5 Diet Tips to Reverse Aging, Reduce Inflammation, and Feel Energized
How blood-sugar regulation can provide immense health benefits and finally put you on the right track to healing
I’m probably one of the cleanest eaters my friends and family know. I supplement, I workout, and I have a clean skin routine. Yet when I turned 25 I could tell my body was changing, and despite having clear skin my entire life, I started having random breakouts (not around my menstrual cycle) and after years of working in nightlife, the exhaustion was starting to show on my forehead in the shape of fine lines.
However, all of that recently changed for me after discovering and understanding the power of glucose.
Simple, easy tips I incorporate now on an everyday basis have cleared my skin for good, even provided a healthy texture and glow, and perhaps best of all, despite my busy schedule, I feel energized all day WITH NO COFFFEE!
It’s truly a miracle, and I’ll tell you exactly how I did it.
What is Glucose and What is it’s Purpose in our Body?
Simply put, glucose is a molecule that our body creates from the foods we eat. Glucose is incredibly important for our bodies. It is quite literally like the electrical outlet for our survival.
Although we can also get energy from proteins and fats, glucose is our immediate energy source. Without energy, we wouldn’t be able to walk, talk, eat, speak, basically everything that we do as humans.
Which is why if you had a busy day and you had no time to eat you probably feel terrible because your body is quite literally shutting down (and if you supplement with caffeine to provide an immediate energy boost, wellll, even worse, because there’s no glucose in coffee so you’re basically throwing water on the electrical outlet).
When we eat, our body starts the process of breaking down the carbohydrates with enzymes and the end-product becomes glucose. Next, insulin ( a hormone), is released by the pancreas after it receives the alert that glucose is entering our bloodstream.
Insulin then acts as the electrical cord, trying to plug in the lamp (our cells) to the energy source (glucose). The specific part of the cells that needs the glucose to convert it into energy for our body is the mitochondria.
In a perfect world, this is the process, and our bodies get all the energy they need. However, in today’s world of processed foods, fast-eating, and sugar-filled diets, things in our bodies have gone array.
What Happens During a Glucose Spike?
As we understand, insulin knocks on the door of our cells to get the glucose in. However, when our body becomes overwhelmed with glucose, it can cause many disruptions.
When you are in a glucose spike, trillions of molecules arrive into your bloodstream really quickly. They esentially start reeking havoc on our bodies, they act like uncontrolled children in a candy store and our pancreas can’t make enough insulin to keep up with the spike. This can cause several problems:
The glucose starts to bump into other molecules and these collisions damage the other molecules and cause something called glycation. Glycation is essentially “cooking.” When we place a raw chicken in the oven and it turns brown, the chicken’s skin is “glycating,” or “aging.” So glucose spikes can cause wrinkles or fine lines on our face from these collisions that cause our cartilage to age.
In addition to the aging becoming visible on our skin, it can also happen to our organs. Glucose spikes cause our bodies to work much harder which will break them down faster. So in general, your body will age faster the more glucose spikes you have.
Inflammation is a consequence of glucose spikes. The more glucose you have in your body, the more inflammation you have. Acne is a direct correlation with inflammation. When there’s too much glucose, our mitochondria gets overwhelmed and starts to shut down which produces free radicals that contribute to inflammation. It can also cause psoriasis, rosatia, and in general lay a terrain for chronic diseases to develop as inflammtion is a pre-cursor.
Lastly, during a glucose spike, our body starts trying to protect us and bring the glucose down by increasing insulin. Too much insulin in our bloodstream can cause many problems in a women’s body. Too much insulin tells our ovaries to make more testosterone , and when we end up with a lot of testosterone it can cause missed periods, hair on our faces, and loss of hair. If these spikes continue, and insulin continues to rise, it can cause PCOS.
5 Tips to Prevent Glucose Spikes:
BREAKFAST:
I emphasize breakfast to anyone and everyone. As one of my clients, yes you will be eating breakfast! But no, that’s not the tip, the tip is what you eat for breakfast. This is tip #1 because literally it is the most important.
Swap out your sweet, for savory breakfast. Breakfast controls our glucose spikes for the rest of the day. If you start your day with something sweet like cereal, pastries, or bleached bread and jam, you are setting yourself up for a glucose rollercoaster the rest of the day.
You will find that you are craving something sweet all day like a carmel latte after lunch or 4 instead of 1 brownie after dinner.
The thing is, there’s nothing wrong with sweets, it’s just about when you eat them to prevent glucose spikes. And in the morning is the worst time.
So swap out your Honey Nut Cheerios for some real protein. Some eggs or a tofu scramble with avocado, smoothie with protein powder, or even yesterday’s dinner leftovers! Just make a conscious effort to eat proteins and fats in the morning and less of the sugar.
Sugar-Time:
The best time to eat your sweets is after a meal. Eating a processed granola bar as a midday snack is not the best way to control your glucose. Swapping it for some veggies and hummus will do more good for your body and glucose levels.
Food-Pairs:
When you eat something sweet, try pairing it with a healthy fat.
This will slow down the glucose hitting your system and prevent a cravings cycle. For example, enjoy your chocolate cake, but try eating it with some almonds.
Second pair is called “clothing your carbs.” Add some healthy fat, protein, or fiber to your carbs to also slow down the glucose from entering your bloodstream. For example, enjoy your cream cheese bagel, but have it with some avocado. Enjoy your dates, but pair with some macadamia nuts. Enjoy your plate of pasta, but pair it with some good fiber from spinach.
Veggie Starter:
Before lunch or dinner, have a veggie starter. The fiber in veggies provides this protective mesh- coating across your stomach and gut that protects your body from glucose spikes.
A tablespoon of apple cider vinegar mixed with a glass of water can provide a similar effect, so choose one to have before a meal to reduce your glucose spikes. A veggie starter can look like a greens smoothie or a plate of carrots and cucumbers.
The Order of Eating:
Final tip has to do with how you can eat your meals to cut the glucose spike by up to 75%. On a balanced meal plate, you should have your veggies, protein, healthy fat, and a starch/carbohydrate.
This is the order that you should try to eat your food. If you’ve heard of food combining, throw that knowledge out the window, it has been successfully debunked, but this way of eating is optimal for digestion and glucose regulation.
If you’re going to have a small salad with your meal, eat it first, next course can be your protein, and then enjoy your fats and carbohydrates. Now this doesn’t mean you should pick your spinach out of your pasta to eat it first, so in combining, it is best to go with the veggie or apple cider vinegar starter to have the same effect.
Are you, or someone you know someone who suffers from chronic acne, psoriasis, or PCOS?
If you want to receive personal nutrition and lifestyle guidance to help with any one of these ailments you can book a 1:1 FREE consultation with me to discuss your health goals and get you on track to healing.
say hi on social! ☾〰️🤍