Hello and welcome to the nutrition diva podcast. I'm your host Monica Reinagle.

Anita writes, when is the best time to eat dessert?

I've heard that it's better to eat it immediately following a meal because the protein in

the meal will help stabilize the blood sugar.

But I'm often too full after my meal to enjoy dessert. I'd prefer to wait a couple of

hours. In fact, I often crave a sweet bite a couple of hours after eating. Is that my blood sugar plummeting?

Well, this is an interesting question.

Let's start by taking a look at how eating dessert

affects your blood sugar.

Our blood sugar does go up after we eat and not just dessert.

But this is not necessarily a problem. In fact, it's how the system is designed.

Most of the carbohydrates we consume are broken down into glucose, which is then absorbed into the bloodstream.

When blood sugar levels go up,

it triggers the release of insulin from the pancreas which ushers the glucose out of the bloodstream and into the cells of the body.

There the glucose is used as fuel or if no more fuel is needed, it's stored for future use.

It's also true that carbohydrates cause a faster rise in blood sugar

when they're eaten by themselves.

But this is also not necessarily a problem.

If it's not a huge amount of carbohydrate,

then no matter how fast it's absorbed,

your blood sugar can only get so high. And then, assuming that your body is capable of producing

insulin and your cells are reasonably responsive to its effects, your blood sugar will

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