Why is it important to have a shopping list?
Keeping healthy foods at home and planning your meals can help you avoid unhealthy last-minute decisions and better control your blood sugar. Stocking up on healthy foods 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 hungry. If you're hungry while shopping, there's a good chance you'll reach for the chocolate or the pizza and follow your cravings. Make a list before you go shopping and stick to it as best you can.
What food groups can't be missing from your pantry?
Proteins, Fats, and Carbs: to mProteins, Fats, and Carbs: Super to combine ix and match
Not only are proteins, fats and carbohydrates easy to incorporate into your meals, such as a side of brown rice with some tofu, but they are also important for keeping your blood sugar balanced. The reason for this is that 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 and protein and fat first, then carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates are absorbed by the body much faster and cause blood sugar levels to rise more. However, if you eat other foods like proteins and fats before carbohydrates, they can slow down the breakdown of carbohydrates and keep your blood sugar level stable.
Dietary fiber
Most of us know that fiber helps us go to the bathroom regularly. But fiber is also a great way to control blood sugar. So how does fiber help your blood sugar?
Our body is not able to break down and absorb dietary fiber (the exact opposite of what happens when we eat carbohydrates). This means that they do not spike blood sugar levels and, when added to meals, can help maintain blood sugar levels at an ideal level(1).
Fiber is found in many foods, including your favorite fresh vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, and seeds. Eat them as a side dish with your meal or keep a bag of your favorite nuts on hand for a quick snack.
Dairy products
Your next glucose-friendly shopping list should definitely include some dairy products! Not only do they provide calcium, which helps build strong bones and teeth, but they are also rich in fat and protein, which help balance your blood sugar levels(2).
When choosing dairy products, we recommend reading labels and choosing low-fat and low-salt products. Some good options are skyr, Greek yogurt and feta cheese. For more dairy products, check out our handy shopping list!
Healthy snacks
When you get cravings, you're likely to grab your favorite sweet or salty snack or just whatever is easiest to find. But before you reach for a highly processed or sugary snack, pack a few healthy alternatives the next time you go shopping.
One of our tried and true favorites is dark chocolate! A few pieces of it can satisfy your cravings and help you avoid a blood sugar spike.
Drinks
Drinking water is always the best option to promote healthy blood sugar levels, but it can get boring very quickly. Some tasty alternatives to put on your next shopping list include carbonated water, different types of tea (which you can also enjoy with ice on hot summer days), or sugar-free sodas.
Adequate hydration is important not only to feel good, but also to lower blood glucose levels. Drinking water or sugar-free alternatives helps increase blood volume, which in turn lowers the amount of glucose in the blood. Adequate fluid intake also helps the body get rid of excess sugar when going to the bathroom(3).
Frozen and preserved food
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 it yourself. Even though these foods are not fresh, they are a good source of vitamins for your diet.
When buying these foods, it's important to avoid highly processed foods or those with added sugars, as they can be full of additives that aren't good for your blood sugar. For example, when you buy canned fruit, you should buy fruit in its natural juice, not sugar juices. With frozen foods, look to see if they are "unprocessed," which is a better choice.
Pro tip: Fermented foods are good for gut health and digestion: fermentation breaks down the sugars in foods, making them easier to digest AND keeping blood sugar more stable. We've added a few of these foods to our list, too.
4 Tips: The best food combinations for a better blood sugar response
1. cover carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are known to spike blood sugar levels in a short period of time because they are digested much faster than other types of food. Eat carbohydrates last and incorporate other foods with fiber, fat and protein into your meal to mitigate this effect.
2. pay attention to the order of the food
Follow the golden glucose rule: vegetables and protein first, then carbohydrates. Eating vegetables and protein 15 minutes before eating 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
Fun Facts: Fiber is not broken down by the body, but passes through the system without being digested. This means that your blood sugar curve does not rise and fall as much with a high-fiber meal, resulting in flatter curves and a more stable course.
4. incorporate apple cider vinegar into 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 a pre-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 shown that it can 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?
