Consuming a morning smoothie can be a fantastic way to get all the essential macronutrients into your diet. They’re a great way to get plenty of nutrition into your body if you’re short on time and the great thing about them is that they can be consumed on the go meaning they’re the perfect option for anyone with a busy life.
While smoothies have plenty of benefits, they aren’t without their faults.
If you love a breakfast smoothie but lace it with all the wrong ingredients, your refreshing drink can cause a large blood sugar spike, leaving you feeling nauseous and tired rather than energetic and satisfied.
Even if you’ve added tonnes of healthy ingredients to your smoothie, it can still cause blood sugar spikes if portions are too large or if it’s not made with the right blend of ingredients.
When glucose levels spike quickly, insulin quickly attempts to remove the excess sugar from your blood and deposit it in your cells to use as energy, however, this can result in a blood sugar crash which leaves you feeling tired and nauseous.
If you have diabetes and spike your blood sugar with a smoothie, your cells may not be responding as well to insulin, so your sugar will stay elevated for longer. This can cause many symptoms including headaches, tiredness, and blurred vision.
Whether or not you have diabetes, following the below tips can help you to enjoy delicious smoothies and prevent blood sugar spikes.
Strike the right balance
It’s important for each meal and light snack you consume to contain a mix of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. And that’s no different with smoothies. Ensuring you have the right mixture of macronutrients is important if you want to prevent unwanted blood sugar highs and lows.
To get the ‘perfect’ ratio of ingredients, a good guideline would be to follow my #funky5 recipes. These ensure that each smoothie provides a serving of protein, one serving of fruit, one serving of vegetables, a serving of healthy fat & fibre and a super boost to support your desired goal.
Sweetened yogurts, sweetened non-dairy milk, or juice can cause blood sugar spikes, especially when combined with all the natural sugar of fruit, so you want to make sure that you keep these ingredients to a minimum if you use them in your smoothie recipes.
