Tricks to reduce postprandial glycemia

Just a quick post to summarize some of the tricks one can use to reduce postprandial glycemia and thus postprandial insulin. I would advise people to have a quick look at the links aswell.

1 ) Eat your protein and fat first, eat your carbs last. Eating your fat and protein first will slow gastric emptying ( 1, 2 ) *the other effect is ofcourse eating protein + fat with your carbs will make the chyme that  passes from your stomach into your intestines less carbohydrate dense, reducing the concentration of glucose in the chyme and thereby delaying glucose absorption.

2) Vinegar is an effective way to reduce the glycemic impact of starch. Add 2 tablespoons ( 30ml ) of vinegar to your  potatoes/rice, ( or sip it before the meal ) ( 3 ) Im not sure of the mechanism that vinegar helps but I think it may be due to acetic acid being converted to the short chain fatty acid acetate which in turn stimulates GLP-1. The fact that vinegar supplementation increases satiety would support that theory.

3) MSG,  as recently posted,  the researchers found that 2g of MSG added to a carbohydrate + protein meal significantly reduced postprandial glycemia and insulin. The mechanism is a strong increase in GLP-1 stimulated by the MSG. Enjoy a few tablespoons of soy sauce before downing the carbs.

4) Fructose, the literature indicates that small dose fructose is actually beneficial to glycemic control, with the mechanism being that fructose helps activate glucokinase. ( 4 ) The activation of this enzyme is VERY important for your glycemic control. A study has shown that the consumption of small dose fructose  ( 10g ) some 30-60 mins before the carbohydrate meal reduced postprandial glycemia, while the consumption of that same fructose with the meal did not produce any significant change in glycemia. Original link from SuppVersity ( 5 )

So.... take 25g of honey 30-60 minutes before your carbohydrate meal, honey is rich in fructose and has been shown to reduce hyperglycemia in diabetic's ( 6 )

Hepatic glycolysis seems to be important in controlling body fatness, ( 7 ), this study reports that proper handling of the glycolytic enzymes helps control ( lower ) hepatic glucose production, reducing whole-body glucose disposal and therefore enhancing peripheral fatty acid oxidation since the glucose utilization in those tissue's is reduced. This ties in directly with the observed fact that people with higher 24h respiratory quotients are prone to weight gain, because higher 24h respiratory quotients indicates a higher rate of glucose oxidation compared to fat oxidation.

More research in this area is warranted.

5) Eat carbs only late afternoon / nighttime. Again as I posted on before, cortisol is very high in the hours following waking up. Hepatic glucose production will be high during this time, along with insulin resistance. BBC horizon reports that blood pressure is highest upon first waking up in the morning, blood vessels are stiffer during this time, and your blood is even more "sticky" during the morning.

They report that this time in the morning is statistically the highest time of the day for heart attacks to occur.

Let me assure you, chowing on cornflakes, orange juice and toast for breakfast is the most moronic thing you can do for your health. Nothing like spiking your blood sugar and insulin first thing in the morning when your hepatic glucose production is raging, your blood is sticky and your blood pressure is high!!!!

Diurnal Cortisol comes down in the late afternoon and evening, making you more insulin sensitive, so this is naturally the best time to eat carbs. A study has shown greater weight loss for equal calories when carbs are ingested mostly at night ( 8 )

Theres a funny fail in that BBC horizon show btw, later in the show there is some fool woman ranting about how breakfast is the most important meal of the day and is where you should get in most of your daily calories. Did she not watch the first half of the show detailing the increased blood pressure + sticky blood + cortisol? Jeeezzz.....

UPDATE(1) - Yamashita et al report that vinegar ( acetic acid ) is converted to acetate and this suppresses the transcription factor ChREBP in the liver. This is quite promising, as ChREBP is linked to fatty liver and insulin resistance.