Dear Dietitian: I’m Addicted to Sugar!
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March is National Nutrition Month, and we’d like to take the opportunity to open a discussion on sugar – a hot topic. This is the second in a series of posts in March concerning sugar, carbohydrates, and blood sugar. Feel free to comment and get the discussion going!
Visibly upset, she comes into my office with at least 75 pounds to lose. “Patty” has tried every diet imaginable, from those icky pre-packaged frozen 1200 calorie plans to an ultra low-carb diet where she went cold-turkey on her addiction (literally) and ate cheese and meat all day. “I’m addicted to sugar… is that possible?” she asks. She is one of countless people who have asked me this very question and, as usual, my answer (like a bad Facebook relationship) is “it’s complicated”.
Why do we crave sugar? Why do we feel compelled to buy a giant blueberry muffin with our sugary mocha in the morning? Why do we feel so controlled by the taste of ice cream or even sweet breakfast cereal? To understand our cravings, we must first understand what sugar is and the effects it has on our bodies and brains.
Table sugar is a compound composed of two smaller sugar molecules, glucose and fructose. These two molecules are the same ones found in sweeteners like honey, molasses and yes, even high fructose corn syrup. Sugars such as these are all broken down in the body and are absorbed into the blood stream, going directly to the brain and muscles to produce energy. They are fuel. In order to fuel our muscles, the sugars need something called insulin to transport them into cells. Insulin is released from the pancreas when blood sugar rises, and in very large amounts when blood sugar rises quickly. Insulin lowers our blood sugar, but also triggers our body to store fat.
Sugar and other fast carbs also have an interesting effect on the brain; they give us a “high”. Yes, you can most definitely be high on sugar! Eating sugar or other foods that turn quickly into sugar (high-glycemic carbs) give the brain a sugar rush, producing a release of the feel-good neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine, as well as endorphins. These opioids are released every day in response to a warm hug or a satisfying meal… but they are also released in the brains of drug or alcohol users, and are part of the reward pathway. This pathway reinforces behavior with the “reward” of feel-good neurochemicals.
Now, let’s put these effects together and see why my patients feel helpless in the face a Girl Scout cookie. Patty has had a stressful week; she has been working long hours and hasn’t been sleeping well. She wakes in the morning and rushes to work. On the way, she stops at a coffee shop and grabs a blueberry scone and a Grande vanilla latte. While she eats at her desk, the 98 grams of carbohydrate (the majority of it sugary “fast” carbs) goes quickly into her blood stream. Insulin floods her system in order to shuttle the sugar into cells, but also stores much of this energy as fat. Her mood improves as serotonin and endorphins flood her brain. She feels happy, and even energetic. Two hours later, her blood sugar comes down quickly, leaving her feeling “crashed”. She feels lethargic, moody, and begins prowling the break room for something to munch on. She finds some coffeecake, and the cycle begins again.
You can imagine how tough this cycle is to break when sugar is found everywhere and at low cost. Due to government subsidies for agricultural commodities such as corn, high fructose corn syrup is cheap. This cheap sweetener is put into everything from cookies to whole wheat bread. If you’re stuck in the crave-crash cycle, how appealing is that $.99 box of snack cakes on aisle 7?
How can Patty stop her addiction? I tell Patty that she needs to focus on whole foods sources of carbohydrate at her meals, such as root vegetables and whole grains. Choosing meals that combine healthy fats, protein, slow carbs and fiber will help her avoid the crave-crash cycle. She can replace her breakfast with a Greek yogurt topped with nuts or a Zing bar. I also make sure to address concerns of emotional eating – relying on food as a stress reliever or a distraction from her emotions can only make her addiction feel more extreme.
Patty and countless others may feel caught, but aren’t controlled by this feeling of addiction when the crave-crash cycle is broken. She must begin by first changing the fuel she puts into her body. My patients are always surprised how their cravings go away when they begin eating balanced, low-glycemic meals and snacks.
Do you feel addicted to sugar? What has helped you overcome these feelings?
Christine Weiss MS, RD is a dietitian and Bastyr University graduate who counsels people dealing with food allergies, diabetes and digestive issues. She enjoys working with Zing Bars to raise awareness about healthy living through online media. She can be found at Eating It Up online.
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2What’s Sugar Doing In My Nutrition Bar?
March is National Nutrition Month, and we’d like to take the opportunity to open a discussion on sugar – a hot topic. This is the first in a series of posts in March concerning sugar, carbohydrates, and blood sugar. Feel free to comment and get the discussion going!
Sugar is found in many forms – photo credits nadmental & vjeran2001
What’s sugar doing in my nutrition bar?
We’ve received all kinds of questions about the sugar content in Zing bars. Some of you wonder why it’s in our bars, and how much sugar is too much? We’re glad you asked! As nutritionists, we always love the opportunity to dig into the topic of sugar. That little number on the nutrition facts panel is the source of so much confusion, in part because the term “sugar” brings up images of all sorts of unhealthy foods such as candy and soda. However, not all sugars are created equal.
