Blog Written By Dietician & Nutritionist Helena McDonald

Do you ever have those days where you just feel like a bottomless pit and you can’t stop snacking?

You know the feeling – like when you quickly microwave a bowl of oats before work, then grab a slice of banana bread and a coffee an hour later when you’re suddenly starving again, spend the next few hours thinking about food, finally make it through to lunch, and in a ravenous flurry eat crackers and hummus, then feel yourself looking for anything for a sugar hit when 3pm strikes. 

If this is you, you might be on a total rollercoaster. And not the fun kind of rollercoaster – the kind where your blood sugar is rapidly climbing and just as rapidly plummeting back down again.
It can be the reason behind feeling full and energised one minute, then very quickly feel exhausted and hungry again.

What causes your blood sugar to spike and fall

Your mind might jump to sugar and carbs straight away. While it’s true that carbs have a big impact on blood sugar, it’s not the only factor. Protein actually has more to do with it than you might realise.  

What happens when you eat carbs

Let’s think about your morning oats. Oats contain carbohydrates, and these carbohydrates get broken down into individual sugar molecules in our blood stream. Our bodies can’t use the sugar when it’s in our blood though, and it needs to go to our muscle, brain and liver cells to be used. Consider these cells locked though, and the sugar doesn’t have the key. The pancreas (an organ) kicks in to release insulin (a hormone) which acts like a key to transport the sugar out of the blood and open up the locks on our cells, so that the sugar can either be used as fuel or put into storage.

What protein has to do with it

Protein and fats take longer for our bodies to digest, so when you add foods that are high in protein and fat to foods that are high in carbs, your body has to work hard to break it all down. This means that the sugar molecules from the oats are released very gradually, which gives us the long lasting energy and fullness factor that we’re looking for from a meal. Coming back to the oats example, this could look like mixing in your favourite Macro Mike protein powder and a spoon of natural peanut butter. Rather than shooting your blood sugar straight up, and straight back down again, which usually leaves you looking for another snack ten minutes later, this combination is far more likely to keep you powering through the morning for hours. It’s like magic.

The golden rule

Ensure all your meals and snacks have a good mix of carbs, protein, healthy fats and fibre and there’ll be no stopping you! Not only will you be fuller, more satisfied and have more energy, you’ll be way less likely to find yourself mindlessly snacking when 3pm rolls around, or diving into the chocolate cupboard after dinner. Some of my favourite combos are golden gaytime overnight protein oats with raspberries and almond butter (seriously, this is ELITE) or a simple smoothie with vanilla buttercream protein, banana and chia seeds.

Try my overnight oats recipe!

https://macromike.com.au/blogs/recipes/overnight-oats

  
Hi, I'm Helena! Dietitian, nutritionist and plant-forward eater providing tailored nutrition services to women navigating their gestational diabetes and postpartum journey.

 Instagram: @nutrition.by.helena
Website: https://nutritionbyhelena.com/