Are Blood Sugar Spikes Normal in Healthy People?
This blog post explores the question of whether regular blood sugar spikes exceeding 200 mg/dL in people with otherwise normal glucose tolerance are a sign of early glucose intolerance not captured by standardized clinical testing, or whether such spikes are the normal result of eating highly glycemic foods even in the healthiest people.
The Dietary Glycemic Index: Everything You Need to Know
Blood sugar levels rise after a meal rich in carbohydrates. However, not all carbs are created equal when it comes to the blood sugar response they trigger. These differences are captured in the glycemic index and the glycemic load, two measures that can help us avoid excessive blood sugar spikes after a meal. This blog post discusses what the glycemic index and the glycemic load are, how they are determined, and reviews the glycemic index and glycemic load values of many common foods.
How To Use a Continuous Glucose Monitor to Your Benefit
Continuous glucose monitors, or CGMs, have become a very popular tool, both for people with diabetes and those who want to optimize their health. In this blog post, we are providing guidance on how best to use a CGM to maximize its health benefit.
Regulation of Blood Sugar
More than 1 billion people are affected by diabetes mellitus worldwide, and that number is estimated to increase by another 50% in the next few decades. In this blog post, we are discussing how our bodies regulate blood sugar levels, what goes wrong in this process when we develop diabetes, and how diabetes is clinically diagnosed.
Is Anecdotal Evidence Valuable? 5 Reasons To be Cautious!
A large portion of the health and nutrition information online consists of anecdotes, personal accounts of health benefits experienced in response to a change in diet. In this blog post, we are discussing five reasons why such anecdotes should be considered very low-level evidence.
Ultra-Processed Foods: The #1 Cause of Overeating and Weight Gain?
In a recent blog post about the Global Nutrition Transition, we discussed that the transition towards ultra-processed foods is strongly and consistently associated with increased rates of obesity in populations all around the world. We are expanding on this discussion in this post by sharing evidence that ultra-processed foods are not just associated with higher calorie intake and body weight, but may actually cause overeating and weight gain. We are also discussing concrete steps – based on this research – that may prevent overeating and weight gain.
New Study on Time-Restricted Eating and Weight Loss
A new randomized controlled clinical trial has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine that describes the impact of 8-hour time-restricted eating on weight loss in the context of a calorie-restricted diet. This blog post summarizes what time-restricted eating is, outlines the animal experiments that initially suggested that time-restricted eating could be a valuable tool for weight loss, and reviews the data from the new as well as older trials.
Prevention and Reversal of Chronic Disease (Why Nutrition Matters, Part C)
Can we prevent or even reverse chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes or heart disease by changing our diet? In this blog post, we will take a look at a few studies that have put that question to the test.
The Global Nutrition Transition (Why Nutrition Matters, Part B)
In this blog post, we will take a close look at the emergence of what is often called the twin epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes. This twin epidemic has been taking place all over the world over the last 30-40 years, and it is still getting worse. We will examine the changes in diet that have occurred during this same time frame in several different affected populations. We will see some patterns emerge of specific changes in the diets of these populations that have almost certainly played a major role in the massive changes in body weights and metabolic health.
Micronutrient Deficiencies (Why Nutrition Matters, Part A)
In this blog post, we’ll be looking at an issue that – in my opinion – should be taking much more a center stage in the discussion of nutrition and health: micronutrient deficiencies!