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Below you will find a brief summary of our conversation with Kevin Bael. The full episode can be listened to via Spotify & Apple Podcasts.
About Kevin Bael
Kevin Bael is the founder of Nutr!Break, a Belgian brand focused on tasty, natural, and healthy snacks based on the innovative sugar isomaltulose.
Kevin has been active in the food sector for over 16 years, and Nutr!Break was born from the awareness Kevin developed around healthy and more sustainable food. Its mission is to bring a completely different kind of healthy food to the market, a healthy fuel for a healthy body.
Isomaltulose vs classic sugars and natural sugars
Isomaltulose is a natural sugar and therefore provides energy. The big difference with classic and other natural sugars is that is absorbed 4 to 5 times more slowly by our body. This has a significant, positive impact on our blood sugar levels.
When we fast sugars consumption, such as cane sugar or honey, the glucose level in our blood rises sharply. Our body can consume all that glucose not immediately converted into energy, and that excess glucose will therefore be converted into fat. Moreover, after that rapid spike, we experience a sharp drop in our blood sugar level, sometimes even below normal, resulting in an energy dip accompanied by loss of concentration and hunger attacks.
With isomaltulose, you can avoid that spike in blood sugar and the associated energy dip. Because it is a slowly digestible sugar, energy is released more slowly and for a longer time, and the feeling of fullness lasts much longer. This ultimately even results in a smaller intake of carbohydrates.
So flatten the curve which we hear so much about nowadays, is also important for our blood sugar levels because it indirectly has a very positive impact on our health.
Interpreting Nutrition Labels: Carbohydrates and Sugars
The amount of carbohydrates and sugars listed on a food label basically says little. The quality of the sugars and carbohydrates and the energy requirement are also important.
The quality of the sugars is related to the impact on our blood sugar levelsOn the one hand, there are the low-glycemic, slowly digestible sugars such as isomaltulose, that do have a positive impact on our blood sugar levels and that we can consider a healthy source of energy, regardless of the food product in which they are present.
In addition, we have the high-glycemic carbohydrates/sugars. Yet these can also have a low-glycemic impact have an effect on our blood sugar levels and also be a healthy source of energy. An example: oats contain high-glycemic carbohydrates, but oats also contain a large portion of insoluble dietary fibers that ensure that the carbohydrates present in oats are absorbed much more slowly in our intestines and thus cause a much lower rise in our blood sugar levels.
It is therefore important, besides the amount present, also at the quality of the sugars to look and also taking into account the energy requirement.
Nutrient quality
Fibers and high-quality nutrients are also a major focus for JustBite by carefully examining the offered snacks. Among other things, by looking at the three important groups of macronutrients and how they relate to each other: namely carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.
Proteins are truly the building blocks of our body. In case of energy shortage, our body will also derive energy from proteins, although this is a very inefficient process and really leads to muscle breakdown. That is why we also need carbohydrates and fats as energy sources.
Fat is sufficiently present in our body, on average over 10 kg in an adult man/woman, which corresponds to more than 90,000 kcal. Compared to the daily calorie requirement of 2000 to 3000 (depending on the person, activity, genes, etc.), there is certainly an adequate reserve.
Besides fats, you also have the carbohydratesThey are present in our body (in muscles and in the liver) in the form of a specific type of carbohydrate, glycogen. But only about 500-700 grams are present on average, much less than fat and far from enough to meet energy needs, especially during more intensive physical activities.
Glycogen is also converted to energy much faster compared to fat, so during higher-intensity physical activity, our body cannot get energy quickly enough from fat alone and really needs that glycogen reserve. Because there is less available, it is important to provide additional sugar intake during physical activities.
Is low-carb eating a good idea?
Diets like the ketogenic diet, which severely restrict sugar and carbohydrate intake, are not necessary to live healthily. It is perfectly possible to follow a to follow a healthy, balanced diet without going to extremesThere is still a strong focus on avoiding added sugars and on light products. Sugars are banned without considering that not all sugars are the same and that other factors like fiber content are important for satiety and their impact on our body.
Moreover, glucose produced from carbohydrates is the primary energy source for our brains, which is why a sugar crash has such a negative impact on our concentration.
Healthy and sensible snacking, but above all, tasty snacking
Healthy snacks should be tailored to each individual and their daily activity.
But above all, healthy snacks must be tasty snacks that lead us to the next meal without hunger.
A tasty snack with a healthy dose of fiber and protein that keeps us feeling full for a long time, without unnecessary flavorings and/or colorings.
A good example is the snacks based on flaxseed and sesame combined with isomaltulose. Nuts and seeds have a proven positive impact on our health because they are rich in protein and fiber and contain essential minerals like magnesium.
Conclusion
Be critical when it comes to nutrition and invest some of your time in searching for information about food. We eat and drink every day; nutrition has a huge impact on our health, mood, and for athletes, on performance... We cannot survive without nutrition, so it’s important to invest some valuable time in understanding it.
JustBite also wants to guide people through the complex world of nutrition by making the information very accessible, encouraging behavioral changes, …
The snacks from Nutr!Break can also be found in the snack boxes from JustBite.