Sugar’s Silent Surge
Blood sugar is the primary energy source for cells. The brain especially depends on blood sugar (or, when sugar is not available, a compound your liver makes).
Hormones Balance Sugar
Insulin
Hormones, primarily insulin, control blood sugar levels. When we eat carbs, our pancreas releases insulin. When the insulin level in your blood increases, it signals cells to take sugar from the blood. Insulin acts like a key to open cells so that sugar can be stored.
Resisting insulin
Over time, if cells are exposed to lots of insulin, they start to balk at taking up sugar. More insulin is required for lowering blood sugar. This creates a cycle that leads to diabetes. With diabetes, your body can’t produce enough insulin to convince the cells to store sugar, so the blood sugar stays high.
Liver builds sugar
When our blood sugar is low, either from fasting or not eating carbs for a while, another hormone produced by the pancreas is released. This hormone is called glucagon. It takes sugar molecules stored in the liver and releases them into the blood. After 24—48 hours of not eating, all the sugar stored in the liver is gone. It then triggers the liver to build sugar molecules from protein bits and fat. Fasting drops our insulin level, which signals our body to burn fats.
Complex hormone balance
Other hormones also affect blood sugar levels. Stress contributes to higher blood sugar levels. The balance of bacteria in the gut can also impact blood sugar.
Effects of High Blood Sugar
Peaks and valleys
The most important blood sugar levels are the peaks. How high do the peaks go, and for how long? Although having a lower average blood sugar (a low A1C level) is good, it is essential to keep the peaks down.
Drinkin’ ‘n’ peein’
One of the first symptoms of high blood sugar is peeing a lot. The body is trying to get rid of the excess sugar, but in the process, it gets rid of many electrolytes. This process creates a cycle of thirst, peeing, and tired.
Circulation effects
High blood sugar interferes with circulation. When blood flow needs to increase, a mechanism opens up the blood vessels to allow blood to flow easier. High blood sugar interferes with this opening-up process. There is some evidence that taking 2,000 mg of vitamin C and 800 mg of vitamin E with a high-carb meal reduces this circulation restriction effect of high blood sugar.
Long-term damage
Organ damage
Long-term high blood sugar can damage organs. The damage occurs because high blood sugar levels hurt blood vessels, especially smaller ones. Organs with many small vessels can get damaged---organs like the kidneys, the eyes, nerves, and, for men, the most precious organ.
Nerves and wounds
High blood sugar damages nerves through a complex process. High blood sugar also affects the healing of wounds and causes inflammation. Inflammation causes disease, interferes with skin repair, and interrupts the growth factors for healing. Long-term high blood sugar also damages the immune system, making infections more likely.
Heart disease risk
Long-term high blood sugar also increases the risk of heart disease, heart attacks, and strokes. Sugar in the blood latches onto proteins and fats in the blood vessel walls.
Testing Blood Sugar
Test for diabetes
Once you are over 45, you should get your blood sugar tested, especially if you are overweight. The risk of not getting tested is that diabetes can develop in silence and cause organ damage. Diabetes can often be managed with diet, exercise, and supplements. If diabetes is carefully managed early, long-term damage can be avoided. If it’s ignored, it gets worse. Half of diabetics have to take insulin injections within 10 years of diagnosis.
Foods
The GI index
Starch vs. sugar
In the past, it was assumed that complex starchy foods would not spike blood sugar as much as simple sugary carbs. Research has since shown blood sugar spikes are more complicated.
GI index developed
The GI (glycemic index) was developed in Canada in the ’80s to measure how much a set amount of carbs raised blood sugar. To test GI, foods are sized to contain the same amount of carbs (usually 50g). Then, the GI index is measured by having people eat that particular serving of food and then monitoring their blood sugar over the next 2 hours to see how quickly it spikes. The bigger the spike, the higher the GI.
GI per carb unit
The GI index doesn’t consider how much food you are eating. It only measures how a set amount of carbs from different foods impacts blood sugar. For example, cornflakes and watermelon have the similar GI, but cornflakes have a more carbs. Cornflakes will spike your blood sugar more than the same amount of watermelon.
GL - Glycemic load
The GL (glycemic load) is a measure that combines the GI of a food and the amount of carbs it has. Foods with the highest GL are carbs like white rice and potatoes, which have high carb content and high GI. Carbs with a lower GL are food like carrots, pears, apples, and milk.
Food Serving Size GI (100) GL per Serving
Pancake 6” diameter 67 39
White rice (boiled) 1 cup 66 35
Russet potato (baked) 1 medium 111 33
Spaghetti (white) 1 cup 58 25
Cornflakes 1 cup 79 20
Brown rice 1 cup 50 20
Puffed rice cakes 3 cakes 82 17
Doughnut 1 medium 76 17
Spaghetti (whole) 1 cup 32 14
Banana (raw) 1 cup 55 13
Soda crackers 4 crackers 74 12
White bread 1 large slice 71 10
All-Bran™ cereal 1 cup 45 10
Watermelon 1 cup 76 8
Kidney beans (dried) 1 cup 28 8
Apple (raw) 1 medium 39 6
Whole pumpernickel bread 1 large slice 46 5
Orange (raw) 1 medium 42 5
Pear (raw) 1 medium 38 4
Skim milk 8 fl oz 33 4
Carrots (boiled) ½ cup 33 1
Risk of high GL
Those with *high-*GL diets have a 20% increased risk of stroke and heart disease. High-GL diets are also linked to lower levels of good cholesterol and higher levels of bad cholesterol. In women who carry extra weight, a high-GL diet doubles the risk of heart disease over 10 years. A low-GL diet is crucial for these women.
