After food passes through your chompers, it spends a few seconds of happy time on the taste buds, takes a ride down your throat, and then is eventually broken down into glucose. Glucose is absorbed through the wall of the stomach and the first part of the small intestine. Glucose enters the bloodstream, but it cannot enter a cell because it cannot break through the cell wall. The pancreas must release insulin, which then escorts glucose into the cells. This process happens with every food you eat, whether it’s slow cooked oatmeal or Fruity Pebbles cereal! The difference is, with the sugar-charged cereal, the carbohydrates are easily broken down into glucose and there is a rapid increase in the amount of glucose that enters the bloodstream. This prompts a rapid and large release of insulin. The pancreas releases so much insulin that glucose rushes into the cells, like a lady to a sale rack. Since the glucose has taken a new home, into the cells, the glucose left in the bloodstream is extremely low. This condition is called hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar. When you feel a grumbling in the tummy, and receive an “I’m hungry” signal to the brain, chance are, you are hypoglycemic, and you need to eat to elevate your blood sugar. Different foods are absorbed at different rates. The rate at which the glucose goes from the blood into the cells is determined by the amount of insulin released, and all of this makes for what is called the “glycemic index,” or GI. Foods low in glycemic index are typically broken down slower and insulin is released over a longer period of time, in lower volumes. This is good! Foods high in glycemic index are broken down rapidly, and insulin is released quickly and in high volumes. This is bad. Foods highest in glycemic index are simple carbohydrates, such as white bread, sugar, fruit juice, soda, sugary breakfast cereal, etc. Complex carbohydrates, such as 100% whole grains and most vegetables, are low in glycemic index. Fats are low in glycemic index, but that doesn’t mean you’re free to eat butter to your heart’s content. Fats are high in calories (9 kcal per gram, as opposed to 4kcal per gram of carbs or protein), and should not consume more than 35% of your diet. Proteins are higher GI than most fats, but lower than most carbohydrates. The best thing you can do for your body is try to eat to keep blood sugar relatively stable, and that means creating meals and snacks throughout the day that have a complex carb, protein, and healthy fat trio. I call that the P-C-F balance. Eating in such a way will lift your blood sugar, but not to dangerous heights as is done with simple sugar- only to take it away and leave you famished. It will lift blood sugar up to a sustainable height and keep it there for a while. The different GI of the different macronutrients will help to slow the release of insulin and absorption of glucose by the cells. So, eating a piece of whole wheat toast (carb) with one slice of turkey breast (protein) and ¼ avocado (fat) all at one time would be a fantastic meal! That’s an example of P-C-F balance. It would keep you satiated for about 4-hours. Eating a piece of whole wheat toast at 7am, a piece of turkey at 8am, and ¼ avocado at 9am would not have the same effect. I have attached a chart so that you may better understand what happens with blood sugar with each macronutrient, and why it is advantageous to create meals and snacks with P-C-F balance.
Eating this way will allow you to beat hunger, and actually lose weight without starving yourself. Be mindful of calories of each food you consume, but try to eat a P-C-F meal or snack every 3-4 hours. At the end of the day, carbohydrates should have made up 45-65% of your diet (mostly from complex carbohydrates), protein should have made up 10-35% of your diet (from lean sources of protein), and fat should have made up 20-35% of your diet (from unsaturated fat sources). For weight loss, you must calculate the total number of calories required each day in order to achieve your goals; do not exceed that number. Eating P-C-F in every snack/meal does not give you permission to eat “more;” it’s giving you the education on how to eat smarter. Keep in mind that 3,500 calories equals one pound of body fat. If you aspire to lose one pound each week, figure out how many of the 3,500 calories will be burned through exercise; the remainder will need to be lost from reducing calories consumed from food. Be wise in pre-planning your meals and snacks. Keep lots of fiber, lean protein, and healthy fat in stock, and use the P-C-F balance to lose weight and feel steadily energized throughout the day!
