10 of the Worst Foods for Blood Sugar As Per CGM Data
Food plays a vital role in managing your blood sugar levels. Your glucose levels depend on the food you eat. Some food normally responds to your glucose levels, and some can trigger it, which can cause a spike in your sugar or glucose levels. Therefore, following a proper diet is essential to maintaining your blood sugar levels. An optimal diet can help you manage your glucose levels to a great extent. It should also consist of all the essential vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that are good for your overall health and blood sugar levels. An optimal diet provides all the nutrients while eliminating sugar and refined carbohydrates.
Nutritionists recommend that you have food in moderation. Also, keep an eye on the calories you are consuming to control the spike in your blood sugar levels. But it can be confusing and overwhelming at the same time to keep track of your eating habits. Therefore, the HealthifyPro app is the best solution to monitor your real-time blood sugar levels and calories.
The HealthifyPro app is an intelligent solution to monitor every calorie you consume and how it affects your blood sugar levels and overall health. How does the HealthifyPro app work? The HealthifyPro app members can use the calorie tracker to track the calories and other micronutrients, they consume. The app will collect all the data from the continuous glucose monitoring device. This give you all the details about the food you consume so you can make sure you are not eating something that can spike your sugar levels.
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With the HealthifyPro app, tracking calories becomes easier. You can click the picture of your favourite food, and the tracker will show all the details about the food you want to eat. It is a quick method to segregate good and bad foods concerning your blood sugar levels.
Every time you track a food item with the HealthifyPro calorie tracker, it stores all the data points. This will help you to make a conscious choice regarding food. In addition, the food that causes a prominent blood sugar response impacts the metabolic functions as well.
It is necessary to remember that sometimes the food spikes other’s blood sugar levels might not trigger yours. Therefore, it is essential not to eliminate every food listed here from your diet because everyone is unique. However, the foods listed here are among the most common foods that show a spike in the glucose levels on the CGM.
Foods that are Worst for your Blood Sugar Levels
To control your blood sugar level, you should avoid refined and processed foods high in added sugars and unhealthy or high carbohydrate food. Over time, consuming these foods are bad for your blood sugar levels and can lead to various health issues.
Some foods that are likely to trigger your blood sugar levels according to CGM are:
Cakes and Pastries
It is a no-brainer that foods high in sugar, like cakes and pastries, are bound to raise your blood sugar levels. Eating once in a while is fine, but consuming such foods in an unhealthy amount can spike your glucose levels. Cakes and pastries are not only high in artificial sugar but have high amounts of carbohydrates as well.
Both carbohydrates and artificial sugars can trigger your blood sugar levels. Therefore, these food show a spike in your glucose levels on the CGM (continuous glucose monitoring device).
Oatmeal
Instant packaged oats can cause a spike in your blood sugar levels. On the continuous glucose monitoring device (CGM), oatmeals have triggered some people’s glucose or blood sugar levels.
There are two reasons for this rise. First, the instant oatmeal pack breaks down or digests quickly, affecting your blood sugar levels and metabolic functions. Second, instant oatmeal packs contain artificial sweeteners and are highly processed. Therefore, some show a spike in their blood sugar levels after consuming oatmeal.
Mangoes & Fruit juices:
Mangoes are rich in natural sugars, and if eaten in extra amounts, they can affect your blood sugar levels. This fruit is not likely to spike your glucose or blood sugar levels when eaten in moderation. However, CGM has shown a spike in glucose levels after mangoes are consumed as a pudding or with milk. Milk, pudding, and mango are all foods that affect your glycemic index. Therefore, eating mango more than the required amount or in another form such as pudding, can spike your glucose levels.
Same applies to the fruit juices as its already in the most soluble form. Our bodies don’t take a lot of time to digest & absorb it, post consuming the fruit juices we noticed that the blood glucose levels shoot up immediately. It’s better to have a whole fruit rather than going for fruit jucies.
Pizza
Pizza is processed food. The toppings in pizza, including bacon, chicken, pepperoni, and sausage, are all processed and can increase the blood sugar levels in the body. Moreover, the pizza crust gets prepared with refined flour, which can increase the amount of sugar in the body.
Therefore, eating pizza can show a spike in the CGM device. However, eating pizza in moderation and choosing healthy toppings can minimise its harmful effects and keep health-related issues at bay.
