FEELING 'HANGRY'? THE BEAUTY OF BLOOD SUGAR BALANCING.

Ditching sugar and white carbs can make you feel fantastic. They may be the reason your energy levels are on the floor, feel irritable and anxious and are struggling with weight and cravings. These are signals that your blood sugar may be out of balance.

But holding back these carbs can feel hard - especially if you have spent years using sweet and stodgy stuff to give you a little energy boost or ‘treat’.

I wanted to share a way of eating I find incredibly useful for cutting back on sweet stuff and making healthy eating easier.

You may have heard of the term low glycaemic (low GI) eating and thought it sounds a bit complicated or not particularly appetising. However, once you get beyond the scientific jargon this is not so much a diet, but a new way of looking at food that could change the way you eat…forever.

Switching to low glycaemic eating could help you feel fuller for longer, calmer, more lively and even drop a few pounds. Best of all, you don’t even have to ditch the carbs.

Slow and steady

Every cell of your body uses glucose, obtained from food, as energy. All cells, but especially your brain, need a constant supply of this energy, and the body has developed sophisticated mechanisms to keep the amount of glucose in your blood at a steady state. Glucose is released into the blood at different speeds depending on the food eaten.

The Glycaemic Index (GI) is a way of measuring how long foods containing carbohydrates take to cause a rise in blood sugar after eating. High GI foods (GI score above 70) such as biscuits, soft-drinks and white-bread cause a sharp rise in blood sugar levels which then drops quickly. Whereas low GI foods (GI score below 55) such as oats create a slow and steady release of energy.

Mood, midriff and microbiome

A low GI lunch can give a steady release of energy which is less likely to trigger mid-afternoon fatigue and a desperate urge for a coffee and handful of cake. Some studies have found that people who eat higher GI foods are more prone to anger, low mood, anxiety and depression than those who eat lower GI foods.

It makes sense therefore that feeling fuller for longer could help you cut back on snacks and overeating. Simply swapping white bread for wholegrain bread was found to reduce the likelihood of developing obesity in one study. Many low GI wholegrains and fruit and vegetables are high in fibre which can also nurture a happy gut.

Low GI eating is recommended for people at risk of, or with diabetes.

Switching to low GI eating is easier than you might think with these tactics:

1. Eat fewer carbs by having open sandwiches or adding vegetables, pulses and nuts to bulk out pasta and risotto.

2. Cook and cool potatoes before you eat them as this lowers their GL. Cold potatoes and vegetables are perfect for bubble and squeak, frittatas and warm salads.

3. Add nuts, seeds, coconut flakes and nut butters to cereals, porridge, cakes, biscuits and puddings.

4. Make your smoothies less sweet by adding vegetables (spinach, kale, courgette, broccoli avocado) and protein (nut butter, seeds, hemp protein).

5. Choose snacks which also contain protein or fat, such as hummus and carrots, cheese and apple, peanut butter on wholegrain toast, dark chocolate and nuts.

6. Avoid processed and low fat foods as the fat is often replaced by sugar (or nasty additives).

7. Experiment with pulses, try whizzed up butter beans instead of mash and add chickpeas and lentils to curries, soups and stews.

8. Look for the sugar content on food packaging traffic lights – if it is medium to high then the food is likely to be high GL. Or look at the % of carbohydrates which sugars - try to choose foods with less than 6g per 100g.

Try different low GI versions of your usual carbohydrates to discover your favourites: Bread: Brown, wholemeal, multigrain, rye, seeded, oatmeal and bakery sourdough (eg Burgen, Vogel and Heart of Health)

Potatoes: Sweet potatoes and cooled potatoes.

Pasta and noodles: Wholemeal, spelt, buckwheat, filled pasta, cook until al dente.

Grains: Quinoa, buckwheat, pearl barley, millet.

Cereal: Porridge, muesli with nuts and seeds (not dried fruit), add oats to cereal.

“The joy is that we can take back our bodies, reclaim our health, and restore ourselves to balance. We can take power over what and how we eat. We can rejuvenate and recharge ourselves, bringing healing to the wounds we carry inside us, and bringing to fuller life the wonderful person that each of us can be.”

John Robbins