Within hours of eating an unhealthy meal, we can get a spike in inflammation, crippling our artery function, thickening our blood, and causing a fight-or-flight nerve response. Thankfully, there are foods we can eat at every meal to counter this reaction.
How to Prevent Blood Sugar & Triglyceride Spikes After Meals
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Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.
Standard American meals, rich in processed junk and meat and dairy, lead to exaggerated spikes in sugar and fat in the blood. This generates free radicals, and the oxidative stress triggers a biochemical cascade throughout our circulation, damaging proteins in our body, inducing inflammation, crippling our artery function, thickening our blood, and causing a fight-or-flight nerve response. This all happens within just one, two, three, four hours after eating a meal. Worried about inflammation within your body? Well, one lousy breakfast could double your C-reactive protein levels before it’s even lunchtime.
Repeat that three times a day, and you can set yourself up for heart disease—though you may not even be aware how bad off you are, because your doctor is measuring your blood sugar and fat levels in a fasting state, typically drawing your blood before you’ve eaten. But, what happens after a meal may be a stronger predictor of heart attacks and strokes—which makes sense, since this is where most of us live our lives, in a fed state.
And, not just in diabetics. If you follow nondiabetic women with heart disease, but normal fasting blood sugar, how high their blood sugar spikes after chugging some sugar water appears to determine how fast their arteries continue to clog up. Perhaps, because the higher the blood sugar spike, the more free radicals are produced.
So, what are some dietary strategies to improve the situation? Thankfully, “[i]mprovements in diet exert profound and immediate favorable changes.” What kind of improvements? Specifically, a diet high in antioxidant, anti-inflammatory whole plant foods. “[m]inimally processed, high-fiber plant-based foods such as vegetables and fruits, whole grains, [beans], and nuts, will markedly blunt the after-meal increase[s]” in sugar, fat, and inflammation.
What if you really wanted to eat some Wonder Bread, though? In less than an hour, you’d get a big spike in blood sugar. But, if you smeared it with almond butter, what would happen? Adding about a third of a cup of almonds to the same amount of Wonder Bread significantly blunts the blood sugar spike.
But, wait; wouldn’t any low-carb food help? I mean, why add almond butter when you can make a bologna sandwich? Well, first of all, plant-based foods have the antioxidants to wipe out any excess free radicals. So, not only can nuts blunt blood sugar spikes, but oxidative damage as well—and blunt insulin spikes as well. Adding nuts to a meal not only calms blood sugar levels, but also calms insulin levels. Now, you’re thinking, “Well, duh, less sugar means less insulin.” But, that’s not what happens with low-carb animal foods.
If you combine some chicken with white rice—steamed skinless chicken breast—you get a greater insulin spike than just the white rice alone. So, adding the low-carb plant food made things better, but adding the low-carb animal food made things worse. Same thing with adding chicken breast to mashed potatoes—a higher insulin spike with the added animal protein. Same thing with animal fat; add some butter to a meal, and get a dramatically higher insulin spike.
If you add butter and cheese to white bread, white potatoes, white spaghetti, or white rice, you can sometimes even double the insulin. Whereas, if you add a half an avocado to a meal, instead of worsening, the insulin response improves, as it does with the main whole plant food source of fat: nuts.
What if, instead of almond butter on your Wonder Bread, you used an all-fruit strawberry jam? We’ll find out, next.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- O'Keefe JH, Bell DS. Postprandial hyperglycemia/hyperlipidemia (postprandial dysmetabolism) is a cardiovascular risk factor. Am J Cardiol. 2007 Sep 1;100(5):899-904.
- O'Keefe JH, Gheewala NM, O'Keefe JO. Dietary strategies for improving post-prandial glucose, lipids, inflammation, and cardiovascular health. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2008 Jan 22;51(3):249-55.
- Burton-Freeman B, Linares A, Hyson D, Kappagoda T. Strawberry modulates LDL oxidation and postprandial lipemia in response to high-fat meal in overweight hyperlipidemic men and women. J Am Coll Nutr. 2010 Feb;29(1):46-54.
- Jenkins DJ, Kendall CW, Josse AR, Salvatore S, Brighenti F, Augustin LS, Ellis PR, Vidgen E, Rao AV. Almonds decrease postprandial glycemia, insulinemia, and oxidative damage in healthy individuals. J Nutr. 2006 Dec;136(12):2987-92.
- Cavalot F, Petrelli A, Traversa M, Bonomo K, Fiora E, Conti M, Anfossi G, Costa G, Trovati M. Postprandial blood glucose is a stronger predictor of cardiovascular events than fasting blood glucose in type 2 diabetes mellitus, particularly in women: lessons from the San Luigi Gonzaga Diabetes Study. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2006 Mar;91(3):813-9.
