7 Tips to Dampen the Blood Sugar Flame Over the Holidaze!

The holidays make us too busy, too stressed and therefore too tired.  And because we’re tired but need to keep going, we reach for the easiest and fastest thing that seems  to help us do that and that’s not a salad–it’s sugar!  If you understand the metabolic mechanics of the holidays then you’ll know how to beat the fatigue, depression and out of control cravings that come from this wonderful but chaotic time of year!

1. FRUIT: Forget about fruit juices and keep your fruit servings down to 2 low glycemic fruits per day.  No dried fruit.  Fruit cake, banana bread or persimmon pudding does not count as a fruit serving and just because a fruit is in the name doesn’t make it
   healthy!
2. SWEETENERS: Turbinado, demirara, brown sugar, maple syrup, agave, honey, fructose, palm sugar, evaporated cane juice, dried palm sugar, rice syrup, barley malt……….need I go on? These are all high glycemic and need to be limited.  Don’t sweeten your hot beverages and absolutely DO NOT substitute with artificial sweeteners……unless you’d like to gain weight and add toxins to your brain.
3. FAT FREE: Yeah right, less fat but guess what there is usually more of?  Yep, sugar.
   Remember to read the label for the GRAMS OF SUGARS in the food item particularly if it says it is reduced fat or fat free!
4. BREAKFAST: Have it! No, not a coffee and a bran muffin.  That might sound healthy
   but it’s just a cupcake for grown ups and hence, a high glycemic load!  Be especially aware about having a protein dominant breakfast during the holiday season, not a carb laden bakery item.
5. ALCOHOL: Ok, here is where you can really pack it in!  The triple whammy for glycemic load, calories and food intolerance is the traditional egg nog–let alone spiked egg nog!  Run to the other side of the room if this is being served. Those seemingly cozy hot toddies are carbohydrate bombs.  Remember that alcohol is expert at moving through mucus membranes and will start effecting your blood sugar even before you swallow it!  If you are going to enjoy ONE glass of wine, do so with your meal!
6. BALANCE: This doesn’t mean to figure out how to hold your wine glass and hors d’oeuvres plate in the same hand so you can grab more from the buffet table with the other.  It means to make sure you are having lean protein servings, healthy fat choices and many low glycemic vegetable servings with a modest 1/2 cup healthy carb on your plate.  Balance means that you know you are going to a Holiday party where you will likely have a dessert (1 small serving), so you don’t eat ANY sweets the rest of the week.
7. EXERCISE: No matter what–move!!!  You MUST use your muscles during the holiday season in order for them to burn stored carb and fat!  I know it’s cold and rainy out–go to the gym, just get there.  No gym membership but you have a 2 story house or an uphill driveway?  Then burst up those stairs or driveway with an easy walk down and repeat and repeat and repeat!  Get that book on tape and go for a walk, in fact, as one of my clients does, she allows herself another chapter–but onlyif exercising!

If you are super vigilante about your carb and sugar intake through out the holiday season, a small indulgence at your favorite holiday get together won’t turn into days and days of continual carb loading,  elevated insulin levels and a source of next year’s resistance to weight loss!

Could Your Blood Sugar Be Causing Your Joint Pain?

I know you’re aware that repetitive stress, sitting too long, being overweight, an old injury, poor posture and even ill fitting shoes can all contribute to joint pain whether that’s in your back, your knee or your neck. But are you aware that your blood sugar and how you manage it can be THE source of your joint aches and pains?

You heard that right and here we go again… your diet and your body parts are most definitely connected. I know you’re aware of that and if you follow my articles, you know that certain foods like gluten and dairy can really be culprits for a whole host of health ailments. But now I’m not just talking about what you eat, I’m also talking about how you eat, when you eat, how much you eat, how fast you eat, the stress that is present when you eat and believe it or not, even if you eat!

All of these aspects about eating are incredibly important when it comes to managing your blood sugar level. In other words, everything about your pattern of eating including what you eat results in either a stable blood sugar level that gently rolls up and down like the soft swells in the ocean on a very calm day, or it results in jagged spikes that soar upwards like the Eiffel Tower and plunge downward like a roller coaster or maybe your blood sugar rises but then keeps slipping to the bottom where you’ll simply want to eat again to revive your brain and yourself back to productivity. And I can’t leave out the blood sugar that promptly rises with eating but then stays up there like the world’s most efficient hot air balloon, never to come down but also never to really deliver the glucose in your meal all the way into your muscle cells for fuel. You’ll want to eat again even though you just ate, and you’ll particularly want something sweet since your muscle cells are actually starving! This is an example of overeating and starving all at the same time! A common nutritional picture in America: overfed and undernourished! This last scenario where your blood sugar level stays elevated means that your insulin level also stays elevated as it works like a dog trying to get glucose into the muscle cells but can’t. That’s because insulin has worn out its welcome and the muscle cells have stopped responding to insulin. Elevated insulin is a key to turning on the body’s inflammation waterfall and thus begins the joint destruction process! Arthritis starts out as systemic inflammation that ultimately focuses at the joints and surrounding tissues.

So let’s review! You haven’t had great eating patterns for awhile now, even though you might eat healthy foods. Then you notice that you really crave sweets, especially after dinner. Or, you get really tired after you eat or you have to eat again even though you just ate. Now you’re getting cranky and maybe a muffin top too and just like your mood, your sleep’s not so great either! And before too long, the morning stiffness and aching joints with exercise start showing up! Maybe it just shows up in your fingers, hands or feet but joint inflammation is definitely setting in! Do you see how the joints become a problem but it started way back with inflammation coming from poor eating patterns? Arthritis is a condition and it’s also a clue. A clue that something deeper in the body needs help.

Please let me know the next time your orthopedist tells you to take a look at what you’re eating or how you’re eating when you go in for a visit because your joints are hurting or your arthritis is acting up!

I won’t hold my breath waiting!