Insulin Resistance Diet

* To eat an insulin resistance diet means that you are eating in a way that increases your insulin sensitivity and keeps your blood sugar low and balanced all day. *

If we are to avoid disease, optimize our health and raise healthy children, we will have to look past what often passes for popular, nutritional information today. Highly industrialized foods are making us sick! White flour and sugar products are extremely addictive.

It is wonderful what happens to your life when you make a commitment to healthy eating! As you eat more fresh, low glycemic fruits and vegetables and more of the good fats, you will find the food cravings WILL go away. Your reward will be greater vitality than you ever thought possible and a slim, lean body!

Do NOT try to economize too much on good quality food. Instead cut out the junk food stops, the soft drinks, the chips and store bought cookies. Use the savings to buy good quality whole food. Eat good quality fats – good for your nerves and brain function which means they will keep you healthy when you are under stress. Following the insulin resistance diet means that you will be investing in your health so you won’t be paying expensive medical bills down the road.

For menus for a week go to our daily healthy eating plan. The basic principles to follow to be thinner, full of energy and vitality and free from disease are:

DO NOT DRINK SODAS, FRUIT JUICES OR OTHER SWEET DRINKS

DO NOT EAT ANYTHING WHITE OR PROCESSED.

DO NOT EAT ANYTHING THAT TASTES TOO SWEET

Above all, an insulin resistance diet, which is also the best diabetes diet, means no white, refined breads, no white sugar, no food that has been bleached or stripped of nutrients. Eat lots of fresh, low glycemic fruits and vegetables.

Do not eat white flour or other refined flours. No potatoes, no corn and that means no flour or corn tortillas. You need to eat unrefined, low glycemic whole grains. Your best bet for breads and tortillas are sprouted grains.

These are the least refined and full of fiber and nutrients. They do NOT raise your blood sugar. Look for Ezekiel bread, Food for Life or Alvarado St. Bakery sprouted grain products. They are kept in the refrigerated section of a natural foods store because they are NOT chock full of preservatives.

For a complete list of low glycemic grains go to our low glycemic food list. These are the unrefined grains to eat on an insulin resistance diet. Barley, quinoa and bulgur are the best low glycemic grains to eat. Oatmeal is low glycemic and makes for the best low glycemic cereal. For people who are sensitive to grains you may need to soak whole oats the night before serving. Do not buy expensive boxed cold breakfast cereals. They are usually high glycemic and do not support an insulin resistance diet. They do not have many nutrients and they are often hard to digest. Oatmeal is cheap in comparison and far more nutritious.

FATS ARE NOT THE PROBLEM

On the insulin resistance diet, 30% of the food you eat each day should be high quality fat, more omega 3 fatty acids than omega 6s and in your protein if possible. So eat the omega 3s, more avocados, raw nuts, raw seeds, flaxseed meal, olive oil, seed and nut oils and coconut oil. Be sure to get cold pressed, expeller-expressed, unrefined oils. Fats metabolize slowly and are filling. They do not raise your blood sugar and you feel fuller longer.

Eat more wild fish! Fish helps you to burn fat. The omega 6s, the animal fats are fine if you are consuming high quality meats, eggs and a small amount of real butter. Most people eat too much low quality meat and are getting far more omega 6 fatty acids than the omega 3s.

On your insulin resistance diet it is better to minimize beef unless you can get away from grain fed beef. It's best to eat grass fed, organic beef, chicken, turkey, wild game and wild fish. This is because commercial grains that are fed to cattle are highly refined, high glycemic carbohydrates. You need to look for range free and cage free chicken eggs. Even farmed fish is being fed grains these days. Human beings and animals need more green plants. You do not need large servings. You can make stews or stir fries or pasta dishes or salads with just 4 oz. of meat in a meal.

EAT CULTURED DAIRY PRODUCTS

The insulin resistance diet includes dairy products and especially fermented or cultured dairy. This means high quality yogurt with no added sugar. You can add fresh fruit or frozen fruit. Cultured milk products have natural probiotics for a healthy gut and also include kefir and cultured buttermilk.

Many people are allergic to the lactose (milk sugar) or the casein (the milk protein) in milk. The practice of fermenting or souring milk partially breaks down lactose and predigests casein. They are far more digestible. If you can find unpasteurized dairy products that are high quality all the better, because the enzymes and many vitamins and minerals haven't been destroyed by heat. If you drink milk try to find milk from cows that have not been fed hormones.

ONLY NATURAL CHEESES

Processed cheeses (in cans or boxes and full of preservatives) contain emulsifiers, extenders, phosphates and hydrogenated oils and should be avoided. On an insulin resistance diet eat only natural, good quality cheese.

