Eating for a Stable Blood Sugar

Why is Stable Blood Sugar Important?

You may be familiar with how certain foods affect your blood sugar. Blood sugar, or glucose, gives us energy and causes insulin levels to rise or lower. Insulin is the hormone that stabilizes blood sugar to maintain glucose levels within a specific range. High blood sugar increases insulin levels, lowering blood sugar; low blood sugar decreases insulin levels, preventing blood glucose from dipping too low.

Blood Sugar Range by Age

AGE Fasting (mg/dl) Post-Meal

0-2 years 70-100 Below 140

2-12 70-100 Below 140

13-17 70-100 Below 140

18 and older 70-100 Below 140

Note that the range is the same for all age groups. A post-meal blood sugar will increase above the fasting range but should return to normal within 2 hours after a meal.

Eating or drinking sugar, such as baked goods, candies, sugary beverages, desserts, and refined carbohydrates, will rapidly raise blood sugar. This is followed by an increase in insulin from the pancreas to lower blood glucose back to the normal range.

If you are sensitive to these changes, you may initially feel hyper from the sugar load, with an increase in energy; this is often followed by the blood sugar crash, with a sudden decrease in energy as the blood sugar drops.

This is common in kids and may be manifested as mood swings and behavior changes. If your child is often irritable, moody, and tired, what they eat may be the culprit.

If these highs and lows occur frequently, eventually the insulin won’t work as well, leading to insulin resistance, the first stage of type 2 diabetes. 

There are ways to maintain blood sugar within a range that avoids the high and low fluctuations. This is done through diet. I will outline how to plan meals to maintain a stable blood sugar. 

Maintaining a steady blood glucose level has many benefits, including reducing the risk of

Heart disease

Fatty liver disease

Metabolic syndrome

Type 2 diabetes

Obesity

Some cancers

What Foods Help Maintain Stable Blood Sugar?

1. Complex carbohydrates

Whole grains

Non-starchy vegetables

Beans and legumes

Fruit

Low-fat dairy

2. Fiber-rich foods

Vegetables

Beans and legumes

Whole grains

Nuts

Fruit

3. Healthy fats

Avocados

Nuts

Fatty fish

Healthy oils such as olive and avocado

Notice a pattern? Complex carbohydrates are also rich in fiber. 

Meal Planning

The general rule for meal planning is to fill

½ of your plate with non-starchy vegetables

¼ of your plate with a lean protein

¼ of your plate with a complex carbohydrate or a starchy vegetable

Starchy vegetables include

• Corn

• Potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams

• Peas

• Parsnips

• Winter squash (butternut, acorn, and pumpkin)

• Beans

• Plantains

A variety of starchy vegetables including corn, potatoes, and peas.

Examples of non-starchy vegetables

• Artichokes

• Asparagus

• Bean sprouts

• Brussels sprouts

• Broccoli

• Cabbage

• Cauliflower

• Celery

• Cucumber

• Eggplant

• Mushrooms

• Onions

• Peppers

• Salad greens

• Spinach

• Tomato

• Turnips

• Zucchini

A winning combination is

Protein + Fiber + Complex Carbohydrates = Stable Blood Sugar

Lean protein choices include

• Dairy - eggs, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, milk

• Plant-based - beans, lentils, edamame, tofu, tempeh, nuts and nut butter, oats, quinoa, teff, wild rice, spelt, kamut, buckwheat

• Animal sources - fish, shellfish, poultry (chicken, turkey, pork), lean beef, bison, lamb, venison

Protein sources can be plant-based as depicted here and include beans and legumes, tofu, edamame, nuts, seeds, and whole grains.

Fiber is digested slowly, releasing sugar into the bloodstream more slowly. When protein is combined with a carbohydrate, it also slows the digestion of the carbohydrate to avoid a rapid rise in glucose, thereby avoiding a rapid rise in insulin. 

For meals, choose lean protein from a plant or animal source, then add a complex carbohydrate like whole grains, legumes, or fruit for 1/4 of the plate and non-starchy vegetables for the other half.

Lean protein from animal sources should be skinless, baked, broiled, or roasted, not fried.

Some Meal Combinations:

• Chicken breast with whole wheat pasta and broccoli

• Baked fish with brown rice and roasted vegetables

• Egg and veggie omelet with whole wheat toast

• Quinoa bowl with salmon and veggies

• Stuffed bell peppers with black beans, corn, pearled couscous

• Shrimp with vegetables and whole wheat orzo

• Chicken and avocado salad with mixed greens, black beans, corn, tomatoes, pumpkin seeds and homemade dressing

• Turkey or black bean burgers on whole wheat bun with fruit salad

• Fish tacos on corn tortillas with cabbage slaw and avocado

You get the idea! Mix and match from the lists to suit your tastes.

For snacks, combining a protein with a carbohydrate is better than a carbohydrate alone. For example, an apple with peanut butter or hummus with raw vegetables. Cowboy caviar with whole grain crackers or some fruit with cheese slices are more examples. 

In my article 30 Snacks for 30 Days I posted a month’s worth of snack ideas that combine protein with complex carbs. Check it out here:

https://www.feedfuturehealth.com/post/30-healthy-snacks-for-30-days 

And may your blood sugar be stable!