A stable blood sugar level is probably not the first thing when you think about a healthy lifestyle.
We tell you what your blood sugar level does and how it affects your body.
Nutrients
To understand the story, first a short lesson about nutrients. Food can be divided into three main groups – macronutrients:
The latter group consists of different types of sugars. Fructose (fruit sugar) and glucose (grape sugar) are simple sugars. If you stick them together, you get multiple sugars , such as sucrose (table sugar) and lactose (milk sugar).
Sugar for energy Carbohydrates are the main source of energy for your body. During digestion, they are converted to glucose, which means that they are absorbed into the blood as a nutrient. Your body gets the energy you need for your daily activities from the glucose it absorbs through your diet. The glucose you don't use is converted in your liver to glycogen:your personal energy supply. The moment your body receives more glucose (sugar) than it can use or store, it is converted into fat and your weight increases.
Sugar, in any form, is an energy source for your body. Your blood sugar level simply means:how much glucose is in your blood? If the sugar supply and demand in your body are in balance, then you are healthy in that respect.
Sweet snags
Usually, when you think of sugar, you think of sweets such as cakes, biscuits, sweets and soft drinks. But starch products such as pasta, bread and potatoes, as well as fruit, white rice, alcohol and milk products can be sugar sources. Unnoticed, many people ingest much more sugar every day than they think.
The disadvantages of too much sugar in your blood
Scientists have discovered that a large amount of sugar in your blood can cause a list of woes for your health. Your blood normally contains between 4 and 7.8 millimoles of glucose per liter, with peaks of up to 10 millimoles. If the blood sugar level is higher, then there is diabetes.
Sugar makes you old? When you have more sugar in your blood than your body can process, it has a negative impact on your immune system, sleep, brain activity, energy level and stress sensitivity. Among other things, it causes an increased risk of inflammation, allergies, cardiovascular disease, fatigue, problems with your joints, diabetes, clogging of arteries and obesity. It could even shorten your life considerably if you go unwise with sugar-rich foods. It also appears that many bad bacteria (fungi) feed on sugar.
As if all that were not enough, Dutch researchers have discovered that prolonged exposure to high blood sugar levels accelerates aging. Especially in your face you can look old faster if you eat too much sugar.
Avoid peaks and valleys High blood sugar isn't just bad for your health. Fluctuations in your blood sugar level are also not so healthy. The sugar levels in your blood fluctuate throughout the day. Just before eating, the values are lower, while your blood sugar level rises sharply immediately after eating. The glucose from your food then enters your bloodstream and is transported to cells that need energy. As a result, your body produces insulin. This ensures that the glucose is quickly absorbed by the cells, so that the blood sugar level drops again.
Not all foods cause an equally large sugar spike in your blood. This has to do with the glycemic load (GL) of a food. The glycemic load is a number that indicates the rate at which carbohydrates eaten are digested and absorbed into your blood. Foods with a low glycemic value (about 50 or less), ensure a less severe sugar peak in your blood. Foods with a high glycemic value cause a big sugar spike in your blood. Your body has to work hard to bring those sugar fluctuations in your blood back into balance.
If you regularly eat foods with a high glycemic value and your blood sugar level therefore constantly fluctuates, your insulin system becomes out of balance and your body becomes overstimulated. This causes serious health problems in the long run. Moreover, after a sugar peak in your blood always follows an equally severe drop in sugar in your blood. Your body does that to get things under control again, but you suddenly feel tired and weak:a sugar dip. As a result, you tend to eat something with a lot of carbohydrates again. The temptation to know how to snitch is then more difficult to resist and so the circle is complete.
Best thing to do:Avoid foods with a high glycemic index. Sugar itself has a glycemic index of 100. But it is also better to avoid foods such as white bread, pasta, cookies, sweets, soft drinks, alcohol and snacks. On the internet you will find tables with foods and their glycemic load. You will see in such a table that some fruits, such as pineapple and watermelon, have a high glycemic value. That makes sense, because they contain a lot of fructose. But that doesn't mean you should avoid these fruits. It also contains many healthy substances such as fiber and vitamins.
It's about balance
The point is that you mainly get carbohydrates. It is also better for your blood sugar level to eat a small amount a few times a day, instead of a huge portion three times a day. Regular exercise also helps your body maintain your blood sugar levels. Make sure you eat something light before your workout. This way your body 'knows' that energy is available. Exercising on an empty stomach causes a sugar peak in your blood, because your body wants to prevent that there is not enough energy for the action. Your liver then converts your energy supply, glycogen, into glucose and dumps it into your bloodstream in large quantities. And you want to prevent that.
5 signs that your blood sugar level is too high:
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