Sugar is a type of carbohydrate, and lends a sweet taste to foods such as fruits, milk products, and sweet desserts. These sugars are known as “simple” because their chemical structures are small in size and are easily and quickly absorbed in our digestive tract. Complex carbohydrates better known as starch are larger chemical structures that our body must first break down in order to absorb them as sugar. In the end, all carbohydrate foods turn into sugar. Those sugars are our body’s main source of fuel. So, that hardcore yoga routine you did last Saturday? Without those sugars your downward dogs would have turned to into belly flops. Our muscles need sugar to perform, as does the brain which uses glucose (the form of sugar found in the bloodstream) as a primary form of fuel. We can all think of a time when low blood sugar resulted in foggy thinking and irritability. We all want to feel and perform at our best throughout the day, which begs the question, “What types of carbohydrate will give me sustained energy?”
Unless you’re training for a marathon, I advise people to think “slow” when it comes to carbs. Slow carbs are whole-foods sources of complex carbohydrate such as oats, legumes, quinoa, brown rice, yams and other starchy foods with their natural fiber intact. The fiber slows down your digestion, and the complex carbs are broken down more slowly in the gut than most simple carbs. Think of these as “time-release” carbohydrates! Now, you might think that this would leave simple sugars in the fast lane – but not so fast.
Most sugars are absorbed quickly, but not a type of sugar called fructose. Fructose, found in agave nectar and all fruits, is a special kind of sugar. This sugar is absorbed in the digestive tract like all other sugars, but must go to the liver first before it is metabolized and burned for energy. As a result, your blood sugar doesn’t spike (like after having a sugary soda) and you get long-lasting energy, avoiding the dreaded “sugar crash” which leaves you craving more sugar. Small amounts of fructose are fine for the body to handle, and one Zing bar has the same amount of fructose as that found in a small apple. Fructose has gotten some bad press, but keep in mind that fructose only becomes problematic when we ingest very large amounts, such as with diets loaded with sucrose (table sugar) and high fructose corn syrup – essentially the standard American diet.
What else helps to slow down the release of sugar into the bloodstream? Fiber and fat. Both slow stomach emptying, so the sugar’s digestion and metabolism are further prolonged, giving you the feeling of satiety and lasting energy. I advise my patients to aim for 15-30 grams of total carbohydrate per snack, and to assure that the majority of this carbohydrate is slow burning. It’s no accident that Zing bars were created with 21 to 27 grams carbohydrate per bar. With their heart-healthy fats, satisfying protein and fiber, they are truly the perfect snack, giving you the “slow burn” energy you need to last through a busy work day. Another common snack that fits this perfect combination is an apple (carbohydrate + fiber) with a few tablespoons of peanut butter (healthy fat + protein).
The American Heart Association recommends that we limit added sugars to 25 and 38 grams per day for women and men, respectively. This isn’t much compared to what Americans are eating now, which is a whopping 92 grams (22 teaspoons!) daily. The amount of sugars listed on the nutrition facts panel for Zing bars range 11-15 grams. It’s important to look at this number within context – the majority of these sugars are “slow burn” and, paired with good fats and fiber, won’t leave you crashing and craving more sweets.
The questions to ask yourself when thinking about sugars: Are the sugars fast or slow burn? Are the sugars paired with protein, fat and fiber? The amount of sugar in grams on a package should always be taken in context.
Christine Weiss MS, RD is a dietitian and Bastyr University graduate who counsels people dealing with food allergies, diabetes and digestive issues. She enjoys working with Zing Bars to raise awareness about healthy living through online media. She can be found at Eating It Up online.
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1Does Eating Late Make You Fat?
On a typical day as a dietitian in a busy clinic, I will hear the following comment at least twice before lunchtime “I’m trying not to eat after 7pm, because I know that eating late makes you gain weight!” I never quite know what to make of this declaration. Are these folks nighttime bingers, eating large amounts of junk food out of boredom or exhaustion, or do they believe that having a sensible dinner after 7pm will, no matter the calories, turn directly into fat?
I have attempted to dispute the fact that eating your biggest meal of the day (dinner for most people), when healthy and not excessive, has no bearing on whether or not someone will gain weight. I also make sure my patients know the importance of fueling their bodies throughout the day, and that skipping meals is not the answer to weight loss. According to all the research I had read, weight loss depends on the total number of calories you eat versus the amount that you expend, as long as your caloric intake is balanced and low-glycemic. Well, a new study has come out to question this long-held belief that when you eat the bulk of your day’s calories doesn’t matter.
I first heard about this new study in one of my favorite blogs – the Well Blog from the New York Times. The study was first published in the The International Journal of Obesity. In this 20-week study, researchers put 420 men and women on a similar meal plan designed for weight loss. All of them ate the same total number of calories, but half the group ate the biggest meal of the day before 3pm, and half the group ate theirs after 3pm. At the end of the study, the late eaters lost significantly less weight and showed lower insulin sensitivity, which is a precursor to type 2 diabetes.