- Bornet FR, Costagliola D, Rizkalla SW, Blayo A, Fontvieille AM, Haardt MJ, Letanoux M, Tchobroutsky G, Slama G. Insulinemic and glycemic indexes of six starch-rich foods taken alone and in a mixed meal by type 2 diabetics. Am J Clin Nutr. 1987 Mar;45(3):588-95.
- Sun L, Ranawana DV, Leow MK, Henry CJ. Effect of chicken, fat and vegetable on glycaemia and insulinaemia to a white rice-based meal in healthy adults. Eur J Nutr. 2014 Dec;53(8):1719-26.
- Collier GR, Greenberg GR, Wolever TM, Jenkins DJ. The acute effect of fat on insulin secretion. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1988 Feb;66(2):323-6.
- Wien M, Haddad E, Oda K, Sabaté J. A randomized 3×3 crossover study to evaluate the effect of Hass avocado intake on post-ingestive satiety, glucose and insulin levels, and subsequent energy intake in overweight adults. Nutr J. 2013 Nov 27;12:155.
- Hätönen KA, Virtamo J, Eriksson JG, Sinkko HK, Sundvall JE, Valsta LM. Protein and fat modify the glycaemic and insulinaemic responses to a mashed potato-based meal. Br J Nutr. 2011 Jul;106(2):248-53.
Icons created by Persheid, mikicon, unlimicon, Pavel Melnikov, ProSymbols, Imogen Oh, hatayas, Nikita Kozin, retinaicon, and Marco Galtarossa from the Noun Project.
Image credit: Kristina DeMuth. Image has been modified.
Video credit: Avocado Video.
- aging
- almonds
- animal fat
- animal products
- animal protein
- antioxidants
- artery function
- avocados
- beans
- blood sugar
- bologna
- bread
- breakfast
- butter
- C-reactive protein
- cardiovascular disease
- cheese
- chicken
- dairy
- endothelium
- fat
- fiber
- fruit
- grains
- heart disease
- inflammation
- insulin
- junk food
- meat
- nuts
- oxidative stress
- Plant-Based Diets
- potatoes
- processed meat
- protein
- rice
- standard American diet
- stress
- stroke
- sugar
- vegetables
Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.
Standard American meals, rich in processed junk and meat and dairy, lead to exaggerated spikes in sugar and fat in the blood. This generates free radicals, and the oxidative stress triggers a biochemical cascade throughout our circulation, damaging proteins in our body, inducing inflammation, crippling our artery function, thickening our blood, and causing a fight-or-flight nerve response. This all happens within just one, two, three, four hours after eating a meal. Worried about inflammation within your body? Well, one lousy breakfast could double your C-reactive protein levels before it’s even lunchtime.
Repeat that three times a day, and you can set yourself up for heart disease—though you may not even be aware how bad off you are, because your doctor is measuring your blood sugar and fat levels in a fasting state, typically drawing your blood before you’ve eaten. But, what happens after a meal may be a stronger predictor of heart attacks and strokes—which makes sense, since this is where most of us live our lives, in a fed state.
And, not just in diabetics. If you follow nondiabetic women with heart disease, but normal fasting blood sugar, how high their blood sugar spikes after chugging some sugar water appears to determine how fast their arteries continue to clog up. Perhaps, because the higher the blood sugar spike, the more free radicals are produced.
So, what are some dietary strategies to improve the situation? Thankfully, “[i]mprovements in diet exert profound and immediate favorable changes.” What kind of improvements? Specifically, a diet high in antioxidant, anti-inflammatory whole plant foods. “[m]inimally processed, high-fiber plant-based foods such as vegetables and fruits, whole grains, [beans], and nuts, will markedly blunt the after-meal increase[s]” in sugar, fat, and inflammation.
What if you really wanted to eat some Wonder Bread, though? In less than an hour, you’d get a big spike in blood sugar. But, if you smeared it with almond butter, what would happen? Adding about a third of a cup of almonds to the same amount of Wonder Bread significantly blunts the blood sugar spike.
But, wait; wouldn’t any low-carb food help? I mean, why add almond butter when you can make a bologna sandwich? Well, first of all, plant-based foods have the antioxidants to wipe out any excess free radicals. So, not only can nuts blunt blood sugar spikes, but oxidative damage as well—and blunt insulin spikes as well. Adding nuts to a meal not only calms blood sugar levels, but also calms insulin levels. Now, you’re thinking, “Well, duh, less sugar means less insulin.” But, that’s not what happens with low-carb animal foods.
If you combine some chicken with white rice—steamed skinless chicken breast—you get a greater insulin spike than just the white rice alone. So, adding the low-carb plant food made things better, but adding the low-carb animal food made things worse. Same thing with adding chicken breast to mashed potatoes—a higher insulin spike with the added animal protein. Same thing with animal fat; add some butter to a meal, and get a dramatically higher insulin spike.
