Did you know that the average American consumes 77 grams of sugar a day? That’s a lot of sugar! The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends that men consume 36 grams of added sugar per day and women consume 25 grams per day. That average number of 77 grams of sugar per day is over 3 times the recommended daily sugar intake for women.
Sugar is addictive and having high blood sugar levels puts your health at risk. Keep reading to learn easy ways (including the power of fiber) to start regulating your blood sugar levels today.
All About Sugar
Simpsonsworld / Via media.giphy.com
Not all sugar is bad but an excessive amount is. Our body needs sugar for energy. When you are burning up the treadmill or sweating during pilates, that energy you have to keep going comes from yourbody using the glucose from sugar as its fuel.
When we eat carbohydrates like bread and pasta, our digestive system breaks down the digestible carbs into sugar (aka glucose) and it enters our bloodstream. The thing with glucose is that it can't be used as this valuable energy source until it enters your cells. This is where insulin comes into play. Produced by our friend the pancreas, insulin is a hormone that allows the body to use glucose for energy. Neat right? However, if the pancreas doesn't produce enough insulin that glucose wanders around in the bloodstream without a home.
And guess what, more glucose piles up, and it becomes more concentrated in the bloodstream. This is where things can get worse. When blood glucose levels are greater than 125 mg/dL it is referred to as hyperglycemia. That's the technical word for high blood glucose levels.
It also means the body is in shortage of insulin or can't use the insulin produced properly. This can cause symptoms such as vomiting, excessive thirst and hunger, rapid heartbeat, and vision problems. If left untreated, this could lead to serious health problems like damage to organs, nerves, and blood vessels.
Blood Sugar Spikes
It all comes back to timing. The amount of time it takes the body to absorb sugar matters a lot. When we eat fiber-rich food, our body spends more time digesting it. When we consume high-sugar foods without fiber, all that added sugar comes in at us at once and gets converted into calories immediately, which is not good for the body. Sugar rushes are very real.
Why is it Important to Have Healthy Blood Sugar Levels?
Our entire body gets affected when we have too much sugar from the physical to the mental.
High blood sugar causes a lot of health concernssuch as diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, weight gain, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, gout, and more.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that there are about 37.3 million Americans have diabetes and about 96 million Americans 18 and older have a pre-diabetes condition. Diabetes is one of the leading causes of death in the US.
Besides prevention, having our blood sugar levels at healthy rates also helps improve our mood and energy. Having poor glycemic regulation has been shown to demonstrate moods like irritability, anxiety, and worry.
When you have high blood sugar levels, it takes a longer amount of time for energy to travel fromthe blood to the muscles and other tissue cells, which results in a feeling of fatigue, which is a common experience for people with diabetes.
How to Improve Blood Sugar Levels
Managing blood sugar starts by watching what we eat. That means being mindful of the amount of sugar and carbs in our meals. If you are aware that you have a high consumption of sugar, then it is best to eat food that balances or regulates them. For those with high sugar levels, fiber is one of the most recommended foods to include in your diet.
According to the USDA, the adequate amount of daily fiber intake is 25 grams for women and 38 grams for men. We can increase our fiber intake by swapping our old go-to comfort foods for fruits rich in fiber like strawberries and avocado or include fiber-rich vegetables like broccoli, spinach, and kale in our meals. Sadly, 95% of Americans do not meet those numbers on a daily basis.
Do you know another excellent source of fiber to help keep blood sugar levels in check? Psyllium husk.
Psyllium Husk Regulates Blood Sugar Levels
Via media.giphy.com
Fiber helps in lowering and regulating blood sugar levels and it comes in two kinds: soluble and insoluble. Soluble fiber absorbs water and turns into a gel, while insoluble fiber bulks up body wastes and stays as is. Psyllium husk is the soluble kind.
Once psyllium husk is digested, it absorbs water and forms a gel. The gel form in the gut slows down the absorption of glucose in the stomach as well as the passage of digestion, making us feel full. During this digestion delay, gut hormones form a gel with water that prevents carbohydrates from being absorbed fast by the small intestine.
Psyllium husk helps regulate blood sugar, which is great for those with diabetes, prediabetes, or those who simply want to keep their blood sugar regulated. Psyllium is made from the husks of the Plantago ovata plant’s seeds. It is known to be used as a dietary fiber to relieve other digestive symptoms such as constipation and mild diarrhea.
Often times it is a challenge to include fiber in our meals, this is where Bonny comes to the rescue.
Bonny Helps Regulate Blood Sugar Levels
Bonny is a natural fiber powder with psyllium husk. Bonny is a 100% natural, plant-based fiber that tastes amazing and makes you go poop. Vegan, gluten-free, and fabulous (like you!).
Fiber powder has never tasted this good and comes in amazing flavors like Apple Pie, Mixed Ripe Berries, and Super Strawberry. Aside from having the benefits of fiber, Bonny contains no refined sugar and uses monk fruit as a natural sweetener. We love monk fruit (pure monk fruit no erythritol) because it doesn't spike your blood sugar either. We have a deep dive into monk fruit here.
Regulating your blood sugar levels is as easy as a tablespoon of Bonny powder added to 8 ounces of cool water.
As always, we wish you pleasant poops!
