in today's video we're going to be talking about blood sugar and diet and what diet is best for
balancing our blood sugar we're also going to talk about the impact the different diets such
as the low carb and keto diet the meat free or vegan diet and government recommended diets have
on our blood sugar now blood sugar is something that the average person doesn't really think about
or worry about it is not until you've received a diagnosis of pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes
then you start to understand the significance but I think this is a mistake we should all have some
background info on blood sugar and how to balance it before it becomes a problem blood sugar isn't
something that only diabetics need to worry about it impacts our health in so many different ways
short term having stable blood sugar means you have more energy your mood is more stable
and you can think clearer and long term it can help you to prevent insulin resistance and type
2 diabetes it can help you to reduce your heart disease risk and it can also help you to reduce
your risk of other diseases as well understanding blood sugar does not mean you have to religiously
track it or hyper fixate on the foods you're eating but having a general understanding
of how blood sugar impacts our health can set you up for a long healthy life [Music]
hey guys welcome back to my channel if you're new here my name is Kait I'm a certified health
and nutrition coach I post new videos twice a week here on YouTube talking all things insulin
resistance weight loss sleep and more so if you're ready to take control of your metabolic Health
make sure to click that subscribe button and you can also find me on Tick Tock and Instagram
whereas your new posts every single day let's start off by talking about what is considered
to be a normal or healthy blood sugar level before getting into the impact the different
diets have and make sure to watch the whole video because I'm also going to be giving you some tips
on how to balance your blood sugar which don't necessarily constrain you to a specific diet so
what exactly is blood sugar blood sugar also known as blood glucose is the concentration
of sugar in your bloodstream at any point in time your body requires roughly 4 grams of sugar to be
circulating in your blood however when we eat certain foods these are are broken down into
sugar or glucose they enter our bloodstream and they cause our blood sugar to rise in response
to this rise in blood sugar your pancreas is going to release insulin which shuttles the
sugar out of your bloodstream and to your cells to be used for energy at which point your blood
sugar levels return back to Baseline your body is always striving to maintain homeostasis and keep
your blood sugar at this Baseline this is because when your blood sugar is too high it can lead to
problems and same goes for when it's too low right in the middle around 4 grams is The Sweet Spot
measuring your blood sugar is easy all you need is a small device called the blood glucose monitor or
a continuous glucose monitor the former can be bought at any pharmacy and the latter sometimes
requires a prescription depending on where you live but I will put links to both in the
description box down below glycemic variability refers to changes in our blood sugar level that
occur over a period of time someone with high glycemic variability will see a wide variance in
their blood sugar levels throughout the day there will be large swings in their blood sugar after
eating for example and someone with low glycemic variability will have very little variance at all
their line will be more or less flat now here's the thing the body is very resilient it can handle
these large influxes in blood sugar when they occur however if these are happening repeatedly
throughout the day day after day this is when it can start to become a problem when your
blood sugar is always spiking a lot of insulin is needed to take it out of your bloodstream
and to your cells however too much insulin will eventually cause your cells to become insulin
resistant they will no longer respond to insulin and they won't take in the blood sugar as they
should your muscle cells are the first to become insulin resistant meaning that excess glucose is
more likely to be stored as fat not a side effect that a lot of people are thrilled about and on
top of that insulin resistance will eventually lead to high fasting blood sugar and a type 2
diabetes diagnosis it can also manifest as other diseases as well such as PCOS and heart disease
the lower we can keep our glycemic variability the more stable we can keep our blood sugar throughout
the day the better not only for the prevention of the diseases we just discussed but also for
short-term benefits as well with stable blood sugar and low glycemic variability your energy
Will Be steady throughout the day you won't have energy crashes mid-morning or mid-afternoon where
you lose focus and are craving a snack you're going to be able to think clear and have less
brain fog you're going to sleep better and your hormones are going to remain in balance
and these are just a few of the short-term benefits you might experience now diet isn't the
only factor that impacts our blood sugar levels but by far the number one variable for blood
sugar is the food we're eating some foods raise our blood sugar significantly as they are broken
down into glucose and other foods have little or no impact the foods that raise your blood sugar
the most are foods that are rich in refined sugar and carbohydrates such as candy fruit juice pop
and jam and also foods rich in carbohydrates such as cereal bread pasta and granola bars
