Is Blood Sugar the Key to Regulating Appetite?
Aug 17th 2024
rdon the timeframes mentioned here, this article was originally scheduled to go live in January, but alas with everything going on, here it is. This is a popular topic around this time of year, so we figured we’d talk about it again, and refresh ourselves (and our readers), on some of the best and safest ways to help stabilize the appetite.
Right around the first quarter of any new year brings weight management and goals to the forefront again as so many people look to improve their health by losing weight. Some may just be looking to maintain the healthy weight they already have, or ensure they don’t gain weight. Related: Bromelain Enzyme What Can it Do For You?
Unfortunately, easier weight gain is something that often comes with something we all do - age. So it’s a universal concern. Blood sugar control is also a universal concern. Blood sugar dictates how well we can focus. It can dictate our moods and how we interact with others, and it certainly impacts our lives in other ways like performance at our jobs, and the energy and focus to achieve desires outside of our workplace.
The More Natural Options are Better Because…..
Natural methods of controlling weight can be beneficial over more hardline ways like prescriptions. The hope is that not having to go that route will make it easier long-term to easily maintain weight because you can train your body and mind to get used to it in a natural way without the help of a more artificial and severe appetite suppression.
Not to mention the cost is much easier on your finances - and you never know what the myriad of side effects might be for any prescription regimen. ACV (Apple Cider Vinegar) is a popular health panacea, not only for its renowned weight loss benefits but also ACV is excellent for hair and scalp.
If you’ve ever read the book “Atomic Habits”, then you know that there is really something to the idea that long term success in any goal, including losing weight, includes small incremental decisions and changes that ultimately lead to long term success. It’s no different with choosing foods and a dietary lifestyle the majority of the time, which are most conducive to long term weight maintenance.
Finding the Right Approach
Most people find their sweet spot eventually. It may be a combination of low carb and high carb eating during certain times or intervals. Or it could be a low carb diet the majority of the time that helps you control your appetite.
Fiber might be the main path to fullness and temptation-avoidance for some, whereas protein fills up and satiates others. Finding your personal recipe for success if half the battle. Implementing the small micro-decisions that add up to long term goals is the second part of the plan that matters.
Once you find your silver bullet approach to keeping a healthy weight, take those daily steps to make the best decisions to stick to it. If you mess up, just make sure you don’t prolong those periods of poor choices. Sometimes it can seem a bit like a ‘lost cause’, which is why people tend to repeat the choices over and over, so it’s important to have the willpower to keep taking those positive steps every day.
Popular Supplements that Help Maintain Blood Sugar Control
It’s often hard to articulate the connection between blood sugar control and appetite control. But there is a huge connection. When your blood sugar bottoms out, it coincides with a huge spike in appetite. When this happens, it get exponentially harder to make a good decision about what to put in your mouth.
If you can control blood sugar ebbs and lows through additional supplementation or through your food choices alone, then you can take inevitable bad decisions down to a net zero or very low occurrence.
Cinnamon
Cinnamon is a staple at our house. We keep a cinnamon and chromium combo supplement around all the time. It is one of the most effective ways to help control blood sugar levels throughout the day. You have to take it about twice a day to get the benefit, since the effect does wear off after it’s been fully metabolized. Related: Cinnamon Varieties for Blood Sugar Which is Best?
Chromium
As mentioned in combo with cinnamon above, chromium is another notable blood sugar stabilizer. This one has been around since I can remember, hitting popularity even in the eighties. Beyond that, I would have no recollection but it’s been around a while as a diet aid. It really does help to stabilize your blood sugar levels throughout the day. I love it with cinnamon as the two have a great synergy for me personally to keep me ‘in the zone’ of focus, awareness and mood.
Ginger Root
I had run out of our cinnamon/chromium combination supplement, and googled ginger root as a potential substitute. We had some in our pantry and I thought that the spicy nature of ginger might have some effect on blood sugar, just because it made sense in some non-scientific, but logical, way. I was right, you can use ginger as a way to help stabilize blood sugar. Not only that, it's great for settling a sour stomach.