How to limit your sugar intake during the holidays.
When I think of December, my mind automatically goes to gatherings of friends and family, travelling to see one another, time off and resting along with lots of food and drinks (that I wouldn't normally be having.)
Can you relate to this last one?
It feels like this is the season of grazing. Wherever you go there is an assortment of charcuterie boards, veggie platters, dessert arrangements, little wrapped candies, with lots of sugar.
Sugar affects SO many things in our body. From our mood, sleep and energy levels, to inflammation, along with our gut health, digestion and hormones. It can even affect your memory and decision making skills.
But first, What is blood sugar?
Your blood sugar is the concentration of glucose (sugar) in your blood. Glucose (sugar) is your bodies main source of energy. Sugar is produced when we break down carbohydrates and that carb is absorbed into the blood stream.
This not a blog post telling you to never have sugar again and knock it out of your life. Life is all about balance and that means with our food as well. One of the tools that you can have in your tool belt, however, is paying attention to how it affects you. Do you get jittery? Do you get depressed? Is your digestive system off?
Even as a nutritionist, I will be having sweets and desserts over the holidays. There are some that are nostalgic to me, and I get excited to eat them every year. But I do my best to balance my blood sugar during this time to reduce the effects of sugar on my body.
Paying attention when our body speaks is a great way to notice when something is off and address it before your body starts to scream at you.
Some ways that your body may be speaking to you could be:
Inflammatory Effects and dysbiosis: High sugar intake promotes inflammation within the body, and feeds the bad gut bugs which can have adverse effects on the digestive system. This can show up in ways of discomfort in our digestive tract, irregular bowel movements, inflammation throughout our skin, excess mucus, achy joints or feeling hungover without the consumption of alcohol.
Moody or agitated : There could be many reasons why you might be moody or agitated but your blood sugar levels suddenly dropping could be a big signal. As we see in the rest of this list, your blood sugar affects your brain and how you feel in general. This is a perfect example of “hangry”. If you notice this happening around the same time every day, it could be your blood sugar.
Nervous System Rollercoaster: Sugar acts as a central nervous system stimulant, potentially causing increased stress and anxiety, and feeling cranky and anxious. When your blood sugar is low, and if it stays there, your body pumps out cortisol because it brings sugar back up.
More sugar cravings: Sugar consumption leads to a spike in blood sugar followed by a crash, triggering intense cravings for more sugary foods to keep it from not crashing. The constant fluctuation in blood sugar levels can be stressful for the body, ultimately affecting mental and gut health.
Not only are we out of our normal routine at this time of the year, but a lot of people experience food guilt around this time. This is when we have the feeling of guilt or shame after eating or feeling that you did something bad or wrong.
Often having food guilt can lead to other behaviours that may not serve ourselves. This can include things like restricted eating, or over exercising to make up for the food that was or would be eaten.
So what are some things that we can do to both balance blood sugar and food guilt?
We can have consistent meals through out the day that balance blood sugar. This means not skipping meals to and creating balanced plates that include protein, healthy fats and fibre. The combination of these helps your blood sugar stay stable and also help us feel fuller longer (no spike and no drop!)
Don’t skip breakfast. When we skip breakfast our body runs on cortisol (our stress hormone), which elevates our blood sugar through lunch. If you wake up and you are not hungry, consider eating something small that is easy for your body to digest. This could be something like a bit of a smoothie (save the rest for later when you are more hungry), easy chia pudding, or even an adrenal cocktail. If you are hungry in the morning, try to start your day with a protein rich meal.
Going for a walk after our meals not only helps with digestion and mental health but also helps to regulate our blood sugar.
Noticing our mental narrative around foods (or people). Are there certain foods that hold guilt for you? Are there people you feel guilt or shame around when eating? Noticing when these feelings are happening is a great start to be able to change our narrative.
(Also, if a family member or “friend” judges your food choices or body - ugh, that's not ok. That speaks more about them and their own body narratives. If this is something that you struggle with, here is a great article that you may want to check out here.)
Trying our best to enjoy foods without guilt! I know this is easier said than done. Hear me out - Anytime that we are eating with stress, we can hinder our digestion process. So if we are going to eat foods, try to find the joy in eating them and allow yourself to savour it!
