Is it better to be a blood sugar Optimiser or Satisficer?

It's well known that eating carbohydrates causes your blood glucose to rise and there is almost frenzied interest about how this can be unhealthy and lead to diabetes, weight gain, reactive low blood sugar, mood swings and more. Many people are mindful of their carbohydrate consumption, and the latest trend is healthy individuals using continuous glucose monitor devices to ensure near perfect blood glucose stability. 

 

Our bodies, however, possess regulatory mechanisms that keep our blood sugar within a reasonable range. Some argue that even erratic fluctuations within this range is normal and little conscious effort is warranted to dampen it. The question I want to explore is this: is it better to pursue optimal blood glucose, or take a more relaxed approach and aim for near enough is good enough?

 

Whilst this sounds like an innocent question, don't be fooled - this is a hot topic, and diet wars have been battling it out for decades by fierce campaigners. With emotions often at flash point in this topic, it is difficult to know what to follow. Amongst all the tribalism, I promise you this - this episode is not the usual discussion about carbohydrates; if they are good or bad or how much or little you should eat. Near the end we’ll explore a broader concept that has much wider implications than the diet wars and blood glucose. You’ll hear a new model that is relevant to countless aspects of health and wellbeing. This can help you take a step back from all the debate to consider a novel way to approach your body and health.

 

To help navigate these treacherous waters we are going to learn about guidelines from emergency plane landings, I’ll give you a chance to decipher what a talking children’s toy is barking at you, and we’ll hear from Shakespeare and Renaissance poets and philosophers to ringside boxing commentators. We’ll learn how a coin toss gave someone a shotgun ride to a Nobel Prize and will end with a plot twist that will put into question the concept of time itself.