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    4 Habits To Lower Blood Glucose Levels

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    Updated: Jul 28, 2023

    What if you had some simple strategies you could incorporate into your day-to-day routine that over the long term had a major impact on your body’s ability to burn glucose and body fat? Well, good news, I do. These 4 habits to lower blood glucose levels and help you burn your own body fat are the same ones I give my clients. Over the days, weeks, and months they will help you lose weight and achieve metabolic flexibility. And they are habits you can start today!


    Habit #1: Start your day with Protein and Fat

    The first easy habit to lower blood glucose is to start your day with the right food. When we wake up in the morning our stress hormone, Cortisol, is elevated, that’s what gets us out of bed! We get a jolt, to get up and start the day. But along with elevated Cortisol, we also have elevated blood glucose. This gives us energy so we can go to the bathroom and make our coffee. This is called the Dawn Phenomenon. But glucose in the blood triggers a rise in insulin, except when you are performing anaerobic exercise or being chased by a bear. And when the situation is acute or short-lived, blood glucose and insulin come right back down. Unless we then proceed to stuff our faces with more glucose.

    So, knowing that your blood glucose is already elevated in the morning, it is in your best interest to keep carbs out of your breakfast! Eating protein plus fat at breakfast, whatever time that may be, is the easiest way to kickstart your day. By eating something like eggs, avocado, and tomatoes, you will stay full longer, and burn more calories during digestion. Most importantly you will be able to control blood glucose, insulin, and cravings throughout your day.


    Habit #2: Move after Meals

    Moving after your meals with light exercises like walking, cleaning, or calf raises is the next easy habit that you can start today! Going for a brisk 15-minute walk after a meal is a proven way to lower the impact of blood glucose. Our muscles are the biggest absorber of glucose, so contracting your muscles after a meal is the best way to make sure that starch or sugar goes to your muscle cells, not your fat. So, don’t sit on the couch or at your desk after meals! Get up and Move! It doesn’t just have to be walking either. You can dance, clean, or do calf raises!


    Habit #3: Eat Veggies and Protein First

    The order that you eat your food does matter! Eating veggies and protein first as opposed to eating carbs first or carbs alone, lowers your blood glucose at meals. Vegetables contain fiber and fiber is indigestible. Fiber slows the emptying of food from the stomach to the small intestine, therefore creating the feeling of fullness faster. We also don’t absorb the calories from fiber either. Protein is a high-satiety food and has a high TEF (thermic effect of food). You burn 30% of the calories just during digestion. Protein requires more chewing so it will also naturally slow down eating. It takes 20 minutes for our stomach to tell our brain we are full. So by chewing our food well, and eating fiber and protein first, we will consume less food overall and burn more calories!


    Habit #4: Drink Apple Cider Vinegar before a Meal

    The fourth and final habit that you can start today is to drink 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar diluted in water before a meal, specifically a starchy or high-carb meal. You see vinegar lowers blood glucose and helps feed your gut bacteria. Raw apple cider vinegar is a fermented food. Fermentation is when bacteria digest sugars (glucose, fructose, lactose, etc.). By eating the starches in fermented food, the bacteria help us by lowering the amount of sugar we absorb, thus, lowering the effects on blood glucose and insulin. You want to make sure you buy raw, unfiltered, I like Bragg’s.

    If these habits have piqued your interest and you want to learn more on the topic of blood glucose, insulin resistance, and type 2 Diabetes I would recommend checking out Ben Bikman’s book, “Why We Get Sick“.

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