Diabetes, insulin resistance diet and metabolic syndrome are all related to nutrition in a very close way.  Making changes to your diet can keep your blood glucose levels stable.  Most people, if they started to work towards healthy diets and nutrition, would experience a degree of fitness that they may never have felt before.  Picking from 4 food groups and choosing colorful and fresh fruits & vegetables, protein, whole grains and healthy fats and making great tasting meals from them is a goal that diabetics and anyone else should hope to achieve.

Along with a better insulin resistance diet, people need to avoid food which are heavily processed, as well as trans fats.  Balance is the key to health for all.  When blood glucose levels come under control, the diet and weight plan  are working.  We’ve outlined the four major food groups — complex carbs, fiber, protein and fat — to help you make up some healthy diets for weight loss and for controlling your blood sugar levels.  Snacks are included!

Insulin and glucagon are the 2 hormones most influential regarding what our bodies store, and what they use right away.  Think of insulin as the storehouse and glucagon as the stimulus and mover and shaker.

Proteins

This is the building block of, and an essential ingredient for life.  It is the bricks and mortar of our bodies and used for repair and construction.  Bones, cells, enzymes, nails, muscles, neurotransmitters and hormones need it.  It helps burn off fat and fights inflammation and infection.  If your blood sugar is low, your pancreas releases glucagon.  This gets the glucose moving in order to prevent hypoglycemia.  Protein-rich dieting does help people lose weight.  Don’t overdo or underdo protein.

An average woman needs 60 to 70 grams of protein per day. Good sources are poultry, fish, eggs and cheese, as well as plants like nuts, seeds, soy products and legumes.  Go for wild and natural and organic when you can.   Use cage free eggs, wild caught fish of certain types and free range poultry.  Whole grains also add protein and if you have a sensitivity to gluten then there are many alternatives to wheat, and most types of oatmeal.

Fats

They are tasty, that’s for sure.  Humans have loved fats since they were cave men and women.  It’s a natural instinct to love fat.  Fortunately, nowadays, we can choose healthier fats.  Around a third of our brains are made up of fat and it’s essential for life.  Just don’t include too much of it in your insulin resistance diets.  Fat helps us to maintain an adequate hormonal balance, increase our immunity, stabilize blood sugar, supply energy, and control hunger.  A peptide hormone called cholecystokinin triggers a sense of fullness.

Stomach and intestine walls secret this hormone which is used to digest protein and fat.  Around 20 minutes or less into a meal the hormone will trigger us to stop eating, usually.  Pay attention to it!  Eat a snack of nuts in between meals and you should feel this working.  If you include a proper amount of fat in meals and snacks it will lower your glycemic load.  Eat natural types of fat, which are healthier.  Polyunsaturated fats are the divas and stars of your healthy diet.

Carbohydrates

These are sugars which give us immediate energy.  They stimulate the release of insulin and are important when you have an insulin resistant condition.  If not used immediately, carbs are stored as fat so don’t eat too many!  If you are very active, you can eat more.  Carbs may not release that 20 minute trigger in your brain that you are full.  That’s why we really overindulge in carbs.  Not the best thing for your fight against diseases and desire to be as healthy as possible! Eat some carbs, because your insulin levels will drop even more if you don’t.

Fiber

Eating non-starchy (i.e. not carb laden) veggies is healthy for everyone.  They also contain lots and lots of minerals, vitamins and micronutrients.  The latter talk to your body’s cells  and keep all of your human systems in balance.  A major system, the endocrine one, and it’s main basketball stars, are glucagon and insulin — so you can see the importance to a diabetic.  You can eat as many non-starchy veggies as you like, because they have a low glycemic index.  This is a great way to feel full without any harm to your insulin resistance diet.

Just look at the huge variety of colors and textures and tastes out there in the supermarket, as you look around for appetizing non-starchy vegetables for your next meal.  Plan for something from all food groups in each meal and snack and you’ll strike a great balance.  Your body will appreciate the help when you are on a insulin resistance diet.