EP.352/ Super foods to improve blood sugar levels and lower endo inflammation
So last week I shared my number one strategy for ensuring your meals are blood sugar balancing.
Today, I want to provide you with some key blood sugar super foods that can really help you on your way to balancing your levels in the short term and in the long term, which in turn, will improve your inflammation and oxidation levels - essential for endo management.
Now, obviously, we’ve already discussed the role of fibre from veggies, protein and healthy fats, and I shared how each of these slow down the release of glucose from foods, so you know the importance of these key foods groups.
But today, I want to give you some specific foods, that have been shown in the studies to give our blood sugar efforts a little (well actually, pretty big) boost.
Nuts
Number one is nuts. The fat, protein and fibre from nuts all play a key role in stabilising blood sugar and multiple studies have demonstrated better postprandial (meaning meal) glucose levels, better average glucose levels, better fasting glucose levels and even benefits for diabetes prevention and management.
And when eaten before a starchy, sugary or high glycemic meal, they can actually slow down the glucose release.
Here are some examples:
One study showed that two tablespoons (32g) of peanut butter with a high glycemic index meal consisting of two slices of white bread and 250 ml of apple juice, significantly reduced the blood sugar spike in comparison to eating the meal without the peanut butter.
Another study on 28g almonds paired with a high glycemic index meal of a bagel, juice and butter significantly reduced the glucose spike. In fact, there are multiple studies showing the benefits of almonds for postprandial glucose levels.
Finally, pistachios have been shown in multiple studies to reduce glucose responses to starchy foods including white bread, rice, pasta and potatoes when eaten at doses of 28g, 56g or 84g. The higher doses had a better effect, but all doses significantly improved the blood sugar response, and I would imagine, that 28g is a more realistic amount of pistachios to eat before a meal, being about a large handful.
Viscous fibre
Second on our list is viscous fibre, one of my favourite blood sugar hacks.
Viscose fibre forms a gel-like texture when added to water, and when combined with liquids and food in the gut. This slows down digestion and has been shown to slow the release of glucose in research.
So, which foods contain viscose fibre?
First up is flax seeds. Research shown that 30g of flaxseed helped reduce the glucose spike with a sugary or starchy meal, whilst 20g flax per day improved overall glucose levels and responses over 12 weeks.
Second is chia seeds. Various doses have been shown to reduce postprandial glucose spikes. For example, adding 3g, 5g and 7g of chia seeds to cookies were all shown to elicit a lower glucose response, with the higher dose of 7g demonstrating the most significant benefit.
Whereas another study found that 25g of ground chia seeds significantly reduced the glucose spike from 50g glucose, even more so than flax.
Finally, let’s look at psyllium husk. A meta-analysis found that incorporating psyllium husk can help improve blood sugar control in pre-diabetic and type 2 diabetic patients.
One study found that when given before breakfast and dinner, 6.8g of psyllium husk powder reduced the postprandial glucose response by 14% at breakfast, and by 20% at dinner.
Beans
Third on our list is beans. Beans contain soluble fibre and resistant starch which have both been shown to help manage blood sugar levels.
Despite containing starch, beans, due to their fibre content, trigger a slower and smaller glucose response in comparison to other starchy carbohydrates, such as rice. This means that if you’re trying to manage your blood sugar, they can be a great source of carbohydrates without affecting your blood sugar levels.
The benefits don’t end there though. Studies show that when paired with higher glycemic or starchy foods, they improve the glucose response to those foods. For example, combining black beans with a meal has been shown to improve the glucose response and prevent blood sugar spikes from starchy foods like rice.
Beans can also help to reduce the blood sugar response in the following meal. For example, when eaten first, chickpeas reduce blood sugar spikes from the next meal.
Resistant starch
Lastly, fourth on our list is resistant starch foods.
Resistant starch is a type of starch that resists digestion in the small intestine. Typically, starch is broken down and absorbed very quickly by the small intestine, which is why you may hear me or other health practitioners discuss moderation or being mindful with starchy foods, because it can spike blood sugar.
But resistant starch resists digestion. It makes its way to the large intestine, where good bacteria eat it and this has some incredible benefits for the gut and endo due to this, and I’ve linked to an episode in the show notes if you want to learn more about that.
