Start your day the right way. How breakfast affects your glucose

Whether it’s getting your morning started with a workout, morning meditation, or taking your morning coffee on a nice walk, starting your day on the right foot is a wonderful feeling. Building your perfect morning also needs to include a good breakfast.   

A good breakfast can set the tone for your day and really make the difference, and also help you balance your blood glucose levels. Implementing food sequencing, getting your body moving, and exercise snacking can also help you maintain balanced glucose levels while establishing a healthy morning routine.

Elements of a proper breakfast   

A proper breakfast should provide you with a few things: 

• Protein. Whether it’s from animal or plant sources, protein is the building block of your body’s cells and helps reduce hunger. Because protein alone doesn’t impact our glucose and is slower to digest, it can help flatten your post-meal glucose spikes.¹ Eggs, nuts, Greek yoghurt, tofu, and grilled meat are some great examples of protein sources that can easily fit into your breakfast. 
• Fibre. Fibre also plays its part to keep you full. It slows the digestion of sugar, keeping your glucose steady. It doesn’t stop there. Fibre also does double duty as it’s beneficial for your gut health. Sauteed vegetables in scrambled eggs, or nuts and seeds on top of yoghurt are all great sources of fibre. Even whole fruits (when combined with protein, fat, and other fibre sources) can fit into a great breakfast. 
• Healthy fats. Fat doesn’t instantly mean bad. Healthy fats keep you full while helping to absorb important fat-soluble vitamins and provide unsaturated fatty acids like omega-3 fatty acids (which benefits your heart and brain health).^2,3

Follow the Fundamentals and remember, combining protein, fibre, and fats with your carbs helps to keep you full and minimises your glucose spikes.⁴ Making more informed choices in the morning can lead to a day you can really feel good about. 

Implement food sequencing 

Another way to make sure your blood glucose levels remain balanced is to implement food sequencing. Food sequencing is eating foods in a specific order.  
 
To get the benefits of food sequencing to balance your blood glucose levels, consider eating your vegetables before carbohydrates. Studies have found that the fibre in vegetables helps slow the rate at which glucose is absorbed, preventing blood glucose spikes.⁵

Another way to implement food sequencing is to eat protein and fat before carbohydrates. This has also been studied to have a similar impact on balancing blood glucose levels.⁶

Add in morning movement and exercise snacking 

Morning activities that get your body moving can also help promote glucose management. Regular exercise has been shown to help your body utilise insulin to bring down your blood glucose levels. ⁷

Moderate exercise, like brisk walking, is an accessible option for physical activity that has beneficial effects on glucose.⁸ Strenuous (higher intensity) exercise may acutely raise your glucose to fuel hard-working muscles, but it’s not a cause for concern. High-intensity exercise improves glucose levels in the long run.⁹

Exercise snacking, which involves short bursts of high-intensity exercise sessions throughout the day, has also been shown to improve glucose.¹⁰

A final note from Lingo 

Eating a healthy breakfast is one of the best ways to manage your blood glucose levels. Your breakfast should include protein, fibre, and healthy fats. Eating these foods in a specific order (called food sequencing) can also help prevent blood glucose spikes. Finally, adding exercise to your morning routine can help you manage your blood sugar levels while also benefiting your overall health.    

Using a continuous glucose monitor like Lingo can help you understand your habits and patterns and work towards limiting glucose spikes.   

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