Some of you might not know what blood sugar balance means. DO NOT WORRY! I was in the same position a few years ago. Before, I was eating a lot of sugary stuff without worrying too much about it as long as it was satisfying and delicious with plenty of milk chocolate at the same time (most of the time anyway)… . Only when I started studying about it, it HIT me, like a thunder in the sky. The problem is, many of us love sweet things and do not imagine life without it. When I say blood sugar is at balance I mean that it does not raise up and go down rapidly because of the food we eat. If it does rise up, our body must work harder and insulin from our pancreas needs to be produced to lower our blood sugar level to keep it in balance.
Unfortunately, such fluctuations because of too big glucose supply to our bodies at one time leave us with some side effects! For some people, well known, for some not really noticed yet. However, it gets to all of us at some point of our lives. For example, you have not slept long enough and then ate processed, refined foods for breakfast, like white toasted bread with plenty of Nutella, a bowl of breakfast cereals with added honey or sugar and drank a huge pint of juice with added sugar, like cranberry juice which has added sugar (not mentioning the already natural occurring sugars that juice has). GET READY for feeling sluggish, even more tired and without energy, and what is important as well, HUNGRY very quickly! Then, the unexpected question comes, WHY? Why am I still hungry? Why do I feel even more tired? I had a big breakfast with plenty of bread, healthy breakfast cereals and plenty of juice! I should feel satiated, well hydrated and be full of energy! Why do I feel so bad? All of the symptoms I mentioned are tightly connected with the foods we eat and the impact it has on our blood sugar level.
I would like to say as well that when we eat too much sugar at a time, some of it will be stored in our liver, the rest however as fat in our body fat tissues.
What if I say we still can have sweet things but that would not have such dramatic impact on our bodies that all the high sugar content chocolate bars, cakes, white refined breads and buns have. What if I tell you there is a wonderful solution to this problem? Reading labels… Do you read labels?
White sugar is added to many things you buy in the shop, from cakes, chocolate bars to juices and yoghurts.
Let’s look at the dark chocolate sugar content. As many of you might know, dark chocolate is very good for us, rich in iron and magnesium and it is a powerful source of antioxidants (molecules that prevent or delay some types of cell damage in our bodies). I do not even take into account here the bars of milk chocolate as they are FULL of sugar. You might think- Oh! Dark chocolate, noo, I do not like, too bitter, too high content of cocoa, not sweet at all … whereas in reality there are many types of dark chocolate, you can get with very small amount and with incredibly high amount of added sugar.
The types I have compared are:
- 1. LINDT EXCELLENCE 90% PLAIN DARK CHOCOLATE– per 100grams it has only 7 grams of added sugar
- TESCO 85% PLAIN DARK CHOCOLATE– per 100 grams it has 15 grams of sugar, so
two squares (20g) would have 3 grams of sugar;
- TESCO DARK CHOCOLATE 52% WITH A HINT OF ORANGE– per 100g. it has 46.7 grams of added sugar, so
two squares (20 g) would have 9.3 grams of sugar.
What I found out looking at the sugar content on the chocolate labels is of great importance to our everyday life as we do not realize how much sugar we eat and eventually it has a great impact on how we feel and look.
According to World Health Organization the maximum amount of sugar consumed per day should be no more than 25 grams of sugar (about 6 teaspoons).
Taking into account the percentage of cocoa mass-
The less the amount of cocoa mass in the dark chocolate, the more sugar it contains!
Simple, is not it??? Still, many people do not even look at luxuriously smooth and deliciously intense high percent dark chocolates while doing shopping in supermarkets where there are hundreds of other beautifully and colourfully wrapped chocolates like milk chocolates where the sugar content can go up to 54,5 grams! of added sugar per 100 grams( Cadbury Dairy Milk with fruit and nut) or even higher like in Milka plain chocolate with hazelnut paste, 30 % of cocoa mass where the sugar content can even go up to 58 grams of added sugar per 100 grams!
Taking into account the fact that 1 tsp is around 4 grams of sugar, by eating for example half of the Milka plain chocolate I have mentioned of earlier, we would consume roughly 24 grams of sugar which is very close to the daily limit, not saying about a few teaspoons of sugar that are added to tea or coffee every day, sweet snacks and most yoghurts that contain great amounts of sugar as well.
Our bodies are bombed by huge amounts of sugar every day which is why we have to deal with the consequences of it later in life.
What is the conclusion here? We have to read labels! That is for sure! The closer the sugar is to the front on the ingredient list on the label, the more sugar you will eat! That is the first thing!
The second thing would be to start enjoying wholesome foods, like homemade porridge with fruit, wholemeal bread, 90% +… dark chocolate, start drinking more mineral water and reduce the sugary and processed foods to the minimum.
For more information how to deal with blood sugar imbalances and what more you can do to avoid it, contact Kasia 0864012813 and make an appointment that will change your life!