Smoothie Bowls
Smoothie Bowls are another not-so-common food item on this list. A smoothie blow does not cause a spike in everyone’s blood sugar levels. However, for some people, smoothie bowls are a glucose trigger food. Though smoothie bowls have various nutrients and fresh fruits, they also have added artificial sweeteners.
Artificial sweeteners can trigger your blood sugar levels to a great extent. Therefore, if you eat smoothie bowls, try not adding any added sugar because fruits in the smoothie bowl already have enough sugar.
White Sauce Pasta
White Sauce Pasta comprises milk, cheese, and refined white flour, and these ingredients can increase your blood sugar levels. Pasta also tends to digest quickly, which causes you to eat more than what is required. It can badly impact your overall health and glucose levels. White Sauce Pasta shows a spike in your blood sugar levels on CGM.
Especially the ones made with processed pasta sauces and other refined ingredients will trigger your glucose levels. In addition, pasta can quickly get overcooked. Eating overcooked food is harmful to your metabolism and raises your blood sugar levels.
White Rice
White rice tends to show a spike in the blood sugar levels on the CGM device because it is high in glycemic index. In addition, white rice can cause a sudden spike in your glucose levels because they are high in starch which negatively impacts your blood sugar levels.
Moreover, eating white rice in the form of fried rice tends to spike blood sugar levels more because of added sauces like soy and tomato sauce which are high in artificial sweeteners.
Pancakes
Pancakes can satisfy your taste buds, but it is not a very healthy food choice regarding blood sugar levels. Honey, maple syrup, added sweeteners, and refined white flour are the ingredients in pancakes that cause a rise in your glucose levels on the CGM device.
In addition, pancakes are also high in carbs which can trigger your blood sugar levels. Therefore, you should avoid eating pancakes frequently because it can increase the risk of diabetes in the long run.
Milk and Cereal
Many people think milk and cereal are staple breakfast options, but they can cause a sudden rise in blood sugar levels. Some people tend to show a spike in their blood sugar levels on the CGM device because many kinds of cereal are high in carbohydrates which trigger glucose levels.
Moreover, the carbs in milk break down into sugar which can negatively impact your glucose levels. Therefore, it is best to avoid eating milk and cereal regularly to keep various health issues at bay.
French Fries
French fries tend to show a spike in blood sugar levels on the CGM because they are high in carbs and one of the most common highly refined and processed foods. In addition, French fries are made up of potatoes already high in starch, and deep-frying them makes them more starchy. Therefore avoiding french fries is the best bet for blood sugar levels as it can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes and various heart health issues in the long run. However, you can try swapping potato french fries with sweet potato fritters that are healthy and low in starch and carbohydrates.
Apart from these everyday food items, many foods may cause a spike in your blood sugar levels. Therefore, making an active choice of what goes in your stomach can widely affect your blood sugar levels. In addition, a study suggests that refined foods and your lifestyle play a vital role in disturbing your blood sugar levels. However, it is simple to manage your blood sugar levels with a continuous glucose monitoring device like BIOS and HealthifyPro app.
The HealthifyPro app provides data-backed information that the foods listed above likely cause a spike in most people’s blood sugar levels. The calorie tracker also helps take care of metabolic health by providing quick data about your food. It is not wrong to say that managing your overall health is easy when backed up by correct information and proper health guidance like the HealthifyPro app. In addition, it encourages healthy eating habits and lifestyle changes that fit your daily routine.
Conclusion
Lastly, it is important not to include or eliminate any food items in your diet before consulting a dietician. Everything you eat directly impacts your glucose levels and metabolic health; therefore, making conscious choices and avoiding the foods that can trigger your blood sugar levels is essential to keep your overall health in check. Eating right keeps you healthy and keeps various health problems like diabetes, cardiovascular health issues, hypertension, and autoimmune disease at bay. In addition, your eating habits can be more effective when backed up by relevant information.
It is essential to know what you eat and how it affects you with a bio-monitoring device like CGM. Also, with the able guidance from a nutritionist, you can learn to pair foods which balance out the sugar spikes. For example, mango with chia seeds or whole-grain pasta with chicken, eggs, and fish will make the dish more nutritious, giving you the best of both worlds.
