Good Morning,
I had rice the other day.
I’m not “anti-rice” but it is certainly not something I usually have. But it wasn’t the rice that was the problem, it was that I had it with nothing else.
My glucose spiked so high and I felt rather foggy…
I knew better… I should’ve paired it with protein, but I had just gotten over this weird bug that’s been running through my house and I didn’t have a huge appetite.
I wish I had of thought of some of these things that I could’ve combined that rice with to lessen the glycemic response in the moment, but nevertheless, let me extend the help on to you.
1- Turmeric: It’s an inhibitor of pancreatic amylase, so especially when combined with a starch like rice, it really slows down the glycemic response. In fact, on the rare occasion I have rice, I usually mix it with turmeric and chicken for this very reason. It’s quite a profound effect, and it has to do with what is called bisdemothoxycurcumin.
2- Cinnamon: I’ve known about this one for a while. I used to recommend people use it with their break-fast meals as it can reduce the spike a bit. There was a study inn Phytomedicine that confirmed cinnamon’s ability to block amylase translates into better glucose control.
When rice pudding was consumed with 3 grams of cinnamon, it significantly reduced insulin concentration after the meal!
3- Sweet Potatoes (just a small amount with other starches): A study published in The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry reported that anthocyanins from purple potatoes strongly inhibit the enzyme alpha-glucosidase which breaks down glycosidic linkage.
This is a fancy way of saying, it slows down carb digestion.
And when playing the long game, it effects our microbiome as well, helping to drive up the signaling between the gut and the cells that helps us metabolize glucose better at the cellular level.
One of the ways you can enhance this effect is to consume fermented foods like kefir, kimchi, etc or to take a good probiotic.
The only probiotic that I trust as of right now on the market is SEED. VERY Cool Technology and I notice a significant difference on my continuous glucose monitor when I am on my SEED regimen.
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Try taking 1 per day, and then increase to 2 per day and see how you feel and how your glucose responds. Here’s the Link again if you want to save some moolah.
4- Buckwheat: Buckwheat is a forgotten but excellent source of carbs which will not spike your glucose much. Buckwheat contains rutin and proanthocyanidins which are known blockers of amylase.
I know you likely don’t bake your own bread, but subbing out regular flour for buckwheat is a GREAT way to reduce the glycemic scale of the foods you make. Especially if you’re into baking some treats for the holidays.
5 – Foods with Tannins: These are SO easy to combine with high carb meals because they are small and easy to have alongside. Tannins slow the absorption of carbs too.
The foods richest in tannins include black tea, coffee, wine, grapes and also spices like mint, basil or rosemary, so they are SUPER easy to add into the mix.
6- Seaweed: Yep, if you have seaweed snacks laying around, having a couple of them after eating carbs can actually inhibit the breakdown of GLP-1.
What this means is that it makes it so that you have more of the gut-hormone floating around that allows for a proper insulin response.
Remember, spiking insulin is NOT BAD unless it spikes too high in relation to the glucose spike or unless it stays elevated TOO LONG.
What we want in this case is a controlled spike that is relative to the glucose load at hand. GLP-1 helps us to do that, and seaweed keeps GLP-1 elevated for longer!
I could go on and on with more, but the people that comment on youtube tend to tell me that I give them too much information, so I am going to stop right here and save some for another day.
But if you monitor your glucose, you ought to give these a try and see if they make a big impact (or even a small one).
Big thank you to SEED for offering up the discount for my newsletter subscribers as well! DELAUER15 for that 15% Discount Here!
See you tomorrow,
