Watch your snacking

We have been told it’s better to eat little and often. But when it comes to glucose levels, it’s better to eat larger, more filling meals instead of smaller ones, then snacking in between. Every time you have a snack, your insulin goes up. “When our body is not in the postprandial state, our insulin levels come down and we can go back to burning fat instead of stashing it,” says Inchauspé. If you want something sweet, do it at the end of a meal, when it’ll cause a smaller glucose spike.

And if you do snack, make it savoury. Good ideas: a spoonful of nut butter; a cup of 5 per cent Greek yoghurt with nut butter; a handful of baby carrots and a spoonful of hummus; a hunk of cheese; apple slices with cheese or nut butter; a hard-boiled egg with a dash of hot sauce; a soft-boiled egg with salt and pepper; lightly salted coconut slivers; seeded crackers with a slice of cheese; a slice of ham.