A Bite-Size Read for Your Health and Your Waistline
As the world clocks back in from its COVID break, you might find yourself going out more often. Maybe you decide to go to a movie, and as you pass the ticket kiosks a box of delicious, overpriced, Peanut M&M’s catches your eye. You consider treating yourself but before you do, you think, “What would Jenn say?” Now, I hope you don’t live your life with me in your head, but all jokes aside, I think it’s important to discuss this common candy’s impact on our health journey. Spoiler Alert: you might be surprised…
If you read my article on carrots, you’ll remember the terms glycemic index and glycemic load. Glycemic index tells us the likelihood of a food to spike our blood sugar and is an assessment of the quality of the carbohydrates in that food, while glycemic load tells us how much of that food we would need to eat to see an increase in blood sugar, the quantity of the food. Thanks to the fat and protein in peanuts, the glycemic index rating for Peanut M&M’s is relatively low at 33. The load, however, is high due to the sugar that makes them oh, so tasty. Basically this means that it doesn’t take very many of that perfect, chocolatey-peanut treat to spike your blood sugar.
What does this mean for our health? Well, blood sugar has a major impact on our metabolic health and whether or not we’re storing fat. When our blood sugar spikes, or is too high, the body stores fat. So the independent glycemic index rating is low, which might make us think, eat up! Shocking, I know. But we can’t lose our common sense. We must remember it doesn’t take too many to impact us. So, does it mean we never eat M&M’s again?
Of course not! While I’m sure you don’t need me or anyone else to tell you that refined sugary foods are not supporting our health goals, helping yourself to a couple every now and then is not going to destroy your progress. Make a judgment call whether or not some candy will work for you on your journey. Peanut M&Ms might be your best choice when you decide to indulge. Keep in mind though that sugar, like salt, is an acquired taste and the more we have the more we crave. As long as it’s not an everyday thing then sure, enjoy your movie and a few Peanut M&M’s.
