How to improve blood glucose through food logging

Stable blood sugar is vital for metabolic health. There are many ways to measure it directly, such as with a finger prick test or a continuous glucose monitor. But a great place to start optimizing your blood sugar is by simply paying attention to what you eat. The best way to do that is through food logging. Food logging can help us become more mindful of what we’re eating and achieve our nutrition and health goals.

Keeping track of what we eat is particularly effective for weight loss. In one study, each food log submitted was associated with an additional 0.5 lb weight loss at the 12-month follow-up. Even if weight loss isn’t the goal, food logging can still be beneficial—it can help you track your protein intake for muscle growth or cut back on added sugar, for example. 

Immediate logging also corrects errors resulting from faulty memory. Research shows that many people underestimate and underreport how much they’re eating. The longer we wait to log after eating, the more likely we are to under- or overestimate our food intake. Your best bet for keeping your assessments accurate is to log what you eat in real time.

Everybody is different; what spikes one person’s blood sugar may not necessarily spike another. But refined carbohydrates—especially sugar—are the most common culprits of unstable blood sugar levels, and are hidden in many things, from yogurt to protein bars. Levels’ in-app food logging provides an in-depth nutrient analysis for everything you eat, allowing you to spot refined sugar and carbs easily. This will help you make informed dietary choices to support your health. 

Why stable blood sugar matters

It’s natural for our blood sugar levels to rise and fall throughout the day. In addition to food, sleep, stress, physical activity, medications, and hormones can all impact the degree to which our blood glucose levels fluctuate. This fluctuation is known as glycemic variability. The less variability, the better: think gentle rolling hills rather than sharp peaks and valleys. 

Whenever blood sugar spikes, the body pumps out insulin to help shuttle glucose from the bloodstream into our cells. Repeated insulin surges over time can lead to insulin resistance, where the body becomes numb to insulin’s effects. As a result, higher insulin levels are required to remove glucose from the bloodstream, which increases the risk of chronic diseases like Type 2 diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease. 

When our blood sugar levels spike, the body tries to get us quickly back to homeostasis or base levels, sometimes resulting in a crash. This compensatory hypoglycemia can lead to unpleasant side effects like shakiness, difficulty concentrating, and decreased energy. Moreover, repeated rises and falls in blood glucose can damage bodily tissues directly, especially the endothelial cells that line the blood vessels.

Keeping blood sugar levels stable is beneficial in the short term—sustained energy, stable mood, satiation, concentration—and the long term. By tracking what you eat and how you feel afterward, you may be able to identify which foods likely caused spikes. 

The different types of carbs

Carbohydrates come in several forms. The main carb buckets include fiber, starch, and sugars like glucose and fructose. Carbs raise blood glucose levels to a greater degree than the other macronutrients, protein and fat. But that doesn’t mean carbs are inherently bad. Vegetables and fruits, after all, contain carbs, mainly in the form of fiber, which is essential for metabolic health. Not only does fiber slow the release of food from the stomach and into the small intestine (helping to blunt any post-meal spikes in blood sugar), but it also feeds and maintains the health of the gut microbiome.

Refined carbs like white flour, often found in processed foods, have essentially been stripped of all their fiber and contain little to no nutritional value. These types of carbs lead to rapid spikes in glucose levels. Sugar—even “natural sugars” like honey or fruit juices—also lack fiber and can cause spikes. On average, Americans eat too much sugar and not enough fiber. Tracking your carbohydrate and fiber intake will allow you to see how much of each nutrient you’re getting and adjust your consumption accordingly. 

Starch is a complex carbohydrate comprised of long chains of glucose molecules and is the primary energy storage in plants. It’s best to moderate intake of starchy foods like potatoes and rice because they can quickly raise blood sugar levels. But many starchy foods, like plantains and legumes, also contain a beneficial starch called resistant starch, which is a non-digestible form of carbohydrate. The cooking and subsequent cooling of starchy foods (like potatoes) can also increase their resistant starch. Resistant starch has been associated with improved gut health, better insulin sensitivity and glycemic control, improved lipid profiles, and increased satiety. 

For optimal metabolic health, get most of your carbs from high-fiber foods like vegetables, fruits, beans, legumes, nuts, and seeds. And be sure to pair carbs—including resistant starch—with plenty of protein and fat to help curb the ensuing glucose response.

