What’s On Your Plate and How It Impacts Your Body

Why Metabolic Health and Food Choices Matter

Metabolic health is a term that’s gaining traction for good reason. It refers to how efficiently your body processes food for energy, manages blood sugar, and responds to hormones like insulin. In today’s world, where supermarket shelves groan with ultra-processed foods and sugar hides in plain sight, making the right food choices has never been more confusing. 

Certain foods can nourish your metabolism, keeping your blood sugar stable, inflammation low, and energy levels high. Others, especially ultra-processed options, can disrupt these delicate balances, leading to problems like insulin resistance, weight gain, and metabolic syndrome. Understanding which foods heal and which hinder is the first step towards better health.

Postprandial Glucose Response: Why It Matters

After you eat, your blood sugar rises, a phenomenon known as the postprandial glucose response. Ideally, this spike is modest and brief, thanks to insulin ushering glucose into cells. However, frequent high spikes overstress the system, potentially leading to insulin resistance and chronic health issues. Keeping glucose levels within a healthy range helps protect your blood vessels, nerves, and long-term metabolic function.

The Glycaemic Index: A Useful but Imperfect Tool

The glycaemic index (GI) ranks foods by how quickly they raise blood sugar. High-GI foods like white bread cause rapid spikes, while low-GI options like lentils are digested more slowly. GI can be useful, but it has limitations. A 2015 study in Cell found that individual responses to the same food can differ dramatically due to factors like gut microbiome and genetics, meaning GI isn’t a one-size-fits-all measure. [1]

Macronutrients: Carbs, Proteins, Fats and Their Role in Blood Sugar and Insulin

• Carbohydrates: The main driver of blood glucose. Simple carbs (sugar, white bread) spike levels quickly, while complex carbs (whole grains, vegetables) provide slower, more stable energy.
• Proteins: Lead to a moderate insulin response but don’t significantly raise blood glucose. Protein helps stabilise blood sugar when eaten with carbs.
• Fats: Minimal impact on blood glucose or insulin in the short term. Healthy fats (from nuts, seeds, olive oil, oily fish) slow digestion and help keep glucose and insulin levels steadier.

Balancing these macronutrients in meals supports more stable energy and hormone regulation.

Oxidative Stress: The Hidden Saboteur

Oxidative stress occurs when there’s an imbalance between free radicals and antioxidants in your body. Diets high in processed foods and sugar increase oxidative stress, damaging cells and playing a role in metabolic disorders like type 2 diabetes. Antioxidant-rich foods, think berries, leafy greens, and nuts, can help counteract these effects.

Blood Pressure: Sugar, Nitric Oxide, and the Sugar–Pressure Connection

While salt often gets the blame for high blood pressure, excessive sugar intake is also a culprit. High blood sugar can damage blood vessels and reduce nitric oxide, a molecule that helps blood vessels relax. When nitric oxide is suppressed, blood pressure rises, increasing the risk of heart disease. Maintaining stable glucose levels supports healthy blood pressure.

Insulin and Fat Storage: The Link Explained

Insulin is a hormone that helps cells absorb glucose from the blood. High insulin levels, often triggered by frequent intake of sugary or refined foods, signal the body to store more energy as fat, especially around the abdomen. Over time, this can lead to weight gain, fatty liver, and insulin resistance.

Healthy Fats: Why They Matter

Not all fats are created equal. Healthy fats from avocados, oily fish, nuts, and seeds are anti-inflammatory, support hormone production, and help you feel satisfied after a meal. They also aid in the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E, and K. Avoiding trans fats and limiting saturated fats from processed foods is key to good metabolic health.

Food Labels: The Hidden Sugars Trap

Food labels can be misleading, often hiding added sugars under names like maltose, dextrose, or syrups. “Low fat” or “healthy” claims can mask high sugar content, making it tricky to honestly know what you’re eating. Learning to spot hidden sugars is a skill worth learning for protecting your metabolism.

