The concept and importance of balance and the insulin response is worth repeating again in a different way. When you eat a carbohydrate ALONE, without protein or fat, blood sugar can rise quickly. Without anything to slow it down, like protein or fat, your blood sugar can “spike” and then be followed by a significant drop. With low blood sugar, your body will probably respond with hunger or need a “pick-me-up” and you naturally reach for more carbohydrates, the preferred fuel source.66 Without anchoring the carbohydrate, you are hungry more often.67 When you eat a carbohydrate combined with a protein source, its entrance into the bloodstream is slowed down, thus stabilizing blood sugar: the rise is slower, it stays longer and there’s not a severe drop after the spike.59 This has several advantages. Because protein serves as a blood sugar stabilizer, you don’t repeatedly get hungry and continue to reach for more carbohydrates.  The more you reach for carbohydrates, the more calories you consume and the more insulin you need to help clear sugar from the blood. The more insulin released, the more potential there is to store fat. Are you seeing a pattern here? In addition, protein helps maintain … Continue reading Blood Sugar