What to look for in your food logs for optimal metabolic health

Watch out for added sugars

Food trackers like Levels will show you both total sugar consumed, as well as added sugar. While sugar naturally occurs in many foods like fruits and vegetables, added sugars are found in many everyday food products, some of which you might not expect, like pasta sauces, condiments, and salad dressings. Sugar goes by many names; again, even “natural sugars” like agave syrup and honey can still harm metabolic health the way plain table sugar, or sucrose, can.

Don’t worry too much about sugars from whole foods, like fruit—our bodies know how to process the small amount found in, say, a serving of berries. Plus, in their whole form, the berries come with a healthy dose of fiber. The fiber helps slow the rate at which the sugar enters the bloodstream, keeping blood sugar stable. (To further curb any spikes, eat your berries with a healthy fat like nut butter or as part of a salad drizzled with olive oil and topped with protein.) 

Modernity, however, has made megadoses of added sugar widely available. Sugar-sweetened beverages are especially problematic. Sodas are usually sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), and their liquid form delivers a huge amount of sugar (a can of Coke contains 39 grams of added sugar) that’s absorbed even more rapidly than sugar in solid foods, leading to a sharper blood sugar spike. HFCS is made up of glucose and fructose. While the glucose spikes blood sugar, the fructose gets processed in the liver. Over time, excess fructose can cause the liver to turn the sugar into fat, which can ultimately contribute to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Too much fructose is also linked to oxidative stress, inflammation, increased blood pressure, and metabolic syndrome.

Artificial sweeteners are similarly pervasive, but additional research is needed to understand if and how they affect overall health. Some research suggests that nonnutritive sweeteners like saccharin and sucralose can alter the gut microbiome, while other research has associated such sweeteners with cancer, chronic inflammatory conditions, and impaired hormonal signaling. In general, it’s best to avoid them for optimal health. 

Pay attention to your major macros: Carbs, protein, and fat

By tracking your meals, you’ll have valuable data about what you consume daily. You can analyze your macronutrient breakdown—the amount of carbs, protein, and fat you’re getting, along with total sugar and added sugar. Your ideal macro ratios will change depending on your activity levels, goals, genetics, and lifestyle. However, simply seeing the numbers is valuable, empowering, and often surprising. Many people consume far more sugar and far less protein and fiber than they think.

Total carbs is a helpful metric for monitoring metabolic health, even though the optimal total amount will vary among people. (A trusted healthcare provider or nutritionist can help you determine the optimal amount.) Within carbs, pay attention to total sugar and added sugar, which should be as close to zero as possible. You’ll also want to look at how much fiber you’re getting in: Levels advisors recommend aiming for approximately 50 grams daily (if you’re currently eating a low-fiber diet, ramp up your intake slowly to avoid gastrointestinal distress). 

It’s also essential to consume enough protein and healthy fat. Protein forms the building blocks of just about every bodily tissue—especially muscle, which is crucial for healthy glucose disposal. Consuming optimal amounts of protein can help with weight loss while preserving lean muscle mass. High-quality protein sources include well-raised animals, wild fish, eggs, tofu, beans and legumes, nuts and seeds (especially hemp, a complete protein), and clean protein powders to fill in any gaps. 

Fat is essential for healthy hormone function, organ protection, and energy. Get it from sources like avocados, olive oil, fatty fish (we love sardines and salmon), nuts, and seeds. Consuming adequate omega-3 fatty acids (found in foods like salmon and chia seeds) is especially important, as these fats have been associated with reduced inflammation, lower risk of cardiovascular disease, and improved brain health. 

Pairing carbohydrates with protein and fat reduces the likelihood of a sharp glucose spike and can help you stay satiated after a meal. 

Avoid processed food

Food logging can also help illuminate the amount of ultra-processed foods in your diet. These foods, which include industrially produced crackers, cookies, and even some popular nut milks (sorry!), can harm metabolic health in various ways–lowering insulin sensitivity, promoting oxidative stress, and contributing to chronic inflammation. Replace them with whole foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, healthy oils, pasture-raised eggs and poultry, wild-caught fish, and grass-fed beef. This approach will maximize your intake of micronutrients, high-quality protein, and fiber for optimal health and well-being. 

Conclusion

Food logging can help you pay more attention to what you eat daily. With this knowledge, you can eat to support stable blood sugar levels by minimizing refined carbs and added sugars and getting enough protein and fiber. The Levels app is one way to log your meals, but there are many other ways, from printable log sheets to physical food journals. Find what makes the most sense for you and use what you learn to aim for a healthier diet every day.