Low sugar surge diet
Choose the right carbs
Avoid foods with the highest GL and choose carbs from the lower part of the list. Choose vegetables, black pinto beans, kidney beans, and whole grains as your carbs. Whole grains are better than whole-meal flour. Whole grains still have some visible grains, and the whole meal is ground into flour. The nutritional content is the same, but flour will spike blood sugar more than whole grains. Multigrain doesn’t mean whole grain---it only means different grains were used.
Avoid lonely carbs
To lower blood sugar spikes, eat fresh fruit (avoid dried or canned) with proteins like low-sugar yogurt, peanut butter, nuts, or a little cheese. Eating carbs with fat or fibre slows the absorption of sugar. Avoid sugar in liquids like juice or pop. Liquid sugar is rapidly absorbed. And limit sweets like cookies, candy, and cakes.
Fruit sugars
Fruit sugars don’t raise levels
Fruit contains sugar. It is a different kind of sugar than glucose. Glucose is the blood sugar our brain and body can use directly. Fruit sugar doesn’t raise blood sugar levels as the body does not directly use it---the liver takes it and converts it.
Fruit sugar pros & cons
One downside of fructose is it doesn’t release the hormone to let you know you are full, so it is easy to overeat. The big advantage of fruit is that the sugar always comes with lots of fibre to slow the absorption.
Half of table sugar
Table sugar and honey also have fructose (fruit sugar). Table sugar is half fructose. This is why a baked potato raises your blood sugar more than the same amount of carbs in pure table sugar. Only half of table sugar goes straight to blood sugar---the other half is processed in the liver and eventually stored as fat.
Sugar replacements
Sugar, honey, and syrup all raise blood sugar. Other sweeteners like saccharin, aspartame, Ace K, Splenda (sucralose), monk fruit, stevia, sorbitol, maltitol, erythritol, and xylitol are sweeteners that minimally raise blood sugar levels. Allulose, which we discussed in our last issue, is the newest addition to the sugar replacements. It is showing a lot of promise for its identical-to-sugar taste.
Fibre lowers sugar
Fibre is one of the keys to lowering blood sugar. Most fruit has fibre, resulting in a lower blood sugar spike. A high GL food eaten with fibre will not spike as high as when eaten without the fibre. Fibre essentially reduces the GI of foods. Fibre also has the effect of keeping hunger at bay. A fibre-rich diet reduces the risk of diabetes, and diabetics with high-fibre diets have better blood sugar control.
Cook and cool
One way to increase the fibre content of some foods is to cook, cool, and reheat them before eating. This works for rice, pasta, and potatoes. When they are heated and cooled, some starch is converted into fibre. When reheated, the fibre content is higher than the first cooking.
Drinks
Coffee, tea, & water
Sugary drinks are bad for blood sugar. Drinks like pop and juice are linked to a shorter life. Coffee, tea, water, and skim milk are linked to a longer life. Diabetics who drink at least 2 cups of tea or coffee or 5 glasses of water a day live longer than those who don’t.
Alcohol
Alcohol also impacts blood sugar. When you drink alcohol, your liver prioritizes clearing the toxin (alcohol). This can drop your blood sugar in the short term, especially on an empty stomach. Later, blood sugar levels can rebound. Consuming high levels of alcohol over the long term contributes to diabetes.
Pause diabetes
It is possible to manage diabetes through diet and exercise. By exercising, limiting total carbs, and choosing low-GL carbs, diabetes can often be put into remission.
Exercise
Exercise is one of the best ways to manage blood sugar. Using your muscles uses up the sugar. It also makes cells take up sugar faster for days after the exercise. Exercise done in the afternoon has the most powerful benefit in terms of reducing blood sugar compared to evening or morning exercise. Add a brisk walk or bike ride after lunch to help manage blood sugar.
Supplements
Berberine
We looked at berberine in detail in the last issue. In short, berberine lowers blood sugar. It has an effect similar to metformin, which many diabetics take. Take 1,500 mg a day to lower blood sugar. It’s recommended for anyone concerned about managing blood sugar.
Chromium
Chromium is a trace mineral that may enhance insulin’s power to lower blood sugar. Take about 500 mg a day.
Cinnamon
Cinnamon might help manage blood sugar. It acts almost like insulin. The dose required is at least 1,000 mg. Rather than taking a capsule, add cinnamon to any food that tastes good with it. See Fall 2022 Panacea for more information on cinnamon.
Alpha Lipoid Acid (ALA)
ALA is an essential compound for converting sugar to energy in cells. It might help sugar uptake in the muscles, making it helpful for blood sugar control. It also can help with some symptoms of nerve damage. ALA helps protect nerves. Take between 600 and 1,200 mg a day.
Magnesium
Magnesium can also help with blood sugar management. Diabetics are often low in magnesium.
Next Steps
Diabetes epidemic
Managing blood sugar is a critical part of health. Up to a third of seniors have diabetes. If you are over 45, get tested for diabetes to prevent potential damage.
Take Control
We can reduce the risk of getting diabetes and lower the damage that diabetes does. Eating carefully and exercising are the keys to managing blood sugar. Shift your carbs to lower-GL carbs and increase your level of activity. Supplements may also help manage blood sugar. Take control of sugar’s silent surge.
