why you might not be burning fat...

WHAT THE HECK IS BLOOD SUGAR

do you feel tired in the afternoon? get headaches? feel hangry quite often?

While "insulin", "blood sugar regulation", or "insulin resistance" might not matter to you in this very moment...I can guarantee you that it is the primary cause of your afternoon fatigue, headaches, and "hanger".

Your body is constantly striving to be at a state of perfect goldilocks balance – whether that be body temperature, energy, or blood sugar.

Your blood sugar fluctuates throughout the day depending on the amount of glucose (aka “sugar” or “energy”) present in the foods you put into your mouth. This “Blood Sugar” value has a direct effect on energy levels, brain health, hormonal balance of things like stress and sexual function, mood, memory, and cognitive function (Nutritional Therapy Association SPC, 2021).

You can picture blood sugar regulation like a marionette; the operator is the central nervous system (CNS) and the strings controlling each body part of the doll are five vital organs that the CNS speaks to: the pancreas, the adrenal glands, adipose tissue, the liver, and skeletal muscle – also called the “PAALS”.

SO...WHO THE HECK IS INSULIN?
The body has two sources of fuel: fat and carbohydrate.

The body does NOT play eenie-meenie-miny-mo to decide which one it will use. Instead, the main determinant is a hormone called insulin.

When we eat a meal, insulin is released to gobble up the glucose from the food we just ate. That glucose goes to a few different places - but most notably either (1) shuttled into the cell for immediate use of energy, or (2) excess is stored away as triglyceride (a form of fat) in a cave called the adipose tissue.

Carbohydrates - especially processed ones - will cause insulin to spike the most, while fats have minimal to no effect on insulin spiking.

Bottom line: when carbohydrates - notably highly processed ones like cereals, granola bars, white bread etc. - are consumed...insulin is high. When insulin is high, the body will choose to burn carbohydrates.

Only when insulin is low does the body opt to use fat as fuel from storage.

WAIT...EATING JUST A BANANA CAN CAUSE YOUR BLOOD SUGAR TO SPIKE?!

INDEED. We want to steer clear of consuming "naked carbs" - which are essentially lone carbs like a piece of toast, a banana, or rice. We always want to ensure we are pairing these guys with a fat (almond butter, avocado) and/or a protein (tuna, edamame beans, eggs).

SO, HOW CAN YOU PREVENT THIS DRASTIC BLOOD SUGAR SPIKE?

As noted above...starchy foods, like pasta/ potatoes/ corn/ chips/ rice/ donuts, are the ones most likely to disturb your blood sugar flow, leading to the undesirable drastic peaks.

However, when eaten together with fat, carbohydrates tend to be digested and absorbed more slowly, delivering the more ideal “rolling hills” approach. We want to focus on reaching metabolic flexibility. Metabolic flexability is the ability to use all macro nutrient categories – proteins, carbohydrates, and fats – equally to create steady energy.