8 Foods to Balance Blood Sugar

Balanced blood sugar levels are crucial to a healthy and prosperous life. Balanced blood sugar levels prevent disruption of your body’s functions and help your overall health. Here are a few foods to add to your diet to help balance your blood sugar:

1. Greens

You can never eat too many greens. For the best blood sugar benefits, go for nutrient-dense, low-carb greens like spinach, kale, and broccoli.

These greens are also very rich in protein and calcium, which help your body in multiple areas. You can toss these greens in salads with olive oil and chunks of salmon.

Studies have shown that these three vegetables contribute to a dramatic improvement in patients who are constantly battling with their blood sugar.

2. Low-fructose fruits

Fruit is always a must, but for blood sugar-specific management, choose fruits that are low fructose, such as cantaloupe, raspberries, blueberries, kiwi, and blackberries. You can snack on them throughout the day, or toss them in your salad, smoothies, or acai bowls.

3. Protein

Protein is essential for slowing down glucose absorption in your body, which helps regulate your blood sugar levels. Add foods to your diet that are packed with protein, like wild salmon and other types of fish, beef and other types of lean meat, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, and eggs.

Make your diet interesting; try snack ideas like celery sticks dipped in all-natural peanut butter. This snack is rich in protein and only contains a good kind of fat. Remember everything in moderation, however.

Too much protein actually can become sugar in your blood, creating a condition called gluconeogenesis; 40 to 70 grams of protein is enough for a day.

4. Low-calorie drinks

Cut out sugary, high-calorie drinks from your diet. Add drinks like cinnamon tea, lemon water, and cucumber juice in your daily routine.

5. Herbs and Spices

Herbs and spices are natural supplements for balancing your blood sugar levels. They not only add flavor to your dishes but they may also help your hormone’s lower your blood sugar.

Some spices, like turmeric, contain anti-inflammatory properties, which help in balancing out your sugar.

6. Whole grain foods

Whole grain foods that are also rich in protein, like millet and quinoa, provide and store energy without causing spikes in your blood sugar levels

7. Beans

Beans are a good source of protein, low carb, and rich in fiber, all important factors in balancing your blood sugar.

Hummus, lentils, and garbanzo beans are good examples and great dietary choices of foods to balance blood sugar. Remember to soak them the night before to promote easier digestion.

8. Nuts

Nuts like almonds and walnuts contain healthy amounts of fiber, protein, and healthy fats, and are a low carb snack idea.

Tips For Reducing Your Sugar Intake

Learn the Names of Hidden Sugar

The first step to cutting back on sugar is knowing exactly what types of sugar you need to avoid. This does not mean eating less fruits and vegetables since they contain fructose.

Instead, you are focusing on added sugar, which is found in a lot more foods than you might think. Start learning the hidden names of sugar in products you purchase, then look for them on labels. 

Some common ones include cane sugar, high fructose corn syrup, sucrose, molasses, maple syrup, honey, and brown rice syrup. 

While some of these are not necessarily bad for you in small quantities, they are still considered added sugar.

Always Go Natural

Luckily, you can still eat all the fresh produce you want (unless you need to watch your quantities for other reasons). Fructose does exist in all fruits, but it is natural as long as you are choosing fresh fruits. 

You can also look for frozen produce, but check the package to make sure there is absolutely no added sugar. This is not necessary! A simple change is to just switch to natural produce and avoid the canned stuff.

Cook More Meals from Scratch

Another easy way to transition into cutting back on added sugar is to start cooking more at home. The more meals you cook at home from scratch, the less processed and packaged food you are going to rely on. 

Even something as simple as buying a block of cheese to shred it yourself instead of the pre-shredded varieties can cut back on sugar and other additives added to keep that cheese fresh. 

Buy your deli meat from the deli instead of in the package, and cook all your meat and fish fresh, without buying it from the frozen food aisle.

Sugar-Free Meal Ideas

As you begin planning out your new sugar-free life with a sugar detox, you will need to figure out what to eat. It can be a little overwhelming when you realize how much-added sugar is in the foods you already eat, especially if you rely a lot on packaged or processed foods. Here are some ideas for simple meals and snacks without a lot of added sugar.

Breakfast

Let’s start with breakfast, as it can be one of the easier ways to add sugar-free or low-sugar meals to your day. 

If you are doing a gradual sugar detox, just start with breakfast before you worry about your other meals. To keep it simple, you can just mix up a fruit smoothie or make a smoothie bowl. Sugar detoxing still allows you to have natural sugars found in fresh fruits and vegetables, just make sure you choose them fresh. 

If you go for frozen fruits, look at the package to make sure no sugar has been added.

Another idea is to simply have eggs and veggies. Again, veggies should be fresh or frozen with no added sugar. This is a simple and filling meal that won’t make you feel like you are missing out.

Lunch and Dinner

There are many different options for lunch and dinner, depending on your personal dietary guidelines. This will depend if you are a vegetarian or vegan, low-carb, or even gluten-free. 

Just try to remember that most packaged and processed foods have hidden sugar, as well as a lot of the deli meats you get for sandwiches. 

Here are a few ideas:

Salad with homemade olive oil vinaigrette dressing – avoid bottled dressing as most of them contain sugar.

Lettuce wraps with your preferred protein source – the lettuce wrap avoids added sugar in bread, but be careful about the meats you include inside. Most deli meat has added sugar, so look at the packaging.  

Simple protein, carb, and veggie dinner – this is the simplest way to create a healthy dinner. Choose a lean protein like fish or chicken you have made yourself without marinades that contain sugar, choose fresh veggies over canned, and add in a healthy carb like brown rice.

Snacks

What about snacks? This might be where you struggle the most since many people look for candy, cookies, crackers, and many other packaged items to be eaten as snacks. 

Even healthy protein bars are often loaded with added sugar. In this case, the best option is to be simple with fresh fruits or vegetables, cheese sticks with no added sugar or hard-boiled eggs.

Start Finding Sugar-Free Alternatives

You will also want to find alternatives to some of your favorite things, that don’t have added sugars. For example, if you enjoy flavored drinks, skip the fruit juice and soda since they are loaded with added sugars. 

Switch to flavored water or sparkling water. Just be careful with some sparkling waters as they might contain aspartame, which is an artificial sweetener.

Using an inexpensive fruit-infuser water bottle is one healthy option. Infuse your water with fruits, vegetables, or herbs.

Try reducing your sugar intake and balancing your blood sugar the natural way by changing the way you eat. You’ll be amazed at the difference!

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