Food is more than simple fuel for our body: it directly affects our energy levels, how we feel, and our mood. In our healthy eating workshop, we learnt how food can help us to maintain a stable energy level throughout the day, influence our blood sugar levels and feel satisfied after every meal.
We learnt that there is a precise order of eating that people have to follow to help to balance sugar in the blood.
One helpful approach is:
- Start with fibre-rich foods (vegetables or salads);
- Then eat proteins and healthy fats;
- Finish with carbohydrates or sweets
This order slows down the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream and helps avoid sharp glucose spikes.
But, what is a glucose spike?
When we eat foods high in sugar or refined carbohydrates on an empty stomach, our blood sugar can rise very quickly. This is called a glucose spike: it happens when you have more glucose in your blood stream than the body’s cells can absorb and use for energy. Shortly afterward: energy levels often drop just as quickly, leaving us feeling tired or hungry again
So, instead of just focusing only on what we eat, we also learned about the order in which we eat foods.
Making healthy food sustainable
Healthy eating should also be accessible, affordable, and sustainable.
During the workshop, our facilitator demonstrated this by preparing a simple and delicious dessert: a wild berry crumble.
He used local ingredients and tried to make it as healthy as possible:
- Frozen berries that had been picked the year before and frozen;
- Locally sourced oats;
- To reduce the amount of refined sugar, the recipe used local honey (this can be substituted with agave syrup or maple syrup to make the recipe vegan);
- Creamy Greek yogurt for protein (an alternative can be a vegan protein yogurt)
Description or under the photo. This recipe showed how healthy eating can also reduce food waste, support local ingredients, and remain simple to prepare.
The natural sweetness of the berries made additional sugar unnecessary, while the oats added fibre and texture.
We learnt that often we have no idea of how much sugar we drink/eat daily. Health guidelines suggest limiting daily sugar intake, but many people consume far beyond this without realising, especially with drinks like energy drinks and soft drinks.
For example, a 250 ml single can of Red Bull can contain around 27 grams of sugar while most health guidelines, like those from the World Health Organization, recommend no more than about 25 grams (6 teaspoons) of added sugar per day.
Over time, this excess sugar can contribute to health issues like weight gain and increased risk of disease.
In fact, many people consume 60–100 grams of added sugar daily through drinks, snacks, and processed foods.
This gap between recommended and actual intake increases the risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and other health problems.
Healthy eating as a lifestyle
Rather than strict diets, the workshop encouraged a more balanced perspective:
- Choose whole foods when possible;
- Combine carbohydrates with protein and fibre;
- Enjoy food mindfully and eat with order.
Small adjustments can make a big difference in how our bodies feel throughout the day.
Healthy eating isn’t about perfection: it’s about creating habits that support both our bodies and the planet.
