How Balancing Blood Sugar is Key to Burning Fat

Blood sugar has a lot to do with insulin, which has a lot to do with storing fat.

Balancing blood sugar is an underrated tool in the weight loss game, yet it plays a key role in not having excess insulin — aka the “storage” hormone. Let’s get right into it.

I’m not here to demonize carbs (you’ll read on to see that you can enjoy them without the blood sugar rollercoaster), but when we eat them — and any kind for that matter: Fruit, starchy vegetables, flour, candy — the body breaks them down into smaller units of sugar. These sugar units are converted into glucose. This raises blood sugar and as blood sugar levels rise, the pancreas produces insulin.

Insulin

Insulin is our storage hormone that sweeps up that glucose and puts it in our cells to use for energy. If glucose is not needed for energy, the body turns to the liver and muscles to store it in the form of glycogen (stored glucose). For context, the liver holds about 100 g of glycogen and the muscles hold about 400 g in the postabsorptive state. Once glycogen stores are full, carbs are stored as fat.

The Dangerous Crash and Spike Cycle

If insulin levels are up all the time — as is the case for the notorius 3 meals and snacks that most people seem to live by, the body does not get a chance to burn stored body fat, since glucose is available instead.

When there’s no more room for the cells to store glucose, the pancreas thinks it needs to send out more insulin to sweep away the glucose in the bloodstream — and the cycle goes on. Overtime, this leads to insulin resistance and a host of other problems like obesity, low “good” cholesterol and type 2 diabetes.

Someone that is living off this cycle isn’t giving their body a chance to burn fat. When these people run out of glucose from their last meal, instead of turning over to fat burning mode, they become hungry for more carbohydrates, and it just starts the cycle back up again. In the process, the body stores more fat.

Tips to Balance Blood Sugar and Burn Fat:

• Stick to balanced meals: Include fibre to slow down the rate glucose enters the blood stream. A few fibrous sources include vegetables, chia and flax seeds, nuts, and beans. Protein and healthy fat also slow down the absorption of sugar and prevent a blood sugar spike. Plus, they keep you fuller for longer because they take longer to digest.
• Cut the Snacking. This shouldn’t be a problem if you balance your meals with protein, fats, and fibre.
• Don’t eat naked carbohydrates because without the fibre, fat, and protein to slow its absorption, you know what’s next…higher blood sugar spikes and crashes, of course!
• Exercise helps the body to use glycogen (stored glucose) for fuel, which increases its ability to respond to insulin. Fasted exercise is even better!
• Bye Bye Bedtime Snacks! Aim to leave 12 hours between dinner and tomorrow’s breakfast. 6–8 hours after dinner, your body is going to focus on digestion. After that, it can focus on fat-burning!
• Don’t Starve! In that stressed state, your body produces cortisol which prevents weight loss anyways. Resulting low blood sugar can have your body burning at its own muscle and slowing its metabolism.