Are These "Healthy Habits" Worsening Your Blood Sugar? Nutritionist Reveals

Adopting healthy habits is often dubbed the secret to a better life. But when not done in balance, they can backfire. For example, over-exercising can cause injuries, while following a “too clean” diet can rob you of essential nutrients. Recently, clinical nutritionist Juhi Agarwal weighed in on the matter, highlighting some so-called “healthy habits” that she claims are silently raising your blood sugar levels. She uploaded a video on Instagram, talking about five such practices that may be doing you more harm than good.

5 Habits that raise blood sugar levels

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A post shared by Suman Agarwal (@selfcarebysuman)

1. Cooking everything in ghee

As per Juhi Agarwal, cooking all your food in ghee, which is loaded with saturated fat, can cause weight gain, increase heart disease risk and worsen insulin resistance among diabetic patients. While ghee has its benefits, she recommends adding it in moderation to rotis, rice, khichdi and dal.

2. Switching from gugar to jaggery

According to the nutritionist, “switching from sugar to jaggery” is not helpful. “It has the same effect on your blood sugar levels as sugar does. What you can do is switch to stevia or monk fruit to sweeten your tea, coffee, or anything else that you want to have,” she suggests.

3. Walking two hours straight during fasting

Juhi Agarwal discourages long walks while fasting. “When you're in that state and you are walking for two hours, your body secretes this hormone called glucagon, which pulls out all the stored energy and pushes it into your blood. So for someone with diabetes, instead of lowering blood sugar, this two-hour fasted walk can actually shoot your blood sugar up,” she warns.

4. Skipping meals

The nutritionist disapproves of skipping meals because it can negatively affect your blood sugar through the secretion of two hormones, glucagon and cortisol (stress hormone). “They push the sugars back up instead of keeping them down. It also leads to snacking throughout the day, which keeps your insulin and blood sugar levels high,” she shared.

5. Replacing chai with green tea or black coffee

Finally, Juhi Agarwal states, “what most people do as a ‘healthy alternative' is switch from chai to green tea or black coffee, which they think are lower in calories. But excessive consumption can drive up cortisol levels”, especially when consumed on an empty stomach.

Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for a qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.