| Novus |
02-24-2013 12:05 PM |
You absolutely MUST eat breakfast. You've been fasting since dinner (10 or 12 hours) so when you wake up your blood sugar is already low. If you don't eat within an hour of waking up, your blood sugar will quickly start to drop to uncomfortable and dangerous levels. You don't feel hungry or notice the low blood sugar because your brain is releasing beta-endorphins, a chemical that protects you from feeling pain. A couple hours after waking up (and skipping breakfast) the euphoric affects of the beta-endorphins wear off, your blood sugar is crazy low, and you crash and feel like utter crap (and are probably running to the nearest quick sugar-fix you can find). And you've set yourself up for a roller coaster ride of all-day-long high/low sugar levels. Your breakfast should be mostly protein with just a tiny bit of carbs. (I usually do eggs, meat and 1/2 cup fruit). An all-carb or high-carb breakfast will send your blood sugar soaring, which will cause your body to release a surge of insulin to bring it back down, but because of the excess insulin your blood sugar will fall too low (and again, you'll have that sugar level roller coaster).
One of the first things I read that really helped me understand how to deal with hypoglycemia and sugar sensitivity was Potatoes Not Prozac by Kathleen DesMaisons. I don't endorse everything she teaches but the book has some valuable information that helped me to understand what my brain and my body were doing (including the breakfast info I shared above). One of the things she suggests is to keep a Food Journal in which you log everything you eat and how you feel before/after eating. You need to learn how your body is responding to certain foods and how you're reacting to your blood sugar levels.
Another book that helped me was the Insulin Resistance Diet. The book teaches a lot about how your body processes insulin and blood sugar and the effects they have on weight gain. The two primary principles I apply to my life are: (1) Always link carbs with protein. You should never eat carbs without protein but you can eat only protein. The IR formula is 15 grams protein to 30 grams carbs. (2) Never eat more than 30 grams of carbs within a two hour period. According to the IR Diet, your body is unable to process more than 30 grams of carbs at a time so the rest is converted to fat.
You might also want to research the Glycemic Index which ranks food based on the impact they have on your blood sugar. I find this resource especially helpful for fruits. I've found that I'm basically okay with any fruit with a rating of 40 or less.
And exercise is enormously beneficial for balancing sugar/insulin levels!
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