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Breaking the fast
As Ramadan is approaching, I have two questions that I need help with, please (I have many more questions, but one step at a time). I received your book, Unjunk, and I can’t put it down. It’s basically what this world needs. The recipe section made me crave so many foods, so I will be making Arayis for the first time. My question is, what brand of pita bread do you recommend?My second question is about breaking the fast by having a smoothie (dates, a mix of seeds, homemade almond milk, 2 bananas, a scoop of pure peanut butter, and a cup of frozen fruit). Would that cause a negative spike in glucose, or insulin, or do you recommend that we break the fast with something savory instead? -
2 Replies
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Hey ,
Thank you for giving me some culinary inspiration. I never made Arayis myself. Unfortunately, I can’t help you with the first part of your question though since I don’t exactly know what brands are sold in Dubai. I’m sure could give you some advice. But here are some tips for the second part of your question.
Insulin, blood sugar and feeling tired after a meal.
A good meal should make you feel saturated and provide you with energy. Big meals, especially when they contain quickly digestible carbohydrates can make you feel tired cause they raise blood sugar fast and as a consequence, the blood glucose levels can crash. A second reason for fatigue can be caused by tryptophan (an amino acid) rich foods that then get converted into serotonin and melatonin.Everybody responds a little differently to a meal. But since too many carbohydrates can make you feel tired, you have a way to assess if your meal was too big so you can adjust accordingly. You can test this by consuming fewer carbohydrates the next day.
Lifestyle factors play a big role in the ability to store sugars. Sugars in cells are stored in the form of a molecule called glycogen. Once glycogen gets depleted, your cell’s ability to store glucose increases and you can handle more carbs as a result. Lifestyle factors that decrease glycogen are for example active lifestyle, working out and fasting.
Reducing glucose spikes and crashes
It is possible to affect the way your body handles the carbohydrates from your meal. Here are some simple tips:
• Eat proteins with your foods. Proteins, but also fats can help slow down the absorption of carbohydrates. Peanuts are rich in protein but are usually consumed in smaller amounts. If you have a few peanuts in your food, I would recommend adding another source of protein. Bernadette often talks about the VPF principle. This is an easy way to make a balanced meal. In this video, the VPF principle is explained. Let me know if the link works since I know people in Dubai had a few problems with playing the videos!
• Eat proteins first and carbohydrates last. The order in how you consume your foods can also influence the speed at which you absorb glucose. Eating carbs first will raise blood sugar quicker.
• Walk after your meal. Having a 10-20 minute walk after your meal can help you with reducing a blood sugar spike as well.Big meals and tryptophan
Some foods are rich in tryptophan & melatonin. The body uses tryptophan to convert this amino acid to melatonin. Bigger meals can influence the amount of melatonin causing fatigue as well. Milk for example is a source of tryptophan and melatonin and can induce fatigue. In fact, you might know this from experience. A cup of black coffee is quite stimulating, but a cappuccino or latté macchiato is much less energizing.Almonds are also rich in tryptophan and melatonin and can cause tiredness as well. If you like to know if carbs are causing your blood sugar to crash, I would recommend other plant-based milk.
So to summarize:
• You can use your ‘after-dinner’ dip to asses if your meal was too big.
• Having protein with your meal slows down sugar absorption
• Just make sure you aren’t combining too many tryptophan and melatonin-rich foods with your meal, since they can cause fatigue as well.I hope this helps!
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Hi – your comment made my day! I’m so glad you’re enjoying UNJUNK.
I wish there was a company that provided organic pita bread, but unfortunately I haven’t found any yet. You’ll want to look at the ingredients and make sure it is simply whole wheat flour, water, yeast, and salt. No bread improver and no oil since it’s likely inflammatory vegetable/seed being used. We buy the Al Arz Bakery brand. Ideally, I wish they’d get organic whole wheat flour… maybe in time that will happen. I’m sure if we asked, they probably would.
Daniel gave you a great reply about how to prevent sugar spikes. Please watch my VPF principle video, and then analyze your smoothie. What is it lacking from my VPF principle? Let’s analyze it together:
• Dates: Simple carb. I’m assuming these are dried dates, which are very high in sugar
• Seeds: healthy fats – this will help reduce a sugar spike
• Almond milk: healthy fat – this will help reduce a sugar spike
• 2 bananas: simple carb. Also higher in sugar.
• Peanut butter: healthy fat. Many people believe this is a source of protein, but it’s actually more fat than protein.
• Frozen fruits: simple carbs. Source of sugar.So if we analyze this smoothie (which I’m sure tastes great!), it is predominantly simple carbs and fats. So it’s lacking the V and P in the VPF principle. The fats will definitely help slow down the spike of sugar, but adding in some protein and a side vegetable for added fiber will make it even better.
For example, make it less sweet by eliminating the dates or the bananas. Keep the frozen berries (I’m assuming berries?). Add either a scoop of protein powder or have a side of boiled eggs or smoked salmon or sausage (or any protein of choice) with that smoothie, along with a favorite veggie like cucumbers or celery, etc. You can probably try adding fresh spinach, lettuce or frozen cauliflower to your smoothie for the added “V” (you can’t taste them!). There are so many combinations you can make when you apply the VPF principle.
But this principle will help you prevent sugar spikes.
Hope this helps.
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