5 SMART WAYS TO LOSE WEIGHT 1 RETHINK YOUR BREAKFAST

Here are Jessie’s tips for balancing your glucose levels to help you slim.

The morning is the most crucial time to ensure our blood sugar is balanced – our bodies are more sensitive to glucose first thing, when we are in a fasted state.

‘Sweet foods for breakfast (cereal, fruit juices, pastries) give us pleasure, but don’t give us energy,’ says Jessie. ‘Sweet breakfast foods lead to big glucose spikes, which have big negative effects on our physical and mental health.’

An ideal breakfast for steady glucose levels contains a good amount of protein, fibre, fat and optional starch and fruit (ideally, eaten last). Go for toast with avocado or Greek yogurt with 2tbsp nut butter, followed by a handful of berries.

2 HAVE A DESSERT!

Want something sweet? Opt for a dessert rather than a snack in the middle of the day on an empty stomach. By eating something sweet after a meal, we lessen the corresponding glucose spike it would cause. That’s because, theoretically, you have already filled up on a meal containing fat, fibre and protein, whereas when we eat sugar on an empty stomach, our systems ride on a big glucose and fructose spike. ‘Dessert creates maximal pleasure and minimal impact on your body,’ adds Jessie.

3 DRINK VINEGAR BEFORE YOU EAT

A few minutes before you eat your meals, drink a tall glass of water with 1tbsp of apple cider vinegar. Acetic acid (an ingredient in vinegar) temporarily inactivates the enzyme alpha-amylase, which is released when we eat. ‘This will help you have steady energy,’ says Jessie. ‘It’s all thanks to the effect of vinegar on your meal’s blood sugar spike. As a result, sugar and starch are transformed into glucose more slowly.’

4 STOP CALORIE COUNTING

It’s not necessarily the number of calories that you eat, but the type of calories that leads to weight gain – 100 calories of glucose versus 100 calories of protein will have different effects on your body, simply because they are different molecules. So, if you add a 200-calorie salad to a meal, you might be adding extra calories, but they curb glucose and insulin spikes. If you add 200 calories from a fizzy drink, the glucose spike will be amplified.

5 DITCH SUGAR ALTERNATIVES

All types of sugar are made of glucose and fructose, they are just packaged differently. This means that honey, coconut sugar, agave syrup and maple syrup have a similar make-up to white sugar, and your body processes each type of sugar in the same way. If you want something sweet, the best thing you can do is eat fruit, which contains glucose and fructose in small amounts but also fibre, which slows down the insulin response.