Why is it important to have a shopping list?
Having healthy foods at home and planning your meals can help you avoid unhealthy last-minute decisions and better control your blood sugar levels. A healthy food pantry can add interest to your meals and inspire you to combine them in new, blood sugar-friendly ways. You can use a variety of frozen, canned, or fresh foods, making meal prep and cooking easier.
Our tip: Never go shopping when you're hungry. If you're hungry while shopping, chances are you'll reach for chocolate or pizza and give in to your cravings. Make a list before you go shopping and stick to it as best you can.
Which food groups should not be missing from your pantry?
Proteins, Fats, and Carbs: to mProteins, fats and carbohydrates: Great to combine ix and match
Proteins, fats, and carbohydrates are not only easy to incorporate into your meals, for example, as a side dish to brown rice with some tofu, but they're also essential for keeping your blood sugar levels balanced. This is because your body digests certain foods faster than others, and some foods raise your blood sugar more than others. Therefore, the order in which you eat your foods has a big impact on your blood sugar. One of our favorite blood sugar hacks is to eat vegetables, protein, and fat first, then carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates are absorbed much faster by the body and cause blood sugar levels to rise more sharply. However, eating other foods like proteins and fats before carbohydrates can slow the breakdown of carbohydrates and keep your blood sugar levels stable.
Fiber
Most of us know that fiber helps us go to the bathroom regularly. But fiber is also a good way to control blood sugar. So how does fiber help your blood sugar?
Our bodies are unable to break down and absorb fiber (the exact opposite of what happens when we eat carbohydrates). This means it doesn't spike blood sugar levels and, when added to meals, can help keep blood sugar levels at an ideal level ( 1 ).
Fiber is found in many foods, such as your favorite fresh vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, and seeds. Add it to your meal as a side dish or keep a bag of your favorite nuts on hand for a quick snack.
Dairy products
Be sure to include some dairy products on your next glucose-friendly shopping list! Not only do they provide calcium, which helps build strong bones and teeth, but they're also rich in fat and protein, which help balance your blood sugar levels ( 2 ).
When choosing dairy products, we recommend reading the labels and choosing low-fat and low-salt options. Some good options include skyr, Greek yogurt, and feta cheese. Find more dairy options on our handy shopping list!
Healthy snacks
When you get a craving, you probably grab your favorite sweet or salty snack, or simply whatever's easiest to find. But before you reach for a highly processed or sugary snack, consider packing some healthy alternatives the next time you're shopping.
One of our tried-and-true favorites is dark chocolate! A few pieces can satisfy your cravings and help you avoid a blood sugar spike.
Drinks
Drinking water is always the best option for maintaining healthy blood sugar levels, but it can get boring very quickly. Some tasty alternatives to add to your next shopping list include sparkling water, various teas (which you can also enjoy with ice on hot summer days), or sugar-free sodas.
Adequate hydration is not only important for feeling good, but also for lowering blood sugar levels. Drinking water or sugar-free alternatives helps increase blood volume, which in turn lowers the amount of glucose in the blood. Adequate hydration also helps the body get rid of excess sugar when going to the bathroom ( 3 ).
Frozen and canned foods
Work smarter, not harder, right? Frozen and canned foods are a great way to add variety to your meals when fresh produce isn't available or you simply don't have time to prepare them yourself. Even though these foods aren't fresh, they still provide a good source of vitamins for your diet.
When buying these foods, it's important to avoid highly processed foods or those with added sugar, as they can be full of additives that are bad for your blood sugar. For example, when buying canned fruit, you should buy fruit in its natural juice rather than sugary juices. With frozen foods, look for "unprocessed" labels; this is a better choice.
Pro tip: Fermented foods are good for gut health and digestion: Fermentation breaks down the sugar in foods, making them easier to digest AND helping to stabilize blood sugar. We've included a few of these foods on our list, too.
4 Tips: The best food combinations for a better blood sugar response
1. Cover carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are known to cause blood sugar levels to spike sharply in a short period of time because they are digested much faster than other types of food. Eat carbohydrates last and include other foods containing fiber, fat, and protein in your meal to mitigate this effect.
2. Pay attention to the order of the foods
Follow the golden glucose rule: vegetables and protein first, then carbohydrates. Eating vegetables and protein 15 minutes before consuming carbohydrates can reduce your blood sugar response by up to 73% ( 4 ). What are you waiting for? Give it a try!
3. Make your meals rich in fiber
Interesting fact: Fiber isn't broken down by the body, but passes through the system undigested. This means that your blood sugar curve doesn't rise and fall as sharply during a high-fiber meal, resulting in flatter curves and a more stable blood sugar level.
4. Include apple cider vinegar in your diet
There are two ways to consume apple cider vinegar:
- Drink 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar with a glass of water 20 minutes before your meal.
- Instead of using a ready-made salad dressing, you can make your own and add apple cider vinegar.
Apple cider vinegar has been popular in the past for many health reasons, but recent studies have found that it may also help lower blood sugar levels ( 5 ).
In our article on glucose hacks, you'll find all the scientific background on why these tips can help you stabilize your blood sugar. Which of these tips will you try?