This study helps shed light on a mysterious trend that I have been witnessing – that my most obese patients, many of them with type 2 diabetes, are notorious meal-skippers. They skip breakfast, and sometimes even lunch, and then eat a very large dinner. I’ve been puzzled as to the seeming correlation between skipping meals and eating late with obesity and diabetes, and now I know it may not be coincidental. I find this new research exciting – we’re finding out more and more that the equation for weight balance isn’t the old “calories in/calories out” rule.
When do you eat your biggest meal? Do you have a certain meal cutoff time that works for you?
Christine Weiss MS, RD is a dietitian and Bastyr University graduate who counsels people dealing with food allergies, diabetes and digestive issues. She enjoys working with Zing Bars to raise awareness about healthy living through online media. She can be found at Eating It Up online.
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1Foods That Bust Your Mood
Feeling blue? Anxious or irritable? Tired and unmotivated? What you’re eating could be the major culprit. Here are some foods that bust your mood.
photo credit: Jade Gordon
- Sugar and white flour Delicious in Aunt Mildred’s homemade apple pie, abundant in many packaged and processed food products, these two foods are famous for causing our blood sugar and insulin levels to spike and then come crashing down. This roller coaster ride isn’t much fun, as it can leave us feeling irritable, tired, and anxious. I’m not saying you should avoid eating a slice of Aunt Mildred’s pie, but keeping it to the occasional indulgence is important if you want to keep your blood sugars steady.
- Trans fatty acids Trans fats (aka hydrogenated fats or partially hydrogenated oils) are formed when a natural fatty acid is changed into an unnatural form by the addition of hydrogen molecules. This doesn’t sound all that harmful, but consuming trans fats actually interferes with the body’s ability to use essential fatty acids, including omega-3 fatty acids. Insufficient omega-3 fat intake has been linked to many health conditions, including depression, learning difficulties and hyperactivity.
- Food additives This includes artificial flavors (such as MSG), sweeteners (such as aspartame and Splenda), and food colorings found in many packaged and processed foods. Certain additives can act as neurotoxins in some people, causing symptoms such as migraines, insomnia, anxiety and depression. While some experts maintain that there isn’t enough scientific evidence to support this idea, common sense tells us that compared to eating a simple whole food such as an apple, eating a food additive made in a lab is going to have an adverse affect on our health, whether it is to increase inflammation or bring on a migraine or other unwanted outward symptom.
photo credit: Kongroove
- Gluten A reaction to gluten can cause many health issues, including headaches and migraines, brain fog, anxiety and even depression. If you have been experiencing any of these symptoms and haven’t been able to determine the cause, it would be worth talking to your doctor or nutritionist about possible gluten sensitivity. They might recommend a blood test or even an elimination diet.
photo credit: FlorinN
- Overuse of caffeine Moderate doses of caffeine (200-300 mg, or 2 to 4 cups of brewed coffee per day) are not likely to be harmful for most healthy adults, and can even have the beneficial effect of improving concentration and alleviating fatigue. But some people are more sensitive to caffeine, and even a small amount can cause unwanted effects such as disrupting sleep and feeling jittery or anxious.
Eating a whole foods diet, rich in fresh, organic fruits and veggies and healthy fats could have a significant impact on alleviating the blues and many other symptoms. We can’t always cook from scratch, so when choosing packaged foods read labels carefully and buy the foods with recognizable (i.e. found in nature!) ingredients. Ask yourself, ‘Can I imagine it growing?’ If the answer is no, skip it and find an alternative.
Have you discovered certain foods that significantly affect your mood?
Erin Hugus, MS, CN has a Master’s degree in Nutrition from Bastyr University. Erin is an expert in Diabetes care and is passionate about empowering people with realistic strategies for optimal health. She takes great pleasure in her time spent in the kitchen and loves cooking nourishing meals for her family.
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0Four Easy Ways to Beat the Winter Blahs
Are you feeling those January blahs? After the holidays, low energy and decreased vitality can creep into those short winter days, leaving you feeling, well… blah. Here are four ways to get back into the game.
Stay Hydrated
Water is vital for beating winter fatigue. Males require on average about four liters of water per day, and women about three liters. Keep in mind that this total includes all sources of fluid, including food. During the winter, we can easily become dehydrated which zaps energy, and dehydration can become confused with hunger, leading us to overeat (hello winter pounds!). A few ways to stay hydrated:
- Lemon juice and water upon waking can do wonders for you morning routine. Lemon juice helps stimulate detoxification, increases bowel movement, and is a powerful antioxidant. Drink ½ squeezed lemon with a tall glass of water half an hour prior to breakfast.
- Skip sugar-laden drinks. Not only do they add additional calories, but they also spike blood sugar leading to a burst of energy, then a crash within the hour.