Processed vs Real Foods: Fibre, Unhealthy Fats, and Hormonal Disruption

Whole, unprocessed foods, like vegetables, whole grains, eggs, and fish, contain fibre, vitamins, and healthy fats. In contrast, processed foods often lack fibre, are high in refined oils and sugars, and may contain additives that disrupt hormones. For instance, white bread, crisps, and many packaged snacks can spike blood sugar and insulin, disrupt appetite hormones, and contribute to fat storage.

Shelf Life vs Nutrition: The Trade-Off

Processed foods are designed to last longer on the shelf, which often means stripping away fibre, adding preservatives, and using cheap fats. This extends shelf life but reduces nutritional value, making these foods less satiating and more likely to disrupt metabolic health.

Additives and Emulsifiers: What Does the Evidence Say?

Additives and emulsifiers, used to improve texture and shelf stability, can interfere with gut health. Research in Nature (2015) found that certain emulsifiers disrupt gut bacteria, promote inflammation, and may increase the risk of obesity and metabolic syndrome. [2]

The Bliss Point: Why You Can’t Stop at Just One

Manufacturers engineer foods to hit the “bliss point”, the perfect combination of sugar, fat, and salt that makes us want more. This encourages overeating and makes it harder to listen to our body’s natural hunger and fullness cues.

Nutrient Quality: When Foods Look Healthy but Aren’t

It’s easy to be fooled by foods that look healthy, such as flavoured yoghurts, granola bars, or veggie crisps. Despite marketing, these can be high in sugar, unhealthy fats, and low in fibre. A 2018 BMJ study found that many so-called ‘health foods’ in supermarkets were still ultra-processed and less nutritious than whole foods. [3]

Processed Meats: Risks for Everyone—Especially Kids

Processed meats, such as hot dogs, sausages, and deli slices, often contain preservatives, sodium, and additives that are linked to metabolic problems. Children are particularly vulnerable, as these foods can affect their growing hormones and metabolism, raising long-term health risks.

High Fructose Corn Syrup: A Metabolic Menace

High fructose corn syrup (HFCS), common in soft drinks and sweets, has unique metabolic effects. Unlike glucose, fructose is processed mainly in the liver, promoting fat accumulation and increasing the risk of fatty liver disease. HFCS can alter hunger hormones (like leptin and ghrelin), making it harder to feel full and easier to overeat. Studies show that high HFCS intake is linked to insulin resistance, obesity, and liver dysfunction. [4]

Your Gut Biome: Feeding Your Friendly Bacteria

A healthy gut biome is needed for metabolic health. Fibre from fruits, vegetables, and whole grains feeds beneficial bacteria. At the same time, polyphenols (found in berries, tea, and cocoa), prebiotics (like garlic, onion, and leeks), and probiotics (yoghurt, kefir, fermented foods) all help maintain a balanced gut. This, in turn, supports healthy blood sugar, reduces inflammation, and protects against metabolic disease.

Practical Tips for a Healthier Metabolism

• Choose real, unprocessed foods rich in fibre, healthy fats, and nutrients.
• Read food labels carefully to spot hidden sugars and additives.
• Limit processed meats, sugary drinks, and foods high in HFCS.
• Prioritise a diet that supports your gut biome, think plants, fermented foods, and variety.
• Remember, food can be your greatest ally or your biggest hurdle in the pursuit of better metabolic health.

Making informed choices, with a critical eye on clever marketing and the realities of food processing, can help you harness the power of nutrition to support a healthier, happier body.

• [1] Zeevi, D. et al. (2015). “Personalized Nutrition by Prediction of Glycemic Responses.” Cell, 163(5), 1079–1094.
• [2] Chassaing, B. et al. (2015). “Dietary emulsifiers impact the mouse gut microbiota promoting colitis and metabolic syndrome.” Nature, 519(7541), 92–96.
• [3] Monteiro, C. et al. (2018). “Ultra-processed products are becoming dominant in the global food system.” BMJ, 362, k3221.
• [4] Bray, G.A. et al. (2004). “Consumption of high-fructose corn syrup in beverages may play a role in the epidemic of obesity.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 79(4), 537–543.