You know you shouldn’t do it. But you can’t seem to help yourself. You crave snacks almost every night, even when you have had a filling dinner. You find yourself standing in front of the fridge, eating a little of this or that, taking in what you think you need to curb your hunger. You feel satisfied for a while, but then guilt steps in.
Does this scene sound familiar?
This never ending cycle of snacking, then feeling guilty is bad for your health, your waistline and your self-esteem.
There’s a way to stop the cycle, but first, I want to shed some light on the miraculous relationships between your food, your blood sugar and your insulin levels.
The cravings you feel every night are actually early signs of an imbalance in your blood sugar level.
How do I know? I know because I experienced a severe drop in my blood sugar levels more than once while I was performing surgery (I used to be a surgeon).
That was no good for my patient or for me, so I decided to do a deeper exploration into the cause of my fainting. My research and the resulting changes I made to my diet solved the problem completely.
We are often told by well-meaning diet gurus that carbohydrates are bad for us. The truth is some carbohydrates are good for us. The ones to avoid are refined carbohydrates such as white bread, French fries, and chips. They are not the best choices when it comes to health and weight loss. However, carbohydrates from whole wheat, oats or brown rice are another story.
What happens when you eat refined carbohydrates is your body tries to estimate the amount of insulin it will need to process the spike in sugars. It releases a shot of insulin into the blood to prepare for digestion. Refined sugars lead to a blood sugar spike, which means you need a lot of insulin, fast. After the spike, residual, unused insulin remains in your system, which leaves you feeling hungry again. That feeling is your body trying to eliminate the excess insulin. You feel hungry, so you eat to curb your hunger, and the cycle starts over again.
When you eat whole carbohydrates, your blood sugar does not spike. It takes time for your body to break up the brown rice or oats, which means the sugars are released into your system slowly. This leads to a stable blood sugar and insulin levels. No ups and downs.
And an unexpected side effect from stability in your blood sugar levels is stable moods. It all works together.
You have the power to stop the yo-yoing blood-sugar spikes that make you feel hungry. Below are three secrets to help you start now:
First, go slowly. You want to make changes that last. Cut down on sodas until you eliminate them altogether. Choose water instead. It will taste bland and boring at first, so be prepared. Try drinking herbal teas with no sugar. It takes time, but you will eventually grow to enjoy the flavors.
Next, substitute refined grains with whole grains. When you use table sugar, choose the real thing. Your body doesn’t know what to do with aspartame or other artificial sweeteners. It will signal hunger as a way to meet its needs.
Third, cut back on meat. Did you know that meat requires a large amount of insulin for digestion. In fact, it requires more insulin than candy.
Don’t beat yourself up for not doing it right. If you fall off the wagon, get up and start again the next day. Making these changes is a the start to a new way of living, rather than a goal that you meet and are done with.
Dr. Jaentsch is a physician working in Holistic Medicine. She helps cancer patients to overcome their fear of cancer return through a holistic prevention program called The Fear-less sessions. www.tinyjaentsch.com
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