Top Ten Tips on How to Balance Your Glucose Levels
Blood glucose responds to a variety of factors. Levels rise and fall throughout the day based on what and when we eat, our stress levels, how and when we exercise, our sleep quality, and more.
To optimise metabolic health (and, in turn, support stable energy and mood, and lower chronic health risk), you need to balanced blood sugar. That means blood sugar levels remain within a relatively stable range with minimal fluctuations. In the short term, issues related to out-of-balance blood glucose may cause weight gain, fatigue, depression, anxiety, and impaired cognitive and workout performance. Over time, they may damage blood vessels and other tissues and increase risk (or drive the progression) of chronic conditions like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, kidney disease, and more
Here are Nutrition Fx’s top ten tips on how to best balance your sugar levels to avoid these health complications and ensure you live better for longer.
1. Reduce sugar intake.
Avoiding or significantly limiting added sugars is one of the most effective ways to curb blood sugar spikes. Added sugars include table sugar, natural sweeteners (maple syrup, agave, honey, molasses), and high fructose corn syrup. They’re commonly found in sweetened beverages and foods (regular sodas, energy drinks, fancy coffees, desserts, baked goods, breakfast cereals, sweets and candy) but may also be added to more surprising items like protein powders or bars, sauces, and condiments like ketchup, dressings, and rice vinegar.
Focus on the occasional small amount of sweet food, think a couple of squares of dark chocolate or plain yogurt with a drizzle of honey for dessert. Eating occasional sweet foods in the context of an otherwise metabolically healthy diet and active lifestyle isn’t something to stress about; metabolic health is about long-term trends and perfectly flat glucose isn’t the goal.
2. Limit other simple carbs.
You can also experience sharp glucose rises from refined carbohydrates, which have had their natural fibre content either removed or significantly broken-down during processing, making it much easier for the body to break them down into simple sugars and absorb them into the bloodstream. Common refined carbs include wheat-based flours, like those found in breads, crackers, cereal, pasta, cookies, and pizza, as well as liquid carbs in some fruit juices, sodas and energy drinks.
Focus on whole and unrefined foods to help you minimise blood glucose spikes and help you get more micro and macronutrients: whole food carb sources like veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds, beans and legumes.
3. Eat enough fibre.
Make sure most of your carbs come from minimally processed, fibre-rich sources. Fibre is an indigestible carbohydrate naturally found in whole or minimally processed plant foods that don’t raise blood sugar levels. Fibre also helps build a healthy gut microbiome and serves to slow down several processes, including the breakdown of starches into glucose, how quickly food enters the intestines from the stomach (gastric emptying), and the rate at which glucose enters the bloodstream—in turn, leading to more gradual rises in blood sugar. Nutrition Fx recommends 30-50 g of fibre per day.
Focus on filling up most of your plate with non-starchy vegetables (think: brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, green beans, bell peppers, mushrooms, asparagus, leafy greens), which will add bulk and fibre for satiety, as well as vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
Other fibre-rich, nutrient-dense foods unlikely to spike blood sugar include chia seeds, shelled edamame, avocados and low-sugar berries like blackberries and raspberries.
Meals like salads, stir-fries, veggie frittatas, and “veggie/protein” bowls are all great opportunities to pack fibre-rich foods in one place.
4. Don’t eat “naked” carbs.
Even some “healthy” carbs that are unprocessed can cause blood sugar spikes if they’re a relatively dense source of total carbs (think: quinoa or oatmeal, beans and lentils, squash and sweet potatoes, mangoes, and grapes).
Focus on pairing carb-rich foods them with protein (meat, fish, eggs, plain Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, tofu, tempeh, edamame, hemp seeds), healthy fats (olive oil, avocado oil, butter, ghee), and fibre (listed above) to help lower your blood sugar response.
Focus on pairing carbs with protein, fat and fibre. Examples are:
Fruit with cottage cheese or plain full-fat Greek yogurt
Apple or pear slices with cheddar cheese
Chia pudding made with milk, protein powder, fruit, nuts, and spices
Banana with peanut butter sprinkled with chia seeds
Smashed avocado and rocket on whole-grain toast topped with a fried egg
Half a baked sweet potato with a fried egg, avocado, salsa, and cheese
Veggie bowl made with edamame, olive oil, sauteed greens, herbs/spices, a drizzle of tahini, and chicken or tofu
A piece of dark chocolate slathered with nut butter
Brownies or other baked goods baked with collagen powder (look for specific recipes that have already been tested)
Eating traditional desserts in small portions right after a meal that contains protein, fibre, and fat will also help buffer your blood sugar response
5. Go for a walk after meals.
After meals, get walking. Several studies show that post-meal walks are one of the best ways to reduce the glucose response (i.e., they help you achieve more of a rolling glucose curve rather than a sharp spike after eating carbs). This makes sense since exercise helps muscle cells uptake glucose without additional insulin. So, walking lowers blood sugar levels more rapidly than when you remain sedentary after a meal.