- Drink herbal teas. These aid digestion, stimulate your senses, or even calm you down after a long day at work. Try peppermint for digestion, ginger for stimulation, and chamomile for relaxation.
- Drink green and black tea instead of coffee. Green and black teas do contain caffeine but not nearly as much, preventing the inevitable “coffee crash”. A single cup of black tea may contain between 32 and 144 mg of caffeine, while green tea contains only 25 mg.
Sleep
Sleep is not for the lazy, it is for the healthy! Our bodies need 7 to 9 hours of sleep in order to heal and repair the damage we have caused during the day. Tips to increase your sleep quality:
- Don’t go to bed with a full stomach. Besides being uncomfortable, it switches the focus of the body from healing and repair to digestion. Aim to finish your meal at least 2 hours before going to bed.
- Keep your glass of wine or beer with dinner only. Drinking right before bed causes the body to focus on metabolizing alcohol, taking precedence over other functions like healing and repairing tissues. It also disrupts sleep quality, making it that much harder to wake up feeling refreshed on those dark winter mornings.
Eat a good breakfast
Eating a whole foods breakfast filled with low glycemic carbohydrates and protein will help keep you fueled throughout the morning. The brain alone utilizes about 130 grams of carbohydrates per day (equivalent to 3 cups of rice or pasta!). Too little brain fuel can cause mental and physical fatigue. Getting your boost from low-glycemic whole-grain choices that are rich in fiber and nutrients helps keep you energized. Breakfast ideas:
- I love this recipe with rolled oats, grated apple, and berries. Topped with nonfat yogurt, chopped walnuts, and a drizzle of maple syrup, it’s the perfect winter breakfast!
- Black beans and braised kale topped with a fried egg and a slice of whole-wheat toast.
- If you are on the go, a Zing Bar and an orange will help keep you on your toes throughout the morning.
Get more Magnesium
Magnesium is a vital mineral needed for over 300 biochemical processes in our body. However, many of us don’t get enough. Since magnesium is key in energy production, a deficiency can mean lethargy. Most adults need about 300mg per day. Luckily, I can think up all sorts of warming winter meals with these magnesium-rich foods:
- 1 oz of almonds: 80 mg Mg
- 1/2 cup cooked spinach: 78 mg Mg
- 1/2 cup cooked brown rice: 42 mg Mg
- 3 oz cooked halibut: 24 mg Mg
We want to know, how do you beat the winter blahs?
Selva Wohlgemuth is working on her Master’s degree in Nutrition at Bastyr University. She is an avid cook and blogger, and you can find out about her latest culinary adventures and see more of her food photography at Poppies and Papayas.
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1Top 5 Ways to Curb Your Winter Carb Cravings
Do you crave carb-rich foods when the weather turns colder?
Winter is in the air: the trees are almost bare, the days shorter, your rain boots and sweaters are out of storage, and perhaps your cravings for sweet and starchy foods have kicked into high gear. Why is it that we crave the sweeter and starchier foods (aka “comfort foods”) during the winter months?
The answer to this question is not simple, as there could be several factors contributing to these cravings. For many of us, the lack of daylight could be a trigger. Very simply, as the amount of sunlight we’re exposed to decreases, our internal or biological clock shifts. But unfortunately our daily schedules stay the same, so during the wintertime most of us wake up when it’s dark and come home when it’s dark. This increased exposure to darkness causes our brain to produce more of the hormone melatonin, which helps us to sleep, but which also may cause symptoms of depression to varying degrees. Melatonin has been linked to seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a mood disorder associated with depression particularly during the winter months.
One symptom of SAD is craving sugary or starchy foods because these foods give us a short-term mood boost. Even if you don’t have SAD, you may still reach for these foods because they actually have a drug-like effect on the brain! Yes, it isn’t your imagination that you feel like a carb junkie come the Christmas cookies. When we eat something sweet or high-carb with little or no protein, our blood sugar spikes and so does our blood insulin level. Insulin has the effect of helping more of the amino acid tryptophan get to the brain, and tryptophan is the precursor to serotonin, a neurotransmitter that helps us relax and feel good. But what goes up must come down, and this spike in insulin will cause your blood sugar to crash. That’s when the hungry wolf in you comes out, and you scavenge for whatever food will bring it back up quickly (i.e. something sweet), and the cycle continues. High levels of blood insulin over a prolonged period can lead to development of obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.
Sugar can have a drug-like effect on the brain, making you feel like a Christmas cookie junkie come the holidays.
The arrival of the holiday season can intensify these cravings. Say hello to the ultimate comfort foods – traditional foods that are not only delicious, but associated with fond memories and childhood. People also tend to experience higher levels of stress during the holidays, which can lead to stress eating and overindulging in comfort foods.
Our genes may also be playing a role, as historically calorie-dense food was preferred in the wintertime because food was scarcer.
