How To Use Fat, Fiber, & Protein To Balance Blood Sugars

There are a few key nutrients that can make the sometimes challenging task
of balancing your blood sugar easy and approachable! These three key
nutrients are: fat, fiber, and protein. Other diabetes resources focus on
limiting or even removing certain foods from your diet, but instead we’re
going to focus on adding these three key nutrients to your plate each time
you eat. . . 

• Fat 
• Fiber
• Protein

THE BLOOD SUGAR
ROLLER COASTER
​

• Fat, fiber, and protein act as "buffers" on your body's blood sugar

response. They slow down how quickly your body can absorb
sugar and other forms of carbohydrates.

• This means the highest blood sugar your body will reach after

eating should be lower when fat, fiber, and protein are included, as
shown above.

• You are also less likely to experience steep blood sugar swings

and better able to achieve blood sugar balance.

FAT

•Fat often gets a bad rep in the media and becomes feared by
many, grabbing the non-fat or low-fat options at the grocery
store or coffee shop. However, fat is a vital macronutrient
essential in everyone's daily diet.

• For instance, some vitamins are fat-soluble (Vitamins A,

D, E, K), which means we need to eat healthy sources of
fat to absorb the goodness of these specific vitamins. So
eating avocado or salad dressing on a salad will function
both for flavor and aiding the absorption of those fat-
soluble vitamins in vegetables.

•Fat helps keep us full and satiated. This is simply because this
macronutrient takes longer to exit the stomach, so when your
meals or snacks contain fat, they help keep you satisfied longer
and keep hunger away.

•Fat can also slow down carbohydrate absorption, which means
a more steady blood sugar response after meals and snacks..



FIBER

•Fiber is great because it prevents us from getting hungry
again soon after we've eaten and can help regulate blood
sugar levels.

•There are two types of fiber, soluble and insoluble.

•Soluble fiber dissolves in water. Soluble fiber is helpful for
our cholesterol and blood sugar regulation.

•Insoluble fiber is not dissolvable in water and will aid in
moving food through our digestive system.

•A great way to increase fiber in your daily diet is to keep the
skin on vegetables and fruit. So, for instance, if you're
making a soup, scrub the carrots well to clean off any dirt but
leave that beautiful orange skin on the vegetable to retain
more fiber!

PROTEIN

•Protein is a macronutrient that plays a vital role in balancing
our blood sugars.

•Protein can be derived from animal-based sources such as
meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and dairy. Protein can also be
derived from plant-based sources such as whole grains,
legumes, beans, nuts, and seeds.

PUTTING IT INTO ACTION

Toast

• Add butter for fat
• Add avocado for fat and fiber
• Swap white toast for whole grain toast
• Add nut/seed butter for fat and protein

      • Add an egg on top for fat and protein

Dairy

• Use 2% or whole milk instead of skim for fat
• Go for the Greek yogurt made with whole milk or 2%
• instead of low fat or 0% fat

Oatmeal

• Add nuts or nut butter for fat and protein
• Add fruit for fiber
• Add greek yogurt for protein

Rice or Pasta

• Add a protein source such as meat or tofu
• Add a fat source such as eggs or avocado
• Swap pasta for a whole grain pasta or legume based

            pasta for fiber and protein

- Coach Kayli

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