 Could one spoonful of this support healthy blood sugar? All right, what is blood sugar really? Yeah, it's not just a term for diabetics, although we hear it on TV all the time. Blood sugar is what's measured when you get a fasting glucose in your doctor's office or now with the continuous glucose monitors that are becoming all the rage. Glucose really are energy currency. That's what we use to make ATP for the most part. Glucose is really important to keep within a very fine range. Why? Because elevated glucose actually is very damaging to the inner lining of our blood vessels. And that lining has got a fascinating name called the Glyco Kalex. Glyco means sugar. And these are a very fine web of sugar molecules that protect the lining of our blood vessels. They protect the lining of our blood-grain barrier. They actually protect the eye surface. And studies have shown that if blood sugar, blood glucose, goes a little bit high for a little period of time that that Glyco Kalex becomes damaged. And that's becoming increasingly clear why blood sugar spikes are probably really bad for heart health, for brain health, because of the damage to the Glyco Kalex. All right, so what are some great tricks to support healthy blood sugar levels? My number one trick is a relatively new sweetener called Allulose. Now, if you've read my most recent book, Unlocking the Keto Code, you know that Allulose is my preferred sweetener of choice. Allulose is actually a true rare sugar. It was first discovered in figs. It is a true sugar, but unlike sugar, table sugar, which is sucrose, which is half fructose and half glucose, by the way, this sugar has no effect on blood sugar levels. It has no calories. And it's the first FDA approved prebiotic sugar replacement. That's really important. So why is Allulose so cool, you might ask? Well, when it was being developed in a study comparing the effects of consuming Allulose, cellulose, and a commercial diet in rats with insulin resistance, the Allulose group had improved insulin sensitivity after seven weeks. Insulin sensitivity means that it's easier to sell sugar to your cells. And that's what you want for keeping your sugar levels low. In another study, 30 participants received a 50-gram dose of sucrose or table sugar, followed by either a placebo or Allulose. The Allulose group experienced significantly lower blood sugar levels after 30 minutes than the placebo group. And study after study shows that Allulose blocks the effect of elevated blood sugar even after consuming a cup of coffee. Now, the great thing about Allulose is that it gives you a sweet taste without spiking your blood sugar. And it does it while feeding your gut buddies with prebiotics. It's a win-win. In fact, there are some very encouraging studies that's supplementing with Allulose. Not to get things sweet, but just supplementing with Allulose can have a dramatic effect on weight loss, particularly on losing abdominal fat. And as you know, fat in your gut, you're out of luck. The other thing that's great about Allulose is it tastes very much like pure sugar. There is nothing artificial about Allulose. So, put a teaspoon or so in your morning coffee. Pour it over some goats or sheep yogurt to get rid of that tangy taste that many of you complain about. Put it in your green smoothie. Bake with it. It's a great addition to your armamentarium, particularly when we're looking at keeping blood sugars under control. Now, number two, cinnamon. Now, if you needed more excuses to include cinnamon in your diet, this is it. Numerous human studies have confirmed that cinnamon can lower fasting blood sugar levels from anywhere to 10% to 30%. Why? Well, it's loaded with polyphenols. Polyphenols are superb mitochondrial en couplers. And if you read Unlocking the Keto Code, you know that when we uncouple mitochondria, we actually waste calories, waste sugar, and that's part of the effect of lowering your blood sugar. So it's a win-win. I mean, did you ever wonder why there's a cinnamon shaker in almost every coffee shop? And there's actually very good examples of adding cinnamon as you're brewing your coffee to reduce the blood sugar spike that coffee often causes. The V&E's are actually famous for doing this. V&E's coffee has a considerable amount of cinnamon added to the coffee, and that's what makes it a V&E's coffee. Now, you've been probably told that if you really want to lower your blood sugar, one of the best things you can do is eat whole grains. Now, I'm here to tell you that that could not be further from the truth. Here's why. The problem is that most of the grains in whole grain foods have been finely ground up. In fact, I'll ask my patients, go to the store, buy a loaf of whole grain bread, and open it up and look at a slice. Do you see any whole grains in there? Of course not. They've all been ground up. Now, the problem with starches. Starches, in general, if they're whole, are slowly digested. And that would, in fact, keep blood sugar low. But once you grind up these starches into a fine powder, literally pulverized, they instantly turn into blood sugar faster than actually sugar gets into your bloodstream, table sugar. That's why, for instance, bread has a glycemic index of 100, while white table sugar has an index of 80. If you wanted to keep your blood sugar low, the last thing you want to have is ground up grains, even if they're whole. Now, why do you hear this so much? Because the original research was done with rats who were eating grains whole. And then that was extrapolated to human populations that also ate their grains whole. And yes, these people, in general, had quite nice low blood sugars. And yes, the rats did too. But that doesn't mean that when you grind up that whole grain, that you're going to have the same result. This is marketing 101. Now, finally, things could actually get worse. Once you grind up a whole grain, the fats in that whole grain go rancid very quickly. They rust, they smell. So companies add antioxidants like BHT to prolong the shelf life. These antioxidants are some of the most profound endocrine disruptors there are. So the fact that you're taking a whole grain and now pulverizing it, you're now adding an endocrine disruptor. So you now have a double whammy from increased blood sugar, endocrine disruptors. And let me add the final nail to the coffin. Whole grains contain lectins. And for years and years and years, since grains have been eaten, people have been trying and succeeding in getting the whole out of whole grains because they've been eliminating the lectins. And we should not be fooled. I think you're going to love this one. In a tasty way, adding pistachios to anybody's diet is the sine qua non of a healthy snack.