Uh-oh, your energy is expiring!
BY: Andrea Nakayama
DATE: 2015-04-16
Long after I stopped eating refined sugar, and that afternoon walk to the nearby bakery was a distant memory, I still suffered the 4pm risk of an energy outage. You know the one I’m talking about, right? Your body feels heavier... There’s still a stretch of the day in front of you... The tasks ahead become foggier as you struggle to keep your head off your folded arms or attempt to convince your kids that it’s “quiet time” so you can lay down... The idea of making dinner seems as monumental as climbing Kilimanjaro...
Back then, my solution to restore energy was peanut butter. That’s right, peanut butter. My structured work day ended at 4 o’clock, with spoonful after spoonful (after spoonful) of peanut butter, straight from the glass jar where I scooped the organic creamy mixture from the co-op bin. It wasn’t until I was faced with the rude awakening that I had adrenal fatigue and thyroid issues, that I realized the importance of the energy expiration. And, even though I hadn’t eaten refined sugar in years, my blood sugar still mattered.
It’s been a long journey to climb my way out of that jar of peanut butter. But I hear from thousands of clients and customers every year that are still stuck there. Either they quit the afternoon sweet binge only to find themselves slip-sliding back into old patterns. (Repeat. Repeat.) Or they feel confident that they’re doing their diet perfectly, yet can’t find the missing piece to restore their energy.
The importance of blood sugar
You likely know that blood sugar imbalance plays a role in diabetes, but do you know that it’s also a major trigger in heart disease, cancer, candida, adrenal fatigue, and autoimmunity?
Personally, I keep a keen eye on my blood sugar. It’s one thing in my health routine that I am always tending to fuel my busy life and to help me to manage my autoimmune thyroiditis, Hashimoto’s.
Blood sugar balance is key to sustainable health
Last week I shared why managing blood sugar is such a big deal and why you need to start tuning into it today. Blood sugar affects your mood, your weight, your mechanisms of hunger, your hormone balance and your immune system. Yes, it’s pretty much at the root of everything!
In fact, blood sugar affects every single chronic condition you’re looking for help with, from migraines to irritable bowel troubles to brain fog. When blood sugar is out of whack for too long it can lead to disease states like hypertension, Candida and persistent internal inflammation (all underlying factors for the things that ail us).
Managing blood sugar is a core basic for good health
But just what is blood sugar? Let’s take a moment to discuss some blood sugar basics...
Blood sugar is basically the sugar ~ or glucose ~ in the blood. And glucose is the elemental factor of every single carbohydrate you eat.
Once the carbohydrate has worked its way through your digestive system, been reduced to a simple sugar such as glucose, and reached the bloodstream through the process of absorption, it’s taken to the liver where it’s either distributed to the cells for energy, or stored for later use.
Because of the liver’s limited storage capacity, any excess carbohydrates are converted to and stored as fat. Yeah, no thank you! In other words, it’s your sweet liver that helps regulate your blood sugar levels. The more complex the carbohydrate, the slower the food moves into the bloodstream, allowing the liver to take up its sugar-load without becoming overwhelmed.
The Glycemic Index
The Glycemic Index (GI) is a ranking of carbohydrates according to how quickly glucose (that simple sugar molecule) is absorbed into the bloodstream. As you’ll see, slower is better. It compares the rise in blood glucose caused by 50 grams of carbohydrates in any particular food to the rise in blood glucose caused by 50 grams of pure glucose.
As an example: pure glucose has a GI of 100 (our baseline). Here are the GI for some other foods we think of as starches:
white bread has a GI ranging from 70 to 90
a baked potato has a GI of 85
a yam has a GI of 42
According to the Glycemic Index model:
Low GI = 55 and under
Medium GI = 56 to 69
High GI = 70 and above
The Glycemic Index: an imperfect system
Unfortunately, this ranking system was found faulty because something like carrots have a high GI, despite the fact that they provide many health benefits. Carrots are packed with fiber and nutrients. These slow the breakdown of the sugars in the digestive system. This allows the liver ample time to do its thing. Take away that fiber, as you do in a glass of carrot juice, and you are indeed left with mere sugars.
In response to concerns with the GI rating system, a revised ranking system was developed to speak to how quickly sugars are absorbed physiologically, not just looking at the sugars in the food, but instead the sugars in relation to all of the food’s constituents, as well as the ways in which it moves through the processes of digestion.
This revised system is essentially distinguishing between the carrot and the carrot juice - both have the same sugars, but one contains fiber and the other does not. This improved system is called the Glycemic Load.
The Glycemic Load
The Glycemic Load (GL) considers the total amount of rapidly absorbable carbohydrate (starch or sugar) as well as the GI. As an example, a food like a whole grain or a carrot may have a relatively lower GL because the amount of starch or sugar in that food is mitigated internally by the fiber and nutrients that will slow its delivery into the bloodstream. The bottom line: if a food has a high GI but is packed with fiber it will have a lower impact on blood sugar and well-functioning insulin levels.
The formula for calculating Glycemic Load = GI x grams of carb per serving / 100.
For comparison purposes, let's consider a green plantain:
Glycemic Index of a green plantain = 39
Glycemic Load of a green plantain = 12.15
According to the Glycemic Load (GL) model:
Low GL = 1 – 10
Medium GL = 11 – 19
High GL = 20 and over
Let’s examine the Glycemic Load (GL) of some common foods:
Almonds 0
Carrots 3
Blueberries 6
Honey 10
Quinoa 13
Sweet potato 17
Dates (dried) 18
Bagel (white) 23
White rice 26
Raisins 28
What is the model to follow?
One of the core principles I teach is to eat fat, fiber & protein at every meal. Another recommendation I commonly make is to snack to ensure the slower delivery of nutrients into the bloodstream for sustained energy and blood sugar control. On top of that, choose foods that are slower to digest. Foods that are slower to digest are better assimilated into the body’s tissues. They have an inverse effect on blood glucose and corresponding inverse relationship to diabetes, heart disease, weight issues and cancer. They also have the ability to help us thwart those sweet tooth cravings!
The Glycemic Load of raw honey = 14
The Glycemic Load of an apple = 11.4
The Glycemic Load of agave (not a fan) = 9.6
The Glycemic Load of coconut sugar = 1
Warmly,
By: Andrea Nakayama, FxNA Founder & Functional Medicine Nutritionist
Functional Nutrition Alliance provides the comprehensive online Functional Nutrition training in the Science & Art of the Functional Nutrition practice. Learn to address the roots of your clients’ suffering with client education, diet & lifestyle modifications.