This Lunar New Year, let's prepare a healthy meal rich in vitamins, protein, and dietary fiber.

While the Lunar New Year holiday is a joyous time for families to gather, share good food, and engage in lively conversation, neglecting meal management can lead to critical health issues like blood sugar spikes.

A blood sugar spike is a phenomenon where blood sugar levels rapidly rise and then fall after a meal. It is a major culprit in damaging blood vessels by increasing oxidative stress in the blood. When blood vessels are damaged, low-density cholesterol surrounds the damaged areas, leading to atherosclerosis, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, and cerebrovascular diseases.

Furthermore, when blood sugar levels rise sharply, the pancreas secretes insulin all at once to lower them. If this process is repeated, insulin resistance occurs, where insulin's function declines, potentially leading to diabetes.

Common symptoms of blood sugar spikes include post-meal sleepiness, dizziness, and false hunger. If you frequently feel sleepy after meals or crave sweet foods like desserts, consider it a warning sign and improve your eating habits.

Even those who usually manage their health well can become complacent during the Lunar New Year. To prepare for blood sugar spikes this holiday, you should implement: ① carbohydrate-restricted meals, ② the reverse eating method, ③ consumption of plant-based fats, and ④ exercise.

In the past, Lunar New Year was a day for common people to "eat well after a long time." That is, it was a day to supplement deficient carbohydrates, so meals were rich in carbohydrate-heavy foods such as rice, rice cakes, tteokguk, sikhye, and japchae.

Times have changed, so let's now replace these carbohydrate-rich foods in our Lunar New Year meals with salads, namul (seasoned vegetables), suyuk (boiled pork slices), and multigrain rice, which are rich in vitamins, protein, and dietary fiber.

While galbijjim (braised short ribs) is a protein-rich dish, its sauce contains a lot of sugar. Therefore, substituting meat dishes with suyuk is one way to prevent blood sugar spikes.

It is also beneficial to practice the "reverse eating method," starting with fiber-rich salads, followed by meat, and then multigrain rice. This is because filling your stomach with dietary fiber first can help prevent blood sugar from rising.

For a palate cleanser, instead of sweet sujeonggwa (cinnamon punch), rice cakes, fruits, or mixed coffee, try pairing nuts, which are rich in plant-based fats and dietary fiber, with green tea or americano. This can help prevent a rapid rise in blood sugar. If you eat fruit, consume only one or two slices, and spreading peanut butter on them can slow down sugar absorption.

In addition, a light walk with family 15 minutes after a meal can greatly help prevent blood sugar spikes.

◆ Director Park Chan-young

Director of Eoseongcho Korean Medicine Clinic in Sadang-dong, Seoul. Doctor of Korean Medicine from Dongguk University. He sparked a detox sensation in Korea by appearing on TV health programs such as MBN's "The Master of the Thumb." His books include "Treating Atopic Dermatitis and Acne with Eoseongcho," "Seasoning is Medicine," and "The Miracle of Detoxification."