Have you ever heard of a fruitarian? If not, buckle up. It's a pretty wild concept.
I've experimented with just about every breakfast idea you can think of over the past five years or so. I've tried high-fat, high-carb, fasted, smoothies, real food, only nuts, mostly nut butter. You name it, it's been attempted. My favorite up until last year was an oat bran bowl with raisins, frozen blueberries, almond butter, and cinnamon. I firmly believe that I could eat it for every single meal for the rest of my life and never get sick of it. Unfortunately, my body thought otherwise. I had a comprehensive blood panel done last winter, and the findings showed that my beloved Breakfast Bowl (or "Mush Bowl", as my roommates lovingly called it) was the cause of a number of elevated levels inside my body that needed to be addressed. I'm still a bit upset over it, but nowadays my breakfast has me feeling better than the mush ever did.
A fruitarian is someone who eats a diet almost entirely of fruit. And for the first half of the day, that's exactly what I do. I have about 1/3 cup of mixed nuts in the morning as well, but anything else that goes into my body before lunch is fruit. Some of my favorites (in order) are blueberries, golden kiwi (MUCH better than normal kiwi, highly recommend if your grocer carries them), cherries, pineapple, and strawberries. I'm a pretty active guy and have found that large amounts of fruit give me a ton of energy to get through my workouts without any crash. I always figured that since it's real food, generally organic, and only natural sugars, my body would be fine, right?
Enter my new favorite (or least favorite, due to what it's showed me) toy: the Freestyle Precision Neo. It's a blood glucose monitor that gives you real-time data with a simple prick of your finger. Generally, upon waking your blood glucose should be under 100. For me, that's been no issue. But after eating my fruit buffet last Friday, I checked my level and had to pick my jaw up from the floor. I've seen various sources say that after eating, glucose levels should be anywhere below 140-160 mg. After my breakfast, my reading was 186. Not good. Even though I felt so good.
Glucose spikes are problematic for a number of reasons, but the main issue is that they can lead to insulin resistance over time. Spiking your levels repeatedly over an extended period of time can decrease your body's ability to lower your blood sugar for the long term, which eventually can lead to type 2 diabetes, which can then lead to other health issues as life progresses.
Thankfully, the internet seems to have saved me and my ability to eat fruit until I'm blue in the face. My savior? Cinnamon. Cinnamon has a ton of health benefits, from being packed with antioxidants to having an antimicrobial effect (and also tastes amazing), but it's my go-to these days for one thing in particular: its ability to control blood sugar levels after meals. Just today, a study is making its way through international news showing that people who supplemented with cinnamon had lower blood sugar levels after eating than the placebo group, and also experienced faster returns to their normal glucose levels.
This is HUGE. And great news for everyone who struggles with their blood sugar control. If there's way to not have to take a pill and instead use a natural substance to control your levels, in my opinion it should absolutely be explored. The fewer chemicals we can put in our bodies the better, and with treatment as easy as this, it seems like a no-brainer to me. It should be noted that you should use regular cinnamon versus Vietnamese cinnamon when you're taking in large amounts, as a compound in the Vietnamese version can cause or worsen liver disease if taken in consumed in excess over time.
This is all to say, the more we can find out about our bodies and how they react to things we put in them, the better. Every body is different, which is part of the beauty of the human experience. Our health is almost fully in our hands, it's just up to us to grip the wheel firmly. Let me know if you have any other tips for managing blood sugar!