You Don’t Need to Cut Carbs. You Need to Control Them.

Don’t you just love it when you learn the medieval peasants and other ancient cultures had it right from the beginning? While high carbohydrate foods have been demonized over the last several years (and don’t get me wrong, high-carb, ultra-processed foods are the devil), carbohydrate-rich foods found in nature that have been eaten for eons may not be as bad as we’ve been told. It all comes down to how we’re eating them and if you’re in balance. Someone who’s blood sugar has been running high for decades will do better to greatly reduce all carbs in the diet for a period of time, but instead of staying restricted forever, I believe it’s better to then learn how to eat carbohydrates in a way that supports the body. So here are some key ways to do that:

1. Eat with a fermented and fiber rich food. Ever notice how many Asian dishes that contain rice are also paired with something like kimchi? This does two things 1) It populates the gut with bacteria that are good at handling glucose, like : L. mesenteroides, L. sakei, and Lactococcus kimchii - these bacteria have been shown to reduce serum glucose and triglyceride levels in metabolic studies. And 2) The fiber in these foods helps slow down a glucose spike. Fiber is incredibly effective at blunting the body’s response to carbohydrates because it slows gastric emptying and the absorption of glucose into the bloodstream. Instead of a sharp spike followed by a crash, you get a more gradual rise that your body can actually handle. Of course, the bulk of the meal should be the meat and vegetables, with the rice serving as the smallest portion on the plate. Now, the caveat to this, is many people’s guts can’t quite handle fiber yet, they need more healing and a better balanced gut microbiome for that to happen. This is where working with a professional can help get you back to original omnivorous design. 

2. Use retrogradation. That means cooking your starchy food and cooling it. You can then re-heat when you’re ready for the meal. This reorganizes some of the starch into a form called resistant starch that your body can’t break down as quickly. This slows digestion and glucose absorption, leading to a smaller, more controlled blood sugar rise instead of a sharp spike. 

3. Eat with fat. If you’ve ever worn a continuous glucose monitor, you can see what a game changer fat is in slowing down the rapid absorption of glucose into the bloodstream. If you try eating a plain piece of bread (ahem, a quality bread, like sourdough spelt) versus eating that same piece of bread slathered with real butter you will see in real time how that buttered piece of bread will not shoot your glucose nearly as high as eating the bread slice on its own.  

4. Use vinegar (acetic acid). Vinegar can temporarily inhibit enzymes that are responsible for breaking starches down into glucose. When that breakdown is slowed, less glucose is released all at once, which helps prevent a sharp spike in blood sugar.