Prevent High Blood Sugar Spikes to Improve Health and Reduce Cravings

Do you enjoy sweets, but find it hard to stop eating them once you’ve started, and end up eating the whole chocolate bar or bag of cookies? Do you have a hard time cutting back? 

You are not alone.

From the dopamine that you get from eating the food, to the blood sugar changes that the food can create; the foods that you eat can make your sugar cravings worse.

When you have blood sugar spikes, the following blood sugar crashes could be leading you to a cycle of strong food cravings, followed by quenching those cravings with more high-sugar foods.

The reason the blood sugars drop after the spike in blood sugar is that the body has to release a bunch of insulin to bring the sugars down. If the blood sugars get too low, it can trigger hunger, food cravings1, and even addictive responses1.

To prevent this from happening, it is helpful to keep your blood sugars in the normal range as much as possible.

Carbohydrates are the component in foods and beverages that can raise blood sugars after eating or drinking. Too much of the carbohydrates at once, especially the fast-absorbing carbohydrates, can lead to higher blood sugar spikes.

However, carbohydrates are not the enemy. The fact that they increase blood sugars temporarily does not mean you need to cut them out. In fact, your body uses sugar for energy, and it your brain's preferred energy source. Foods that contain carbohydrates including grains (especially whole grains) and starchy vegetables, also have a lot of important nutrients (including vitamins, minerals, fibre, and more).

It is possible to still have carbohydrates without causing such high blood sugar spikes. These are some strategies that can help you do so:

Strategy 1: Pair the carbohydrates you eat with protein, fibre, and/or fats, to help slow down the absorption of the sugars.

The protein, fibre, and fat can slow down the digestion of the carbohydrates, so that the sugars aren’t absorbed as fast. They also help to fill you up, so that you have less room for the carbohydrate-rich or sugar-filled foods.

Examples of these foods are:

• nuts and seeds (including nut butters like peanut butter) = protein, healthy fat, and fibre

• milk and Greek yogurt = protein

• eggs = protein

• beans, lentils, and soy = protein and fibre

• meat, poultry, and fish = protein and fats

• oils = fats

• fruits and vegetables = fibre

• whole grains and bran = fibre

So, instead of having the bread, cereal, pasta, crackers, or baked goods on their own, try having some fruit (fibre) and nut or seed butter (protein and fat) with them. Have fruit (fibre) and Greek yogurt (protein) with your breakfast. Try raw veggies (fibre) dipped in hummus (protein and fibre) with your crackers.

Strategy 2: Choose low glycemic index carbohydrates more often.

Since lower glycemic index carbohydrates are absorbed slower than high glycemic index carbohydrates, they don’t spike the blood sugar as high when comparing foods with the same amount of carbohydrate.

Why are some carbohydrates absorbed slower? Some starches are harder for the body to break down, so it takes longer for you to absorb it. For example, the starches in sourdough bread are harder to absorb than regular bread, because the fermentation changes the composition. Parboiled rice is also harder to absorb because the pre-boiling and then cooling of the rice creates a resistant starch (a type of dietary fibre) that the body can’t absorb. A similar process occurs if you eat potatoes cold (cooled after cooking) rather than when they are hot. Al dente (firm) pasta is also absorbed slower than well-cooked pasta. Whole grain foods have more fibre than refined grains, and the fibre slows down the absorption of the carbohydrates, making it lower in glycemic index.

Many cereals are highly processed and have a high glycemic index. 

High glycemic index cereals include: All-Bran Flakes™, Corn Flakes™, Cream of Wheat™ (Instant), Puffed Wheat cereal, Rice Krispies™, and Special K™. 

The lower glycemic index options include: Oats, muesli, Cream of Wheat™ (Regular), All-Bran™ Cereal (not flakes), and All-Bran Buds™ With Psyllium.

The caveat: Glycemic index compares different portions of food that each contain 50 g of carbohydrate. But for some food, you would have to eat A LOT to get 50 g of carbohydrate (more than you would eat in a serving). Carrots, for example, are technically high glycemic index, but in order to eat the 50 g of carbohydrate, it would take about 61 baby carrots. On the other hand, it would only take about 3.3 slices of whole grain bread to get 50 g of carbohydrates.

While it is helpful to choose lower glycemic index options more often than high glycemic index foods, that doesn't mean you should avoid high glycemic index foods completely. When it comes to health, it is more important about what you consume on a regular basis. You can still enjoy your favourite high glycemic index foods when you really want them, and focus on the lower glycemic index options at the majority of your meals and snacks.

