What’s the problem?

When you binge on food, chances are you don’t binge on salad. You binge on muffins, pies, sweets, fizzy drinks, donuts – or, in other words, refined carbohydrates.

Why does that happen?

Well, first and foremost, refined carbohydrates are a very appealing source of energy, so your body is naturally drawn towards them.

However, what perpetuates the cycle of bingeing is the ability of refined carbohydrates to cause a sudden rise in your blood sugar levels.

Here’s how it works:

1. After being consumed, refined carbohydrates are quickly broken down into simple sugars, which cause your blood sugar levels to rise.
2. High levels of sugar are toxic to your cells, so in an attempt to help you, your body releases insulin, which pulls this sugar from your blood.
3. However, insulin is too good at its job: instead of helping your blood sugar levels to go back to normal, it sends them plummeting to levels that are too low.
4. When there’s not enough sugar in your blood, your brain sends out powerful signals that direct you to binge on huge quantities of carbohydrate-rich foods.
5. As you give in to these natural cravings, a new binge leads to a new blood sugar crash – which leads to another binge, which leads to another crash… Soon enough you find yourself trapped in a seemingly never-ending roller coaster of sugar highs and sugar lows.

This natural survival mechanism is biologically predetermined.

So how do you know if your blood sugar levels are unstable?
Here are some of the symptoms:

• Intense sugar cravings.
• Energy dips (especially after meals or late in the afternoon).
• Lightheadedness, dizziness, being jittery or shaky.
• Anxiety or agitation.
• Brain fog and having difficulty concentrating.
• Extreme hunger.

Okay, what’s the solution?

The best way to stabilise your blood sugar levels is to ensure that each meal (and preferably each snack) has a balanced combination of the three primary macronutrients. These macronutrients are complex carbohydrates, protein and fat.

Balancing your meals in this way will help your body to:

1. slow down the absorption of glucose into the bloodstream;
2. prevent intense sugar highs and rapid crashes;
3. slow down the process of digestion, so that you can feel fuller for longer and absorb more nutrition from food.

How to do it

You should begin the process of learning how to eat in a balanced way by ensuring that each of your meals is made up of 50% carbohydrates, 25% protein and 25% fat (in terms of calories, not volume).

Think of it as a simple 2/1/1 ratio.

Here are some examples of balanced meals that contain all of the three macronutrients:

• Half a plate of rice and broccoli, one quarter of chicken and one quarter of avocado.
• Half a plate of whole-grain pasta, one quarter of fish and one quarter of cream-based sauce.
• Half a plate of baked potato and vegetables, and half of roasted meat with gravy.
• Half a plate of fresh salad and half of cheese omelette.

Pick a new habit

Choose a new habit to work on from the list below. Learn more about habits here.

Helpful tips

• Eggs are a great source of protein. Try adding some eggs to your breakfast or other main meals.
• Have some balanced snacks on hand in case you encounter an unexpected binge urge or can’t have your main meal on time.
• Don’t obsess over these macronutrients. You may be tempted to measure out and weigh your food, you may want to count calories or try and find out the exact amount of carbohydrates, protein and fat in your meals, but this is simply not necessary. On the contrary, it can do more harm than good! All you need to do is be aware of an approximate ratio of these macronutrients in your meals to be able to move forward.