But because this type of starch resists digestion and breaks down slower, resistant starch is better for blood sugar vs. regular starch. In fact, resistant starch has been shown to be improve insulin sensitivity and blood sugar levels in multiple studies, and has even been shown to improve postprandial glucose levels when paired with a high sugar meal (in this study, it was 500g of syrup) in contrast to regular starch.
There are different types of resistance starch and so it’s helpful to try and get a variation of these, if you’re able to:
Type 1 comes from whole grains, seeds, uncooked oats, pulses and legumes.
Type 2 comes from foods like green bananas, lentils and raw potatoes or uncooked potato starch
Type 3 is produced when certain starchy foods are cooked, then cooled, such as rice, potatoes, oats, bread and pasta.
For the sake of today’s episode, I really want to focus on uncooked oats, green bananas, rice, potatoes, pasta and bread.
Now, oatmeal, bananas and these starchier carbohydrates such as pasta or bread, can cause blood sugar spikes for some people, especially if not eaten with some extra fat, protein or fibre, and especially if you’re prone to or struggling with blood sugar issues.
So, eating versions of these foods which are higher in resistant starch, is a fantastic way to keep these foods in your diet, whilst also improving your blood sugar levels in the short and long-term.
Cooking and cooling potatoes, rice and pasta changes their chemical structure and increases their amount of resistance starch - the best results come from refrigerating overnight. Additionally, freezing bread, also increases the resistant starch and improves the blood sugar response. Interestingly, toasting the bread following freezing was actually more beneficial for blood sugar versus just eating the bread once defrosted, but both showed better glycemic responses over fresh bread.
Now, you can also cook and cool oats to develop resistant starch, but uncooked oats, so for example, the type you find in muesli or in overnight oats, actually have a higher level of resistant starch, so if you love oats, try having them in these forms more often.
If you don’t like the idea of eating these carbs cold, you can reheat them and they will still contain more resistant starch than had you just cooked them and ate them hot, without cooling them. Some of the resistant starch may be reduced, but you’ll still experience a benefit! Just be super careful with reheating rice, because it can cause food poisoning if done incorrectly, so I’ve linked to an NHS guide on how to safely cook, cool as well as reheat rice. Please read this before trying this, as food poisoning from rice can be serious.
Okay, so that’s it for today! I hope that this episode has inspired you to bring some of these amazing foods into your diet, and if you’re not sure how, on my Instagram I share so many recipes using these foods and hacks, and in the show notes, I’ve actually linked to two recipes that incorporate viscous fibre, beans and nuts into cookie dough and brownie ball bites. I hope you enjoy!
Show notes
Nuts
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9965730/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30395790/ - peanut butter
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9965730/ - almonds
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21364607/ - pistachios
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24424074/ - pistachios
Viscous fibre
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9736284/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9503020/ - flax
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30661699/ - flax
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1756464623004061 - chia seeds
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28000689/ - chia seeds
https://ajcn.nutrition.org/article/S0002-9165(23)27235-4/fulltext - psyllium husk
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0002916523173011 - psyllium husk
Beans
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9736284/ - soluble fibre
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10649573/ - resistant starch
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10649573/ - compared to starchier carbs
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5336455/ - compared to starchier carbs
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5691712/ - black beans
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28303049/ - chickpeas
Resistant starch
https://www.theendobellycoach.com/podcast/endometriosis-butyrate - gut and endometriosis benefits
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1756464622001645 - blood sugar research
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1464-5491.2010.02923.x - insulin
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8092089/ - blood sugar research
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16155268/ - blood sugar research
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Classification-of-types-of-resistant-starch-RS-food-sources-and-factors-affecting_tbl1_330644723 - types of resistant starch
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19562607/ - cooling methods
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17426743/ - bread
https://apjcn.nhri.org.tw/server/APJCN/19/2/274.pdf - green bananas
https://www.theendobellycoach.com/podcast/endo-carbs-blood-sugar - further listening
https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/food-and-diet/can-reheating-rice-cause-food-poisoning/ - safe reheating instructions for rice
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Produced by Chris Robson