Strategy 3: Be mindful about the amount of carbohydrates you have at one time, especially the kind that is quickly absorbed.

If you have too much of any type of carbohydrate, it could lead to a high blood sugar spike.

Juices, pops, and sugary desserts are high in sugar. For any high sugar food or beverage, it is best to limit to 5-10 g of sugar at a time (that would be the equivalent of 1-2 teaspoons of sugar)*, and a maximum of 25-50 g of added sugar per day**.

If you check the nutrition facts for those sweet foods and beverages, you might be surprised. 1 bottle of juice or pop could have more than 40 g of sugar.  This sugar is absorbed quickly into the bloodstream because these foods and beverages contain minimal to no protein, fat, or fibre. 

For the grains and starchy vegetables, it is best to keep them to a moderate size. Generally speaking, this would be about the size of your fist. 

Another way of thinking about portions is the balanced plate model (shown below). Try to fill up the meal or snack with vegetables and high protein foods, rather than the starchy foods. Ideally, ½ of the plate would be the non-starchy vegetables. In addition to this plate, you could also have a serving of milk (1 measuring cup, 250 mL) and a serving of fruit.

Strategy 4: Getting enough physical activity throughout the day. 

Physical activity can bring down the blood sugars, which can also help prevent such high blood sugar spikes. Exercise also helps to prevent insulin resistance, which helps to prevent diabetes or to delay progression.

This doesn’t mean "you must go to the gym". Physical activity can include simple exercise such as going for a walk.

In summary:

Even without diabetes, you can still have high blood sugar spikes after eating meals or snacks with too much carbohydrate or fast-absorbing carbohydrates. It is helpful to be mindful of how food choices will impact your blood sugars, not only for health, but also to help reduce the cravings for high calorie, low nutrition foods such as sweets.

For a full list of tips on how to reduce sugar cravings, check out this free resource.

If you struggle with strong food cravings, emotional eating, or overeating, it can be helpful to get additional support. A dietitian can support you with overcoming the barriers and making positive health changes.

A dietitian can also support you with managing metabolic health including cholesterol levels, triglycerides, blood sugars, and metabolic-dysfunction associated fatty liver, and with weight management.

If you would like support, sign up for a free discovery call to see if the nutrition coaching sessions would be a good fit for you.

Disclaimer:

The content on this document is not meant to replace direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.

More information:

What are Carbohydrates?

Carbohydrates are either sugar molecules or long-chains of sugar molecules. They are found in grains (rice, pastas, breads, flour-based foods, etc.), starchy vegetables (potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, peas, and parsnips), and any food that has either naturally-occurring or added sugars (including coconut sugar, cane sugar, honeys, syrups, natural sugars in juices, fruits, and milk). 

**The Heart and Stroke Foundation recommends limiting added sugars to no more than than 10% of total calories per day, and ideally less than 5%. 5-10% total calories from added sugar on a 2000 kcal diet would be around 25-50 g of sugar per day. The World Health Organization and Diabetes Canada also recommend to not exceed 10% of total calories from added sugar.

*For food labelling in Canada, the percent daily value for sugar is based on a total of100 g of sugar (for all kinds of sugar), per day, accounted for adults. This is therefore, quite simple math: 5g would be 5% (5 g / 100g). 5% or less of sugar on the nutrition facts table is considered low in sugar, and 10% is considered a moderate amount of sugar per serving. 15% or more, on the other hand, is considered a lot of sugar per serving.

The amount of sugar on the nutrition facts table includes both the sugar naturally found in the food or beverage, as well as the added sugar. This is likely why they made the 100% daily value of sugar = 100 g, rather than 50 g. The 50 g per day added sugar recommended limit (noted above) is only in regards to ADDED sugar, and not the naturally-occurring sugar in milk and whole fruits and vegetables).

References:

1: Rania, M., Caroleo, M., Carbone, E. A., Ricchio, M., Pelle, M. C., Zaffina, I., Condoleo, F., de Filippis, R., Aloi, M., De Fazio, P., Arturi, F., & Segura-Garcia, C. (2023). Reactive hypoglycemia in binge eating disorder, food addiction, and the comorbid phenotype: unravelling the metabolic drive to disordered eating behaviours. Journal of Eating Disorders, 11(1), 1–162. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-023-00891-z