity and promoting a stable blood sugar. By adding a sprinkle of cinnamon into most of your meals, you will find that your energy levels remain far more consistent throughout the day.
2) FIBRE
Fibre helps your body in a multitude of different ways. Not only is it great for losing body fat, improving your general wellbeing and helping your body function properly, but it also helps stabilise your blood sugar.
Without a doubt, vegetables are one of the easiest ways to increase your fibre intake, specifically, leafy green vegetables. No one ever put on body fat by eating too many vegetables!
That being said, try to avoid most ‘white’ vegetables, such as potato. White potatoes have got very little fibre and they’ve had a little bit taken out. A sweet potato actually has a lot more fibre in it than a normal potato.
3) FATS
Fats are CRUCIAL to weight loss.
Despite common belief, low fat foods are not necessarily better for you. Instead, it is far better to instead fill your body full of beneficial fats. The coconut oil is a great example of this. When we say beneficial fats, we are talking about things like avocado, olive oil on cold food, cooking in coconut oil, nuts etc.
A lot of people cut out processed foods in order to lose weight, which is great, however because very few people add some kind of healthy fat to replace the carbohydrates that they have removed, meaning your blood sugar can still move up and down.
Do not to be scared of healthy fats. Bluntly speaking, your body will not lose fat if it doesn’t have enough healthy fat. A lot of diet schemes focus on fats as being the worst thing for your body, however removing them completely is actually the worst thing you can do because your body will not be able to burn body fat without them!
Now you are aware of HOW to stabilise your blood sugar, put these tips into action! Try to focus on adding just one new habit into your week, perhaps begin with adding a teaspoon of dissolved coconut oil into your morning routine. After a week of successfully doing that, introduce more leafy greens into your nutrition and so on. This will create a sustainable and helpful method of weight loss which you can stick to for life! Helping you keep your blood sugar under control!
