Blood Sugar – A Roller Coaster or a Steady ride to your Victory!
According to the Titleist Performance Institute there are four main principles you must incorporate in you diet in order to avoid the rise and fall of blood sugar levels throughout the day. For starters, eat breakfast! Breakfast is and always will be the most important meal of the day, and not enough people eat it. Hopefully you have just woken up from a nice 6-8 hour slumber. Your body needs fuel! Eating a well-balanced breakfast has proven to control your blood sugar levels even in to the afternoon.
So how do you do that? What makes up a “well-balanced breakfast?” The first thing you want to do is make sure you are consuming high quality complete proteins. Complete proteins are those that contain all eight essential amino acids and can be found in animal products (red meat and other game meats, chicken and eggs, fish and other seafood, etc.) As an active person your protein consumption will need to be higher than someone who is sedentary to ensure your body has the ability to recover from the stresses of that activity, whether it be working out or playing golf.
After making sure you have consumed the right amount of high quality protein in your breakfast you should make sure to include some of the right fats. Fats get a bad rap because people associate them with, well, getting fat. And consuming the wrong type of fat can certainly make that happen sooner than later (trans fats are BAD! i.e. processed foods/baked goods/fried foods). However, if you’re an active person your body uses good fats (Saturated, monounsaturated) as they digest more slowly and release energy over a longer period of time. In addition, they help keep you satiated and not feeling hungry soon after your meal.
Lastly, when considering what foods will help your blood sugar remain stable, be sure to include slow digesting carbohydrates. The same holds true for this category of food, avoid the processed ones (are you sensing a trend?)! Whether you want to admit it or not Mom is right, fruits and vegetables are the way to go. These should be at the top of your list when choosing a high quality slow-digesting carbohydrate. To recap, maintaining stable blood sugar levels whether you’re in competition, working out, or just living day to day is extremely important and will affect your performance on and off the course.