So how do curb your carb cravings during the dark winter days? Here are 5 ideas:
- Eat a balanced breakfast. This advice is applicable throughout the year, but can be especially helpful during the winter months and holidays, when we are bombarded with opportunities to overindulge in sugary treats. It makes sense that including high-fiber carbohydrate, protein and fat in our breakfast meal helps us to feel full longer and keeps our blood sugar steady so we have sustained energy. In addition, studies have shown that what we eat for breakfast can actually affect our blood sugar and insulin response to lunch – it’s been called second meal tolerance. So the benefits of eating breakfast extend beyond avoiding the potential mid-morning slump, and actually carry over to the way our body responds to the next meal. Instead of just a bagel for breakfast, eat a bowl of beans and brown rice topped with salsa and avocado, or a hard-boiled egg with an apple or some berries and handful of raw nuts. Or, on the go, how about a Zing bar and an apple?
- Focus on eating whole foods. Eating less sugar, refined flours, and processed foods means you’ll be eating more nutrient-dense foods, nourishing your body rather than depleting it. Your body will be better equipped to handle reasonable holiday indulgences. Also, a whole foods diet is high in fiber, which helps to keep your blood sugars steady and therefore reduce cravings.
- Manage your stress. We all feel the added stress this time of year can bring, and often to curb that stress we reach for the comfort foods as discussed above. Think about ways you can manage your stress without food. Exercise, sitting quietly listening to music, yoga, shopping (you’re in luck this time of year!), reading – whatever your method, try to carve out some mood-boosting time for yourself each day.
- Revamp your homemade baked goodies. As soon as the cold weather hits, I’m in my kitchen baking. If you’re also into baking your own treats, find ways to add fiber to your recipes, as the added fiber can help lessen the blood sugar response. Ground flax seeds, whole grains, grated apple, pureed squash and pumpkin all add fiber and nutrients to baked goods.
- Address the possibility of SAD. If you’re experiencing symptoms of depression (which can include increased cravings for comfort foods) that coincide with the onset of fall or winter, talk to you doctor about SAD. Light therapy is a common treatment. And although more conclusive research is needed, there are studies to suggest an association between low vitamin D and certain mood disorders, including SAD. Your doctor can run a simple blood test to check your vitamin D level.
What are your “comfort foods”? How do you curb your cravings?
Erin Hugus, MS, CN has a Master’s degree in Nutrition from Bastyr University. Erin is an expert in Diabetes care and is passionate about empowering people with realistic strategies for optimal health. She takes great pleasure in her time spent in the kitchen and loves cooking nourishing meals for her family.
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0The 5 Surprising Items in this Nutritionist’s Grocery Cart
Photo courtesy t-dubisme
Being a nutritionist means that my diet must be perfect, right? Never do I overeat nor do I indulge in sugary desserts, and my grocery cart resembles a rainbow, always overflowing with brightly colored vegetables. Wrong! Following is a sneak peek into my grocery cart and some simple guidelines for making grocery shopping – and eating – more enjoyable.
First of all, what exactly is the perfect diet? Hint: if I had the answer to that million-dollar question, I would be writing this post while sitting on a beach somewhere, collecting royalties from my best-selling book. Trying to eat perfectly healthy 100 percent of the time is not realistic for most of us. Better yet is to find that perfect balance, where you eat to nourish your body a majority of the time so that your body can handle occasional indulgences. I often recommend the 80-20 rule for eating – eighty percent of the time eat healthfully and the other twenty percent you can fudge a little (or have some fudge!). Of course, everyone is unique, and some people might need to be stricter than 80-20, but the concept is the same for everyone: don’t insist on perfection when it comes to your diet.
The 80%
While my cart isn’t literally overflowing with vegetables, produce does make up the majority of the contents. Weekly staples such as garlic, onions, celery, carrots, sweet potatoes, and kale are a must for soups and stews this time of year. I always buy a couple of bunches of kale to put into soups and smoothies, or to make into this delicious salad. Apples, pears, and avocado are also weekly staples, along with broccoli, cauliflower, and zucchini for steaming, roasting or stir frying. This week I stocked up on acorn and butternut squash while they’re in season. I also hit the bulk section this week and stocked up on kasha (roasted buckwheat groats) and quinoa; dried kidney and pinto beans and red lentils; raw pumpkin seeds and raw almonds, and dried figs. I picked up some freshly ground almond butter (if your grocery store has a machine to grind your own nut butter, I highly recommend it for superior freshness and taste). Most weeks, I buy a whole organic chicken to roast. It’s such an economical way to buy meat – we get several meals out of it. And then I use the bones to make broth. For canned goods, I needed some coconut milk and canned beans (I prefer to cook my own beans, but I can’t always plan ahead for that). I hit the deli for some sliced turkey for sandwiches, grabbed a loaf of whole grain GF bread, and for snacks, tossed in some Mary’s Gone Crackers, a package of brown rice cakes, hummus, organic corn tortilla chips, fresh salsa, and a few Zing bars. Organic eggs and a bag of GF rolled oats almost completed my shopping list for this week, with the addition of…
The 20%
Potato chips, chocolate, butter, cream, and sausage. I don’t like to place “good” and “bad” labels on foods, but I do think there are good and bad versions of certain foods. It’s all about the quality (and of course, quantity). So I buy a brand of potato chips made of non-GMO ingredients that include potatoes, oil, and salt – that’s it. I love pure dark chocolate, but I also love Chocolove Almond and Sea Salt Bars and although it can be difficult, I do try to stick to eating a couple of squares at a time! I don’t eat much dairy, but I do love butter so I buy good quality organic pastured butter that has a more favorable fat profile than conventional butter. A few times a week, I enjoy drinking coffee with cream. Non-dairy creamers, even the healthier brands that don’t have artificial sweeteners and unhealthy fats, have long ingredients lists, so I prefer to pour a splash of organic cream into my coffee. My family loves sausage, so I buy a brand of chicken and apple sausage that is organic and has no MSG or added nitrites. The point is, no matter if you’re vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, or whatever, it’s important to include your favorite less-than-healthy foods in your diet – just do it in a mindful way. Choose quality products and pay attention to your portions.