Focus on going for a 10-20 minute walk within 30 minutes after eating.
6. Increase muscle mass with strength training
Strength training is an effective method for improving insulin sensitivity and enhancing glucose uptake. Firstly, strength training increases muscle mass, and since muscle tissue is a major site for glucose disposal, having more muscle means more glucose can be taken up from the blood. Secondly, strength training stimulates GLUT4 proteins which are responsible for transporting glucose into cells helping to lower blood glucose levels. Thirdly, strength training boosts mitochondrial density and function within muscle cells, improving their capacity to utilise glucose for energy. This not only enhances immediate glucose uptake during and after exercise but also contributes to long-term improvements in metabolic health.
Focus on incorporating strength training into a regular fitness routine, ideally at least two to three times per week. This can provide substantial benefits for glucose metabolism.
7. Avoid late night meals.
Our bodies become less insulin sensitive (i.e., less responsive to the blood sugar-lowering effects of insulin) as the day goes on—so if you consumed identical meals at 8 am and 8 pm, the rise in blood glucose after the nighttime meal would typically be more significant. This is why some experts recommend avoiding higher-carb meals at dinner and stopping eating well before bedtime.
The mechanisms responsible for these time-related variations in glucose response and insulin sensitivity aren’t totally clear, but some researchers speculate that it’s related to circadian rhythm-regulating hormones, like melatonin, which begins to rise as the sun goes down.
Focus on not eating within 2-4 hours of bedtime. If you must eat later, it’s even more important to stick to minimally processed foods that are low in carbs and less likely to trigger a spike.
8. Try mindful breathing or meditation practice daily.
When you experience stress from work, relationships, parenting, the state of the world, or any actual or perceived threat, the body releases hormones such as cortisol, which in turn boosts blood glucose levels. This is your body’s way of keeping plenty of fuel (glucose) readily available in the bloodstream for a “fight or flight” reaction—which came in handy for our ancestors when they encountered predators. Unfortunately, most stress today is not immediately followed by physical activity, so blood glucose remains elevated. Stress may also prompt you to eat more high-carb, high-sugar foods, further ramping up blood glucose.
A 2023 meta-analysis found that mindfulness exercises that bring focus to the present moment are associated with improved glycaemic control among people with diabetes; and, in a 2020 intervention study, patients with diabetes who underwent mindfulness education, including breathing exercises, had increased happiness and decreased blood glucose and HbA1C after three months.
Focus on taking a few minutes out of your busy schedule to meditate or do some slow, deep breathing. Consider a guided meditation app like Headspace, Calm or Waking Up or try a simple box breathing exercise. Here’s how to do it:
Breathe in through the nose for a count of 4.
Hold breath for a count of 4.
Breathe out for a count of 4.
Hold breath for a count of 4.
Repeat 4 times; adjust the length of each breath and hold as needed; and if you notice your thoughts start to wander, gently bring them back to the pattern of your breathing.
9. Get better sleep.
Sleep deprivation and poor sleep quality can decrease insulin sensitivity and increase cortisol production (just like stress!) causing raised blood sugar levels. Poor sleep can also prompt you to overeat high-calorie, high-carb foods the next day, which could spike blood sugar levels.
Focus on improving your sleep hygiene by
going to bed & waking at consistent times
allowing 7-9 hours of sleep time
not eating 2-3 hours before bed
increase natural sunlight during the day
reduce blue light exposure 2 hours before bed
avoid caffeine later in the day
avoid/limit alcohol
optimise your bedroom environment: temperature, noise, ventilation
exercise regularly
relax and clear your mind in the evening
10. Listen to your body.
While there are a lot of helpful generalisations that research allows us to make about food, activity, sleep, and stress—and how these relate to blood sugar—the truth is that everyone responds differently. This is why it’s essential always to be mindful of how you feel after eating certain foods or performing certain activities. Using a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) is also one of the simplest ways to learn your glucose responses to build healthy habits that support long-term stable blood sugar
Focus on being aware of how you feel after eating. You could keep a diary for a few days writing down everything you eat and how you feel afterwards..energised or sluggish, clear or brain fog etc. Another option is book in with Nutrition Fx for continuous glucose monitoring. This way you can see exactly how your body & glucose responds to food, exercise, stress, sleep etc.
The Bottom Line
Maintaining stable blood glucose levels within a healthy range is a fundamental component of optimal metabolic health. To achieve this with food the focus is eating good quality wholefoods. Physical activity, managing stress and ensuring good quality sleep all contribute to better glucose control in the short and long term.