NO HYDROGENATED OILS and LIMIT FRIED FOODS

An insulin resistance diet will not include any hydrogenated oils. These are cheap, rancid oils that are subjected to high heat and high pressure. Then they have dyes and other tiny metal particles added to get the thick consistency. This chemical transformation makes a trans fat and it is highly toxic. These are the margarines and shortenings. Avoid these like the plague. Use olive oil or coconut oil for sauté. You only need 1 – 2 teaspoons.

EAT ONLY SEA SALT

Use lots of seasonings and spices and minimize salt but do eat some but be sure it's unprocessed. Yes, salt gets over processed too I am sorry to say! Commercial salt is highly refined and is the product of a chemical and high temperature industrial process. All the good minerals are removed and several harmful additives, including aluminum compounds are added. You need the iodine and sodium and other trace minerals you get from sea salt.

NO PROCESSED FOODS

I know I sound like a broken record but this is essential because of the hidden nature of the high glycemic ingredients that are the hidden fat traps. They can spike your blood sugar and they are not labeled as sugars so it's easy to be fooled. They are the preservatives like maltodextrin and corn syrup, dextrose and barley malt. Processed foods found in boxes or cans are full of these high glycemic preservatives. Eat your food in it's natural state. This is the most important principle of the insulin resistance diet.

EAT BEANS AND LEGUMES

These are low glycemic and contain lots of good nutrients and fiber. It's better to buy dried beans and cook them but if you get them in cans just drain well. Watch your portions. You can add beans to salads or eat them as side dishes to your meat or tacos.

ADD CINNAMON TO 2 DRINKS A DAY

Cinnamon has been shown in studies to help control your blood sugar. You need to add water extracted cinnamon to your daily diet by adding ¼ - ½ teaspoon to your morning tea or a glass of water before your breakfast. Stir the water and let the cinnamon settle at the bottom of the glass. Drink the water or tea. Do this before 2 meals a day. Test your blood sugar or have it tested and notice any changes. Studies confirm that cinnamon will boost your insulin sensitivity and lower your blood sugar. For these reasons it is an essential component of your insulin resistance diet.

NO HEAVY MEALS AFTER 5:00 PM

If you eat your lightest meal in the evening and eat it early you will be done digesting by the time you go to bed. Since you’ll be expending the most energy during the day, you are far better off to eat your heaviest meal for lunch. In today’s world that can be a challenge since if you are working you are packing a lunch and the evening meal is the one you share with your family. This is why it’s important to pack as much nutrition as possible into your breakfast and lunch and to take low glycemic snacks with you to work.

Your family will also benefit from lighter evening meals. You can eat less of the main dish and more of the salad. You can also skip a meal one night and make yourself a nutrition packed smoothie. If you are hungry after dinner eat fresh fruit or yogurt and fresh fruit.

Read Portion Control Tips to understand exactly what a reasonable portion looks like. Even with low glycemic foods you can get a glycemic load (and raise your blood sugar) if you eat too much at one meal!

Eat your reasonable portions and rest for 10 minutes before you decide if you are still hungry. It takes that long for your brain to tell you that you’re full. Then if you are still hungry have a piece of fruit or 6 oz. of yogurt or both. You need to adopt the most stringent measures of low glycemic eating when you have insulin resistance or you are pre-diabetic.

When you consume refined sugars and starches especially without protein or fats they cause your blood sugar to spike and insulin and other hormones flood into your bloodstream. You disrupt the harmony of sugar regulation and fat metabolism. These foods are refined carbohydrates and they are devoid of essential nutrients including vitamins, minerals and enzymes. A steady diet of these carbs results first in pre-diabetes, then as your cells become less sensitive to insulin, in insulin resistance and finally to the disruption of your endocrine function, metabolic syndrome.

When your hormones are confused all sorts of illnesses occur and eventually diseases like obesity, allergies, fatigue, learning disabilities, even alcoholism and drug addiction will manifest. Eventually all the dreaded diseases of diabetes kick in. It is a fact, that as the consumption of sugar (and white flour and hydrogenated oils) have increased so have all the modern diseases. You could call many modern diseases sugar eating diseases. On an insulin resistance diet you will prevent sugar eating diseases.

So the best insulin resistance diet is one free of refined carbohydrates, high glycemic foods, sodas, and even grain eating meat products. Will it be hard to give these foods up? Yes, at first but you have this website to guide you in your food choices. Once you are over your sugar and white flour addictions and you stop craving anything other than fresh, whole foods, you will feel so much vitality that you will wonder how you managed before! The Lifetime Fat Loss Low Glycemic Guide is an intensive lifestyle modification program that creates better health for the rest of your life!

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