With the 80 percent rule you prevent dangerous metabolic diseases

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Diabetes is a widespread disease. More than half a million people are diagnosed with it every year. The German Diabetes Aid estimates that around 12.3 million people could suffer from it by 2040 – a frighteningly high number.

Risk factors for type 2 diabetes are related to lifestyle

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the insulin-producing cells are destroyed and the person has to inject insulin for life. The exact causes are not known to this day.

The development of type 2 diabetes, on the other hand, is very closely related to lifestyle and diet. In addition to familial predisposition, there are two key risk factors:

sedentary lifestyle and obesity.

Diet therefore plays a major role. Because if you consume too many carbohydrates and too much sugar, you will gain weight and thus worsen your blood sugar levels. Those affected therefore learn to reduce excess weight, to integrate sport into their everyday life and to adapt their diet. In many cases, stable blood sugar levels can be achieved with this, so that no additional medication is necessary.

Researchers tested the eTRF method on people who are overweight and have prediabetes

Researchers at New York University have now found that the time of eating apparently also plays a major role in the development of diabetes. For the study, the researchers tested two diet methods on ten people who suffered from prediabetes, a precursor to diabetes, and were obese for seven days each.

For this purpose, the subjects fed themselves for seven days using the so-called eTRF method (early time restricted feeding). With this particular form of intermittent fasting, sufferers received 80 percent of the calories they consumed each day before 1 p.m. They then followed a “normal” diet for seven days, consuming 50 percent of their calorie intake after 4 p.m.

Since weight reduction automatically has a positive effect on blood sugar levels, the subjects received just as many calories as they needed to maintain their weight. This was the only way the researchers could find out the actual effect.

80 percent rule shortens blood sugar peaks

The results were clear. With the eTRF method, the subjects’ blood glucose peaks (greater than 140 mg/dl) were shorter. “We reduced the time these individuals had high blood glucose levels with just one week of eTRF feeding,” study leader Jose O. Aleman of NYU Grossman School of Medicine said in a press release.

“The results show that consuming a majority of the calories earlier in the day shortens the time that blood sugar levels rise, thereby improving metabolic health.” The scientists therefore assume that the eTRF method could be a helpful strategy for diabetes prevention.

“In the morning like an emperor …. – proverb comes true

The old adage “morning like a king, midday like a king and evening like a pauper” seems to be true. Consuming the majority of your daily calories from breakfast and lunch before 1 p.m. has a positive effect on your metabolism.

However, this is not a license to feast: You should not eat too many calories for that reason. An important part of preventing type 2 diabetes is weight reduction. A healthy and balanced diet with lots of vegetables is therefore recommended for pre-diabetics and diabetics. You should also eat no more than three meals a day and avoid snacks so that blood sugar does not rise too frequently and the body has to produce less insulin.

Avoiding spikes in blood sugar is part of a healthy diet

With a few tricks you can also prevent the blood sugar level from rising too quickly and too high when eating. Avoiding high blood sugar levels is not only useful for people with prediabetes or diabetes. Because blood sugar increases stress the pancreas, as it has to produce more insulin in order to normalize it again. This robs the body of energy and leads to

Cravings, brain fog, exhaustion, poor concentration and mood swings.

Another disadvantage: the excess sugar makes us gain weight. Because excess sugar is converted by the body into fat, among other things, and stored in the depots. Constant blood sugar peaks also cause oxidative stress in the body, which makes us age faster and promotes inflammation, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases such as diabetes.

5 essential hacks to avoid blood sugar spikes

But none of this has to be the case, because we can prevent such blood sugar peaks with the right diet and a few tricks for everyday life. The French biochemist and blood sugar expert Ines Inchauspé, who wrote the bestseller “The Glucose Trick”, therefore recommends the following hacks, among others, which some diabetologists also recommend to their patients. They are based on scientific knowledge and from their own research:

1. Always eat in the right order

Eat fiber first, i.e. vegetables and salad. Then there are proteins and fats such as meat and fish, and finally carbohydrates such as pasta, rice, etc. According to Inchauspé, a study by Cornell University in the USA showed that this order reduced glucose peaks by 73 percent and insulin peaks by 48 percent . That applies to everyone – with or without diabetes.

2. Eat a vegetable or salad as a starter before every meal

Always eat the roughage, i.e. vegetables or salad, first. This is because they cause the blood sugar to rise only slowly as a result of the food that follows. This is because the fiber slows down the breakdown and absorption of sugar into the bloodstream. For example, they form a kind of barrier in the small intestine that prevents sugar from entering the blood quickly.

3. Eat sweets for dessert after the main meal and avoid snacks

Sweets and snacks in between drive up the blood sugar level unnecessarily and thus damage the body. If you don’t want to go without, you should rather eat sweets right after a main meal. As a result, the sugar does not get into the blood as quickly.

4. Drink vinegar with water

If you want to eat cake or other desserts at a party in the afternoon, you can prevent blood sugar spikes by drinking a large glass of water with a tablespoon of vinegar (apple cider vinegar is best) a few minutes beforehand. As a result, the sugar and insulin levels do not rise as quickly and, above all, not as high, despite the dessert. The reason: Vinegar contains an enzyme that ensures that sugar and starch are not converted into glucose so quickly in the body.

5. Exercise after eating

If you move after a meal, you also do something positive for your blood sugar level. This is because muscles absorb excess glucose that enters the bloodstream through eating. So a walk after dinner makes sense.