these are the two worst offenders and it doesn't matter whether it's natural sugar or
not carbohydrates are broken down into sugar and this causes the increase in blood sugar even whole
food sources such as bananas and apples can have a big impact on our blood sugar however if you
pair carbohydrate-rich foods with foods rich in protein and fat this can slow digestion and lessen
the spike and even eating starchy Foods after you eat protein and fat can have a big impact as well
so for example if you're having meat green beans and potatoes eat the meat and green beans first
and have the potatoes last but what about if you're not eating many carbohydrates and you
focus on foods that are high in protein and fat on their own the spike in blood sugar is going to be
very minimal or non-existent this is because fat and protein are not metabolized in the same way
carbohydrates are they are not broken down into glucose so obviously no spiking blood sugar and
your glycemic variability is going to be a lot lower eating fiber rich foods is another way to
slow down the digestion of carbohydrates and lower the blood sugar response to a meal and another
trick I love for lowering blood sugar is to drink good idea beforehand these drinks have been
formulated with specific amino acids that support metabolism and improve insulin sensitivity and
they've been shown to reduce blood sugar spikes by up to 30 percent so if you know you're going
to be having a meal high in carbohydrates drink one third can of good idea beforehand and sip on
the rest while you eat I like to drink good idea before I go out to eat when I'm not sure what's
going to be on the menu if you're interested in good idea I'm going to link them down below
along with a promo code to save 10 percent but anyways by looking at the macronutrient breakdown
of different diets we can get a pretty good idea of the impacts they're going to have on glycemic
variability the standard American diet for example is very high in processed food which means it's
very high in sugars and carbohydrates this way of eating also has high to moderate fat and low
protein the standard American diet is focused on convenience someone eating the standard American
diet is going to have high glycemic variability the this is going to put them at an increased risk
of insulin resistance type 2 diabetes PCOS heart disease and all the other diseases we spoke about
earlier and is this not a direct reflection of the current state of our health as of 2019
over 500 million people worldwide are diabetic now moving on the DASH diet is one that's often
recommended by doctors and dietitians Dash stands for the dietary approach to stop hypertension this
way of eating is specifically focused on lowering blood pressure and it also often gets recommended
to patients who are at risk of heart disease and diabetes as well as these conditions all go hand
in hand but here's the thing lowering blood pressure without addressing the root cause is
setting people up for failure Studies have shown that the majority of people with type 2 diabetes
also have high blood pressure and they have shown that when people improve their insulin
sensitivity and start to reverse their diabetes their blood pressure decreases as well the root
of high blood pressure is caused by insulin resistance which as we spoke about earlier can
be partially caused by high glycemic variability believe it or not the DASH diet is actually higher
in carbohydrates than the standard American diet is this is because it focuses more on lowering fat
but this isn't necessarily a good thing like the standard American diet it's going to lead to high
glycemic variability and therefore it's not going to be very effective for its end goal which is
lowering high blood pressure now let's talk about meat-free or vegan diets while the vegan diet does
not necessarily have set macros it is almost always high in carbohydrates this is because
it's extremely difficult to get enough protein and fat on a vegan diet without an abundance
of carbohydrates because plant-based protein sources almost always have more carbs than protein
so as you can see a vegan diet is high in carbs it can be moderate to low in protein and it's
almost always low in fat once again not ideal for glycemic variability now I will say that the high
amounts of fiber they consume can help a bit but in general it's not going to offset it enough so
what about low carb and keto diets low carb diets are of course low in carbohydrates and they're
high in fat with moderate protein and this macro breakdown means that they have very low glycemic
variability and this is one of the main reasons why so many people feel amazing eating this way
stable blood sugar means stable mood stable energy and fewer cravings and these all tie
in with glycemic variability but with that being said I don't think you need to eat a low carb diet
in order to balance your blood sugar if you use the tips I mentioned earlier in this video pairing
carbohydrates with protein and fat drinking good idea before you have meals high in carbs
or eating carbohydrates last these can all have a big impact anyways guys that's all I have for
you today let me know in the comment section down below if you have ever tracked your blood sugar
was there anything surprising that you learned let me know down below if you did enjoy this video you
might also enjoy my video that has over 100 foods that are low on the glycemic index that can help
you to balance your blood sugar you can check it out here if you want to catch up on my most recent
upload you can find it here and if you want to check out my coaching programs including my seven
day insulin resistance Master Class you can find those here thanks guys I'll see you next time bye