Mondays, as always here on the blog, we build your grocery list with one food, focusing on this month’s main topic.
September is all about balancing blood sugars. So where to start?
PUMPKIN SEEDS.
I’ll give you three reasons why adding pumpkin seeds to your regimen will be of benefit…
BECAUSE MAGNESIUM
Magnesium is quite possibly my most favourite mineral. It’s an important essential macro mineral, meaning we need more of this guy than most other minerals, and some of those reasons are due to its ability to help balance blood sugars. We need magnesium as a part of the recipe that our body needs to make enzymes needed for the digestion + assimilation of carbohydrates.
Low magnesium levels have been found to be associated with Type 2 Diabetes (1, 2), a condition associated with insulin resistance, and difficulties in managing blood sugars. Ergo, focusing on foods rich in magnesium — like pumpkin seeds — can be one of those ways you nourish deeply, so that your body has the ingredients she needs to get her day to day work done.
BECAUSE MANGANESE
Manganese is an essential trace mineral we need in our diet in quite a few different areas of the body’s function. It’s a key nutrient needed for digestion and turning those foods into nutrients your body can use. And surprise surprise, it’s a key piece of what’s needed for the metabolism of glucose! That means digestion + using of glucose in your cells’ function. It’s a cofactor in the action of glycolysis in the body! (Elson Haas, Staying Healthy With Nutrition, p. 197)
Also here it should be noted that manganese is an activator of the enzyme glutamine synthetase, which helps fuel the cells of your intestine with glutamine, their preferred food source (Elson Haas, Staying Healthy With Nutrition, p. 197). When you do this work, you are looking after a robust gut health which helps reduce inflammation right at the source. What is one of the biggest contributors to you getting on that roller coaster of blood sugar imbalances all day long? CHRONIC INFLAMMATION. Ergo, anything that helps at the gut level will also, in a round-about way, help reduce blood sugar imbalances. (And to boot - it’s a key nutrient in that amazing antioxidants we make called Super Oxide Dismutase!)
BECAUSE METERING OUT NUTRIENTS IN DIGESTION
Pumpkin seeds provide some good amounts of fat, protein and fibre in their little green morsels. What’s that go to do with blood sugar regulation? Ensuring these three types of nutrients helps slow down the hit of carbohydrates (aka sugars) from the foods you eat. They essentially help meter out nutrients and digestion of other foods and slow down your digestion, helping provide a steadier stream of carbohydrates to your system as opposed to a sudden surge of carbohydrates, as would be with a spoonful of sugar.
Fats, protein and fibre are all brilliant allies in helping slow down the hit of sugars to your system from the meal you eat. So consider this when putting together meals, should blood sugar balancing be a part of the issue for you.
Yay, pumpkin seeds!
Hold on a minute… Oh sure yes yes, you know it if it’s coming from me. I am not one to mince words. Anything from the plant world with the potential of becoming a plant has the capacity to do a wee number on you and your body. Read this blog post for the full exploration on that topic.
So if you’re a regular consumer of nuts / beans / seeds / legumes, consider purchasing sprouted ones on the shelves.
Want to learn to do it yourself? I have a few programs that will help you figure this piece out. Find more details by clicking on the images below:
Aiming to Keep Well? Looking to start working on your blood sugar balancing prowess? Need some help in feeling real good?
Get in touch by clicking here. Let’s meet up to start drawing up your road map to support you in both quantity and quality of life.
*This is not medical advice.