At Buena Wellness, we offer recipes that have a balanced protein to carb ratio, making them glucose-friendly to help you improve insulin resistance. If you’re wondering what that means, this article is for you!
Hi! I'm Jen Birge, a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and Diabetes Educator. I'll explain why the protein to carb ratio matters. And, how following a good ratio can help anyone with insulin resistance, prediabetes and diabetes.
Understanding Insulin Resistance
First, let’s talk about what it means to be insulin resistant.
Insulin is a growth hormone that helps your cells take in glucose (blood sugar) from your bloodstream. When you eat, your glucose increases and your body quickly releases insulin. Insulin's job is to move that glucose out of your bloodstream and into your cells for energy.
If you eat in a way that increases your glucose too much and too often, over time your cells stop responding as well to insulin. This means your cells become resistant — this, at a basic level, is insulin resistance.
When you are insulin resistant, even higher levels of blood glucose and insulin levels can occur. This can become a vicious cycle that can lead to inflammation, fatigue, weight gain, and possibly prediabetes or type 2 diabetes.
Here's a list of a few other symptoms of insulin resistance.
Improving Insulin Resistance
Let’s talk about what we can do to improve insulin resistance.
There are several ways to improve insulin resistance, like increasing your body’s muscle mass and being more active. Even sleep and hydration are important.
For now, let’s discuss how food affects glucose and insulin levels, and how you can change what you eat to improve insulin resistance.
How Carbs and Protein Affect Glucose and Insulin Levels
Of all the macronutrients, carbohydrates increase glucose the most, and protein helps balance glucose. (We’ll save how fats and alcohol affect glucose for another time).
Carbohydrates are not inherently bad. They are a quick source of energy and important for brain function and exercise performance.
Whole food carbs (like fruit, beans, peas, potatoes, etc.) are higher in fiber and nutrients. And, whole food carbs don't typically increase glucose as much as refined carbs (like breads, tortillas, muffins, etc.).
The problem isn’t always simply carbs themselves, but how much carbs, the type of carbs, and how they’re balanced with protein.
When carbs are eaten alone (think: a plain bagel, fruit, or tortilla chips), they spike blood sugar quickly. But when you pair carbs with protein, the combination helps reduce or even out the glucose spike. This allows for a smoother glucose and insulin response.
More About How Protein Helps Balance Glucose & Insulin Levels
Getting enough protein helps balance blood glucose and insulin levels in a few ways.
Here's a list of how protein helps:
- Protein requires more calories (energy) to digest than carbohydrates
- Protein slows digestion and reduces glucose impact of carbs when eaten together
- Protein improves satiety, helping you feel full and have reduced food cravings
- Protein supports muscle building and maintenance: more muscle equals better sensitivity to insulin
A Balanced Protein to Carb Ratio Is More Realistic Than Extreme Diets
You may have tried or might be thinking of following a low carb, high protein diet or going full keto. In my experience as a dietitian and diabetes educator, these diets are extreme. They are hard to maintain and often unrealistic for most people to continue.
Alternatively, it's my experience that a balanced protein to carb ratio helps people have the most success. This helps with lowering glucose levels and insulin resistance. And, it’s sustainable.
Since carbs raise glucose and protein helps balance glucose, following a good protein to carb ratio is a great way to lower glucose and insulin levels.
What Is a Good Protein to Carb Ratio?
A good protein-to-carb ratio is 1:2. This means for every gram of protein, you limit carbs to two grams.
Why This Protein to Carb Ratio Works
This ratio is helpful because it limits carbs. And for most, it provides enough protein to slow digestion and reduce post-meal blood glucose spikes. It also supports muscle maintenance while still providing some energy from carbs for workouts, weight lifting, etc.
Some Need A Protein to Carb Ratio Closer to 1:1
You might find the 1:2 ratio is too many carbs and is increasing your glucose more than you’d like. You would know this if you are checking your glucose with a blood glucose monitor or continuous glucose monitor.
Some people do better following a protein-to-carb ratio that is closer to 1:1. This means for every gram of protein, you limit carbs to one gram.
If you are not sure and want personal guidance, I recommend that you work with a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist that is also a Certified Diabetes Education and Care Specialist. They will help guide you in finding a protein to carb ratio that is right for you.
If I have availability, I am happy to work with you! You can check my availability on our services page.
Practical tips for Balancing Protein and Carbs
Choosing Foods with a Food Label
When choosing a food with a food label, you can follow the same ratio.
For example, if you are choosing a packaged food that has 12 grams of protein, you would want the carbs to be fewer than 24 g. That’s a balanced ratio of 1:2.
The example provided, the RXBar (affiliate link), happens to have close to this protein to carb ratio of 1:2.
Choosing Meals And Recipes With A Good Protein to Carb Ratio
Like I mentioned above, we make sure our recipes have a balanced protein to carb ratio. For every gram of protein we limit the carbs to two grams.
Said another way: our recipes have less than two grams of carbs per every 1 gram of protein.
Some Examples of Our Recipes
The Chicken Broccoli Potato Sheet Pan Dinner has 35 grams of protein to 34 g of carbohydrates. That ratio is closer to 1:1, which is great.
The Taco Salad With Ground Beef has 32 g of protein to 44 grams of carbohydrates. Honestly, not going to do the math here, but the carbs are less than 2 grams to each gram of protein.
The Crunchy Kale Salad has 5 grams of protein to 9 grams of carbs.
The Cottage Cheese Egg Bake has 30 grams of protein to 7 grams of carbs. You could add a small apple or ½ cup of berries and still stay within the 1:2 protein to carb ratio.
The Flank Steak Salad has 47 grams of protein to 24 grams of carbs. Plenty of room to add another ½ cup of sweet potatoes to up the carbs a little, if you want.
Here's an exception: The High Protein Bagels. These have 10 grams of protein with 26 grams of carbs. This is why we suggest adding some protein by making an egg sandwich or adding smoked salmon.
Summarizing The Protein to Carb Ratio
In summary, if you’re aiming to improve insulin resistance, we suggest having a balanced protein to carb ratio rather than following a low carb or keto diet.
Following a 1:2 protein to carb ratio is a sustainable way to improve glucose levels and insulin resistance. It also supports muscle maintenance and improved energy levels.
We really hope you enjoy our balanced recipes! For more information, be sure to check out the Insulin Resistance Meal Plan and Guide and the Protein Sources and Servings Guide.
Jen Birge MS, RND, CDCES
Note: This information is a general recommendation for informational purposes only. This information is not a substitute for medical advice specific to your individual health. Please, always consult with your healthcare provider and consider seeing a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist for a personal consultation.