Here are a few rules of thumb I like to follow to help simplify grocery shopping and keep the focus on foods that nourish your body, promote health and prevent disease.
- Fill your cart with anti-inflammatory foods, such as fruits and vegetables and healthy fats. Ax the refined sugar, white flour, and highly processed oils.
- Include low glycemic-index foods in your meals and snacks, such as legumes, non-starchy vegetables, apples, pears, berries, nuts, and seeds.
- Ask yourself these questions: Do I recognize the ingredients? Can I imagine the food growing? Try to limit the foods that get “no” for an answer.
- To buy organic or not? An entire separate post could be written on this subject! There are many reasons to buy organic, but budget-wise, it may not be realistic to buy everything organic. For produce, refer to the Environmental Working Group’s pesticides in produce shoppers guide for the Dirty Dozen and the Clean 15 – this can help you prioritize the most important produce items to buy organic.
What items are in your usual 80%? What about your 20%?
Erin Hugus, MS, CN has a Master’s degree in Nutrition from Bastyr University. Erin is an expert in Diabetes care and is passionate about empowering people with realistic strategies for optimal health. She takes great pleasure in her time spent in the kitchen and loves cooking nourishing meals for her family.
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0Could You Have Diabetes and Not Know It?
Graphic courtesy GDS Infographics
I have begun calling diabetes the “not me” disease. We may know someone with diabetes, have a grandmother or a parent who struggles with controlling high blood sugar or have a friend just diagnosed with pre-diabetes, but if you aren’t the one with the disease you probably think it could never happen to you. 25.8 million Americans or 8% of the population have type 2 diabetes, and 78 million more have pre-diabetes. The numbers seem unbelievable: 25% or 1 out of every 4 people in the US has pre-diabetes. If we look only at those aged 40 to 74 years the number jumps to 40% of that population. As a nutritionist working in a busy clinic, I sometimes see 5 or 6 patients per day who struggle to keep blood sugars under control. Diabetes is an epidemic and, contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be extremely obese to be at risk.
Did you know that having an immediate family member with diabetes and simply being ‘overweight’ increases your chances of eventually developing diabetes? I see many patients in my office daily who thought that they would somehow cheat the disease, thinking “not me” while their weight slowly increased in their 30’s and 40s and they became less physically active. Diabetes is a complex disease that results from a number of factors, including genetics, diet and lifestyle. As the US has slowly become more overweight and more sedentary, diabetes has also become more widespread.
November is National Diabetes Awareness Month, and this is no better time to take a hard look at our diets and ourselves. It is no coincidence that the US’s increase in sugar and high fructose corn syrup consumption has increased along with our weight, and in turn has produced a surge in type 2 diabetes. Diabetes is a blood sugar disease, and the first step in prevention is to look at what is on our plates, in our lunchboxes and on our menus.
Refined sugar and carbohydrates like white flour spike blood sugar and leave us with calories, but very little fiber and other nutrients. We’re then set up in a cycle of craving as our body craves nutrition and our blood sugar begins to rollercoaster. We crave more food and carbs, and our body responds by retaining fat. The excess weight and blood sugar spikes begin causing blood sugar regulation problems.
High blood sugar can do incredible damage to the body, destroying capillaries in the kidneys and eyes and the nerves in hands and feet. Uncontrolled diabetes can result in kidney failure, blindness and lower limb amputations. Scary stuff, and scarier to think that 1 out of every 4 people in the US already have pre-diabetes, and will develop diabetes in 10 years or less.
So, how do you know if you have diabetes or pre-diabetes? There are symptoms but not everyone will experience them, especially if blood sugars haven’t increased to the level of full-blown diabetes. Increased thirst, urination and fatigue are the most obvious signs. Going to your doctor and getting a simple blood test is all you need. The hemoglobin A1C test is a measure you can request, and is the most revealing for indicating a blood sugar problem. The A1C is a single number that refers to your average blood sugar over a 3-month period. A “normal” result is <5.8. Pre-diabetes is 5.8 – 6.4 and full-blown diabetes is 6.5 or greater, which indicates an average blood sugar of 135mg/dl. A healthy blood sugar average should be somewhere around 90mg/dl.
