What You’ll Learn:

• What a Registered Dietitian wants you to know about blood sugar spikes 

• How frequent spikes and crashes can influence energy, focus, and appetite

• Why fiber timing and meal composition make a difference for glucose response

• The hidden sugars that sneak into everyday foods, even the ones labeled “healthy”

• Practical, dietitian-approved ways to help your body find balance at every meal  

5 Things a Dietitian Wants You to Know About Blood Sugar Spikes …and 3 Things You Can Do About It

At just better.®, we take our nutrition cues straight from our founder, Registered Dietitian Kristin Hirano. She believes that understanding how blood sugar spikes happen is one of the smartest ways to support whole-body wellness—and it doesn’t take complicated changes to make a meaningful impact.

Blood sugar naturally rises after eating — that’s normal. A “spike” happens when glucose levels rise quickly and sharply, often after meals high in refined carbohydrates or low in fiber, protein, or healthy fats. When these spikes happen often, they can stress your body’s ability to manage insulin, make energy highs and lows more intense, and, over time, affect metabolism, mood, and appetite control.

The good news? You have more control than you think—especially when you understand what’s happening and how to keep those spikes in check. Here’s what our founder, Kristin, a registered dietitian, wants you to know. 

5 Things a Dietitian Wants You to Know About Blood Sugar Spikes 

1. Spikes Can Happen Even Without Sweets

You don’t need to eat cookies or candy for your blood sugar to rise quickly. Many everyday foods — like white rice, pasta, and typical convenience or fast food meals — are high in refined carbohydrates that digest fast and flood your system with glucose. 

When these spikes happen often, your body works overtime to manage them. Over time, that constant surge and correction cycle can affect energy levels, hunger cues, and how efficiently your body uses insulin.

2. The Crash Always Follows the Spike

After a sharp increase in blood sugar, the body releases insulin to lower blood sugar levels. When that drop happens quickly, you can feel tired, irritable, or hungry soon after eating. This is the “spikes and crashes” rollercoaster Kristin often talks about.

It’s not your imagination when you feel sleepy after lunch or find yourself reaching for something sweet mid-afternoon. Those ups and downs can affect mood, focus, and cravings throughout the day. The goal is to keep blood sugar responses balanced, avoiding swings from one extreme to the other.

3. Fiber Slows the Rise

Soluble fiber works quietly in the background to support balanced blood sugar. As it dissolves, it thickens slightly in the digestive tract, slowing how quickly carbohydrates break down and how fast glucose enters the bloodstream.

That slower process gives the body more time to manage insulin and energy use, helping to prevent the sharp spikes and crashes that often follow meals high in refined carbohydrates and sugars. It’s one of the ways fiber supports both metabolic balance and the flow of energy throughout the day. 

4. Timing Matters — Fiber Goes With Food

Timing influences how prebiotic soluble fiber supports balanced blood sugar. When soluble fiber reaches the stomach just before a meal, it begins to mix with fluids, gently swell up and thicken. As the meal follows, that fiber interacts with the carbohydrates being digested, slowing the rate at which glucose enters the bloodstream.

Taken during a meal, fiber continues to have a similar effect, helping moderate post-meal spikes and supporting more consistent energy afterward. 

When prebiotic fiber is consumed outside of meals, the focus shifts toward gut, digestive, and immune health rather than immediate blood sugar response. 

Both functions are valuable, and together they show how something as simple as timing can change the way fiber works in the body. 

5. Hidden Sugars Are Sneakier Than You Think

Ultra-processed foods, even ones marketed as “healthy,” can have more sugar than you realize. Yogurts, salad dressings, snack bars, sauces, and prepared smoothies often contain added sugars that contribute to daily spikes in blood sugar.

Kristin encourages a quick label check: if sugar (or anything ending in “-ose,” like fructose or dextrose) appears in the first few ingredients, the product is not as balanced as it seems.

Being aware doesn’t mean you have to eliminate those foods; it simply helps you make smarter swaps and plan your fiber intake to keep your body balanced. 

3 Things You Can Do About It 

1. Add Fiber With Every Meal and Snack

Make it a habit to mix two tablespoons (or two stick packs) of just better.® prebiotic fiber into your drink or meal when you eat. That simple addition helps support balanced blood sugar, improved digestion, and better satiety—all in one step.

2. Focus on Meal Pairings

Pairing carbohydrates with fiber, protein, or healthy fats slows digestion and helps keep blood sugar in a healthy range after eating. These nutrients work together to delay how quickly glucose moves into the bloodstream, creating a more balanced response.

Think of it as building balance on your plate:

• Oatmeal topped with nut butter and berries

• Whole grains with veggies and tofu

• Fruit with a handful of nuts

Each combination helps your body manage glucose smoothly and keeps energy levels more consistent throughout the day.

3. Make Every Meal, Sip, and Snack an Opportunity for Balance

Every time we eat or drink, the body gets another chance to reset. Including fiber with meals and snacks gives it what it needs to manage blood sugar more smoothly and keep energy on an even track.

Perfection isn’t the goal — presence is. Focusing on what’s right in front of us, one plate or cup at a time, helps each balanced choice build on the next. Over time, those moments of consistency create a rhythm the body can count on. 

Closing Thoughts

Blood sugar balance doesn’t have to be complicated — it just takes awareness and a few smart habits. Start small today: stir in two scoops of just better.® before your next meal, and build balance one plate and sip at a time.

Live… just better.®!