If you add butter and cheese to white bread, white potatoes, white spaghetti, or white rice, you can sometimes even double the insulin. Whereas, if you add a half an avocado to a meal, instead of worsening, the insulin response improves, as it does with the main whole plant food source of fat: nuts.
What if, instead of almond butter on your Wonder Bread, you used an all-fruit strawberry jam? We’ll find out, next.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- O'Keefe JH, Bell DS. Postprandial hyperglycemia/hyperlipidemia (postprandial dysmetabolism) is a cardiovascular risk factor. Am J Cardiol. 2007 Sep 1;100(5):899-904.
- O'Keefe JH, Gheewala NM, O'Keefe JO. Dietary strategies for improving post-prandial glucose, lipids, inflammation, and cardiovascular health. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2008 Jan 22;51(3):249-55.
- Burton-Freeman B, Linares A, Hyson D, Kappagoda T. Strawberry modulates LDL oxidation and postprandial lipemia in response to high-fat meal in overweight hyperlipidemic men and women. J Am Coll Nutr. 2010 Feb;29(1):46-54.
- Jenkins DJ, Kendall CW, Josse AR, Salvatore S, Brighenti F, Augustin LS, Ellis PR, Vidgen E, Rao AV. Almonds decrease postprandial glycemia, insulinemia, and oxidative damage in healthy individuals. J Nutr. 2006 Dec;136(12):2987-92.
- Cavalot F, Petrelli A, Traversa M, Bonomo K, Fiora E, Conti M, Anfossi G, Costa G, Trovati M. Postprandial blood glucose is a stronger predictor of cardiovascular events than fasting blood glucose in type 2 diabetes mellitus, particularly in women: lessons from the San Luigi Gonzaga Diabetes Study. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2006 Mar;91(3):813-9.
- Bornet FR, Costagliola D, Rizkalla SW, Blayo A, Fontvieille AM, Haardt MJ, Letanoux M, Tchobroutsky G, Slama G. Insulinemic and glycemic indexes of six starch-rich foods taken alone and in a mixed meal by type 2 diabetics. Am J Clin Nutr. 1987 Mar;45(3):588-95.
- Sun L, Ranawana DV, Leow MK, Henry CJ. Effect of chicken, fat and vegetable on glycaemia and insulinaemia to a white rice-based meal in healthy adults. Eur J Nutr. 2014 Dec;53(8):1719-26.
- Collier GR, Greenberg GR, Wolever TM, Jenkins DJ. The acute effect of fat on insulin secretion. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1988 Feb;66(2):323-6.
- Wien M, Haddad E, Oda K, Sabaté J. A randomized 3×3 crossover study to evaluate the effect of Hass avocado intake on post-ingestive satiety, glucose and insulin levels, and subsequent energy intake in overweight adults. Nutr J. 2013 Nov 27;12:155.
- Hätönen KA, Virtamo J, Eriksson JG, Sinkko HK, Sundvall JE, Valsta LM. Protein and fat modify the glycaemic and insulinaemic responses to a mashed potato-based meal. Br J Nutr. 2011 Jul;106(2):248-53.
Icons created by Persheid, mikicon, unlimicon, Pavel Melnikov, ProSymbols, Imogen Oh, hatayas, Nikita Kozin, retinaicon, and Marco Galtarossa from the Noun Project.
Image credit: Kristina DeMuth. Image has been modified.
Video credit: Avocado Video.
- aging
- almonds
- animal fat
- animal products
- animal protein
- antioxidants
- artery function
- avocados
- beans
- blood sugar
- bologna
- bread
- breakfast
- butter
- C-reactive protein
- cardiovascular disease
- cheese
- chicken
- dairy
- endothelium
- fat
- fiber
- fruit
- grains
- heart disease
- inflammation
- insulin
- junk food
- meat
- nuts
- oxidative stress
- Plant-Based Diets
- potatoes
- processed meat
- protein
- rice
- standard American diet
- stress
- stroke
- sugar
- vegetables
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Title
How to Prevent Blood Sugar & Triglyceride Spikes After Meals
LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Content URLDoctor's Note
I’ve covered the effect adding berries to a meal has on blood sugar responses in If Fructose Is Bad, What About Fruit?, and that raises the question: How Much Fruit Is Too Much?.
In addition to the all-fruit jam question, I cover The Effects of Avocados and Red Wine on Postprandial Inflammation.
Vinegar may also help. See Can Vinegar Help with Blood Sugar Control?.
Perhaps this explains part of the longevity benefit of nut consumption, which I discuss in Nuts May Help Prevent Death.
I also talked about that immediate inflammatory reaction to unhealthy food choices in Best Foods to Improve Sexual Function.
Surprised by the chicken and butter reaction? The same thing happens with tuna fish and other meat, as I cover in my video Paleo Diets May Negate Benefits of Exercise.
Update: You might be interested in my more recent video, How Circadian Rhythms Affect Blood Sugar Levels.
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