Eat Smaller Meals to Maintain a Normal Blood Sugar Level

Maintaining a normal blood sugar level is a great to minimize weight gain and fat build up around your middle. This is because when you eat the food is processed into glucose and moved to your bloodstream; your body senses the increased blood glucose level and produces insulin to offset the rise in blood sugar.

When you eat food your body looks for places to put those calories. Your body tries to maintain blood sugar levels between certain boundaries. Too low a blood sugar level and you have no energy to do anything. Too high and you risk damage to organs and other health issues. Insulin is the hormone responsible for controlling blood sugar levels and as your blood sugar rises, more insulin is pumped out to deal with the sugar. Insulin moves sugar to the muscles first, but when the muscles are full the rest gets stored as fat. So you can see that only eating enough to fill your muscles is the best course of action.

The best way to do that is by eating six or more meals a day. Small meals balanced with protein, fat and good carbohydrates won’t spike your blood sugar and cause an excess of sugar to be stored as fat.

Exercising before you eat, if only for a little while, is a way to decrease the glycogen stores in the muscles and create more room for sugar to be stored. Walking or biking for few minutes can help cut down on the calories that get stored as fat.

Portion size and slowing your eating is another great way to change your eating habits. Smaller portion sizes, when you know you are eating six meals a day, are easier to get used to because the next meal is never that far away. Slowing down and not rushing through the meal gives your stomach a chance to feel full and slows the speed at which sugar enters your blood stream helping to maintain a normal blood sugar level.

Losing that extra weight and getting healthy by actually increasing the number of meals you eat everyday may seem like a novel approach, but give it a try and enjoy the benefits.

Tags: blood sugar, insulin, normal blood sugar level, portion size, smaller meals