If you’re still thinking “not me!” then I trust you’re caring for your health by making good dietary choices – lots of vegetables, nuts, whole grains and other low-glycemic foods and exercising daily. Diabetes prevention begins first by eating close to nature – food and ingredients you can pronounce, balanced nutrition that leaves your body balanced too.
Help us spread awareness about the diabetes epidemic this month and share your story here. How has diabetes affected you or someone you love?
Resources:
Christine Weiss MS, RD is a dietitian and Bastyr University graduate who counsels people dealing with food allergies, diabetes and digestive issues. She enjoys working with Zing Bars to raise awareness about healthy living through online media. She can be found at Eating It Up online.
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0It’s All In The Mix
It’s the funniest thing.
Normally, the patients who come into my office are dealing with uncontrolled diabetes, or maybe their cholesterol is too high. Maybe their blood pressure is through the roof, and they begrudgingly march into my office because they fear a reprimand from their doctor more than they do the disease itself. I get my fair share of people who only want to lose weight. All of these things I’m pretty used to.
However, lately many patients who have come to see me are complaining of mysterious symptoms: anxiety, shakiness, sweating, and weak knees. One patient was in her 70’s and another was a 33 year-old athlete. Neither have diabetes. Both are otherwise fairly healthy. What do they have in common? Both are on the blood sugar rollercoaster. Can you imagine feeling panicked, hungry, weak – and just an hour or two after eating? Maybe you can, or maybe you don’t feel this extreme, but blood sugar swings happen to many of us, and sometimes without our understanding what is actually happening. We feel low energy after lunch in the afternoon, or we get a little shaky in the morning a few hours after we’ve eaten breakfast. You may even get short-tempered or cranky right before lunch, then go straight to the vending machine. The spikes and crashes we get from meals and snacks can make or break our day – once you’re on the rollercoaster, it can be tough to get off.
My nutrition prescription? Balanced eating with ‘slow burn’ carbohydrates. Sounds a little ho-hum, right? Actually, it’s pretty cool how we can change our energy, mood and metabolism with the right mix of protein, fat and carbohydrate. Not only is the mix important, but the quality is important too. So how do you get the right mix and avoid the blood sugar rollercoaster?
With refined high glycemic carbohydrate and unbalanced food combinations, you can experience extreme highs and lows.
Macronutrient Balance
Protein, fat and carbohydrate are what we refer to as macronutrients. At every meal and snack, it is best to have a balanced mix of all three, giving you what your body needs and helping prevent blood sugar spikes and crashes. Carbohydrates should be around 40-50% of calories, fats 20-35% and protein 20-30%. Having all three slows digestion (thus giving a slow sugar release into the bloodstream) and eases cravings.
Macronutrient Quality
You can eat meals and snacks with roughly the right percentages, but still experience blood sugar imbalance if you ignore quality. Carbohydrates should be low glycemic or ‘slow burn’ and contain their natural plant fiber which slows digestion. A great example would be sprouted grain breads or steel-cut oats, or maybe a bowl of cooked quinoa. Some of the most common ‘fast burn’ carbohydrates are very processed (stripped of their fiber) including cane sugar, white flour and instant potatoes. These foods can spike blood sugar and then crash it soon after, leaving you sleepy, drained, and craving sugar. These continual spikes and crashes set us up for low energy and weight gain.
Healthy fats are also important to steady blood sugar. It is best to focus on monounsaturated fats naturally found in plant foods, such as avocado, nuts, seeds and olive oil. These are anti-inflammatory, and luckily they taste awesome! I also emphasize high quality protein including protein from dairy, pastured meats and plant protein from beans and peas. One of my go-to suggestions is to add nut butters like almond or peanut butter to meals and snacks. Their high fat and protein content hits the sweet spot for satiety and, spread on whole grain toast or drizzled on oatmeal, gives sustained energy for hours.
When you have the right mix of protein, fat and carbohydrate and choose healthy food sources, you achieve complete nutrition. Your blood sugar rises and falls are small and slow, your moods improve, your energy increases, and your cravings diminish – meaning no more regrettable vending machine episodes!
Ideal Mix + Healthy Choices = Complete Nutrition
With complete nutrition and proper spacing of meals and snacks, blood sugar steadies.
So what about my dear 70 year-old woman and my 33 year-old athlete? Both were eating in an unbalanced way, and were falling short on healthy fat, carbohydrate and protein, especially at breakfast and lunch. We worked on meal timing so both women were eating 3 meals and 2-3 snacks spaced evenly throughout the day. And do you know what? It worked. By our second appointment together they happily reported sustained energy all morning and afternoon. Their symptoms of low blood sugar, which for both felt quite debilitating, were completely gone. Together we evened out their extreme highs and lows and turned their scary extreme coaster into a kiddie coaster.
