When I first created the Empower Bar years ago, I simply wanted something to eat first thing in the morning (especially while traveling) to ensure blood sugar balance right off of the bat. This is because what you eat first sets the tone for your hunger hormones for the rest of the day. PS: if your sugar cravings hit in the late afternoon or evening, this could have everything to do with what you ate for breakfast, if in fact, you initiated that blood sugar spike and crash cycle from the get-go.
Upon waking, our insulin levels and blood sugar are at their lowest, and most sensitive point. Therefore, if you eating something that is higher in carbs and sugar, it will trigger a relatively larger insulin spike. What goes up must come down, and you will be feeling the effects even hours later. This is probably backwards from what you have heard: eat your carbs in the morning as you have the rest of the day to burn them off…I hate to break it to you, but this isn’t how our body or hormones work. I talk more about this in my online program, but long story short, if blood sugar balance is your goal, eating a meal or snack full of healthy fat and protein is your best bet! These two macronutrients trigger a minimal (if not negligible) release of insulin. Because don’t get me wrong – insulin isn’t a bad thing – we need nutrients to be stored after all, and insulin is our storage hormone – we just don’t want to be in storage mode for long. We want insulin’s release to be low and slow, especially first thing in the morning.
The recipe I developed for the Empower Bars was not random. I basically threw my knowledge for metabolic science, delicious food, and nutritious grain-free baking into a bowl and voila! The bars were born. You can read more about their nutrition facts here, and of course, if you haven’t tried them yet (or even if you have), I would love to share them with you!
Xo,
Sara
