How to Balance Blood Sugar to Promote Weight Loss?

29-11-2017   |   Posted By: Chhavi   |   2757 View(s)

Keeping blood sugar balanced is important for your health.  People feel energetic, their cravings subside, their weight is controlled and their mood is stabilised when their blood sugar is in a normal range. It is vital to balance your blood sugar to prevent diabetes and heart disease. A balanced blood sugar also keeps the metabolism high and improves concentration and memory. So, if you want to shed a few pounds and keep yourself healthy, then you must start doing something to balance blood sugar.

How to Balance Blood Sugar?

Here are eight effective ways to keep your blood sugar balanced and ward off diseases.

1. Eat Foods with Low Glycemic Index

Foods such as fruits, grains, legumes and vegetables have a low glycemic index (GI) and release energy slowly into the bloodstream. These foods help in balancing the blood sugar levels, and so you must include vegetables, legumes, fruits, whole grains, nuts and seeds in your diet to balance blood sugar.

2. Eat “Good” Fats

Your pancreas uses two hormones to balance blood sugar levels, and these hormones are insulin and glucagon. Insulin is the hormone which absorbs excess glucose from the bloodstream and stores it as glycogen for future use. Between meals, when your blood-sugar levels are lower, the pancreas releases glucagon which triggers cells to release stored glycogen back into the bloodstream.

Just like every other hormone, glucagon and insulin need dietary fats to be built. And thus, it is important to add healthy fats such as avocado, olive oil, nut butter, chia seeds, unsalted nuts and seeds, etc. in your diet. But, make sure to stay away from unhealthy fats because they can do more harm than good.

3. Eat Protein-Rich Foods

In order to keep blood sugar balanced, it is important to promote satiety and slow digestion; and protein helps in that. Protein slows digestion which is a good thing when it comes to balancing blood sugar levels.

Thus, incorporate protein-laden foods such as chicken, soy, tofu, beans, eggs, milk, etc. in your diet to balance blood sugar.

4. Don’t Skip Breakfast

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and so no matter how much busy you are, you must not skip breakfast. When you miss breakfast, your body burns off existing tissues, including lean muscle mass to wake itself up and get your blood sugar levels within the normal range.

So, make it a point to eat a healthy breakfast daily to balance your blood sugar naturally without putting unnecessary strain on your liver and strain.

But, also make sure not to eat junk food for breakfast. Your breakfast should be nutritious. You can have eggs, oats, poha, muesli, Greek Yoghurt whole grain bread and peanut butter, etc. for your breakfast.

5. Snack Healthy

Instead of eating three heavy meals a day, one should eat five to six meals a day to fight hunger cravings. It is okay to have afternoon and evening snacks, but you should choose healthy things to eat during snack time. If you start snacking on Chocolates, Pizza and French Fries, then you will waste all your efforts you have been making to keep your blood sugar level balanced.

It is important to opt for healthy snacks which include fibre, protein and healthy fats to keep your metabolism firing and blood sugar balanced until your next full meal.

6. Get Moving

When it comes to achieving health and fitness goals, exercise is the must. You should make it a habit of exercising for at least 30 minutes every day. Do not just do cardio exercise- your fitness regimen should be a blend of cardiovascular and resistance activities. This will balance your blood sugar, promote weight loss and improve your overall health. You can also hit the gym to stay fit and healthy.

7. Get Enough Sleep

According to studies, people with inconsistent and inadequate sleep patterns suffer from more inconsistent blood sugar levels. Experts say that one should sleep for 7- 9 hours to keep themselves fit and healthy. Also, sleeping for 7 to 9 hours does not mean that you go to sleep at 2 am and wake up at 10 am the next day. One should go to bed early and wake up early to stay healthy.

8. Balance your Meals

Eating only three meals is great, but it would be excellent if you start eating five to six meals a day. Eating both meals and snacks that are balanced with both healthy carb and a source of protein or healthy fat is important to balance blood sugar. That is because doing so helps to slow digestion and blunt the sugar-spiking effect. Eat healthy snacks such as nuts and a piece of fruit, protein smoothie, carrots and so on.

These were some easy and effective tips to balance your blood sugar. Also, go for a regular Health Checkup to see if your blood sugar is within a normal range or not. Because Prevention is Better than Cure.