These same principles about macronutrient balance and quality food choices are what compelled Zing’s founders to create a bar with complete nutrition… because it works!
Have you ever been on the blood sugar rollercoaster? What do you do to prevent it now?
Christine Weiss MS, RD is a dietitian and Bastyr University graduate who counsels people dealing with food allergies, diabetes and digestive issues. She loves working with Zing Bars to raise awareness about healthy living through online media. She can be found at Eating It Up online.
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0Fat Free is Out. Healthy Fats are In.
Fat is yet another nutrient that’s gotten a pretty bad reputation over the years. Do you remember not so long ago the fat-free craze when every box and package turned a signature dark green and proclaimed ‘Fat-Free!’, which really meant ‘eat as much as you want!’ Yes, we did just that, and ended up eating lots of unsatisfying, sugary processed foods which did nothing for our health (not to mention our waistlines).
Did you know that each and every one of the cell membranes in your body is mainly comprised of fatty acids? The composition of the fatty acids in your cell membranes is directly affected by the types of fats you eat every day. While there certainly are “good” fats and “bad” fats to consider, limiting fat intake overall isn’t necessarily a good idea for everyone. Fat doesn’t make you fat! Here are 3 good reasons why not to eat a low-fat diet (less than 20 percent of total daily calories):
- Stable energy and moods. You just ate breakfast an hour ago, but you’ve already got that low blood sugar feeling. One of the reasons this can happen is you’re not eating enough fat. Fat slows down the rate of digestion, helping to keep your blood sugar from rising and dropping rapidly so you avoid feeling irritable and your energy level stays steady.
- Enjoyment. Without a doubt, don’t leave fat out – your taste buds will thank you! Without fat, food can be flat and flavorless, lacking richness, depth and texture. Fats and oils used during cooking readily disperse the fat-soluble flavor molecules found in herbs and spices, thus the flavors in the food appear more gradually and linger longer.
- Weight maintenance. As Chrissy Weiss pointed out in a recent post, keeping the pounds off after losing them is indeed the bane of every dieters’ existence! She pointed out a new study that found that a very low-fat diet was less effective than a low glycemic index diet at keeping the pounds off after weight loss. This has to do with the effect on metabolism – the low GI diet increased caloric burn more than the low-fat diet did. Fat also increases satiety, or the feeling of fullness after eating, so you won’t want to snack all the time.
How much fat to eat exactly? Strive for at least 20-35 percent of your daily caloric intake*. That’s around 45-75 grams of fat (3-5 tablespoons oil) per day based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Working with a healthcare professional can help you consider your unique dietary needs, and is especially important if you have a specific medical condition.
Just as important as quantity is the quality of the fats you eat. Since every cell in our body depends on fat, the quality of the fats you eat is of the utmost importance to your overall health. Simply put, cells will not function properly without the right types of fats in their membranes. They can’t communicate well with other cells and with hormones, such as insulin. This dysfunction is a key factor in many modern diseases, affecting everything from our skin and eyes to our brain to our heart and reproductive system.
So how do you optimize the fatty acid profile of your cell membranes?
Focus on getting a good balance of the following:
- Monounsaturated fats (olives and olive oil, avocados, tree nuts such as almonds and cashews, peanuts, seeds)
- Omega-3’s (wild cold-water fish, flaxseeds and walnuts, grass-fed animals, wild game)
- Saturated fat (coconut, grass-fed animals, cocoa butter in chocolate)
At the same time:
- Avoid refined vegetable oils like corn and soybean (found mainly in processed and fast food).
- Avoid all sources of trans fat (margarine, shortening, anything partially hydrogenated).
- Limit saturated fat from conventionally-raised animals.
Focus on Quality:
- Prevent heat, light, and oxygen exposure – the three enemies of fats and oils that produce rancidity, or damaged oils.
- Some fats are extra delicate such as the unsaturated types, so avoid heating these fats to high temperatures (such as using flaxseed oil for cooking!).
- Store unsaturated fats in green or brown glass containers, and don’t keep them over 3 months on the countertop. Buy them fresh and use them quickly.
- Look for brands of oil that take measures to prevent rancidity (damage from heat, light and oxygen) with natural refining methods. We like Spectrum brand oils.
Some ideas for adding healthy fats to your diet:
- Add a couple of avocado wedges to a strawberry and banana smoothie.
- Use virgin coconut oil for sautéing and baking.
- Have some dark chocolate – an ounce per day has been shown to lower cholesterol and blood pressure.
- Top steamed veggies with a pat of butter from grass-fed cows (aka pastured butter – higher in omega-3 fats).
- Have a small handful of raw cashews with your apple for a mid-morning snack.
- Eat a Zing bar – you’ll get a serving of healthy fats from nuts, balanced with low-glycemic carbs and protein.
What fats and oils do you have in your cupboards? Is it time for a change?
