Eating Plan for Insulin Resistance
What is insulin resistance? Insulin resistance is a sign that your body is working too hard to keep the sugar in your bloodstream within normal ranges. Over time, your cells begin to resist your insulin’s attempt to balance your blood sugar. It is part of metabolic problems that include obesity, polycystic ovary syndrome, Type 2 diabetes, and a condition called Syndrome X, and is considered a prediabetic condition
The basic idea of this eating plan is to avoid the spikes of glucose/sugar in your bloodstream. When you have a sudden high level of glucose in your blood, your pancreas sends out a surge of the hormone insulin to try to bring the glucose down to safe levels.
It does this in two basic ways: One is to makes the cells more receptive to being ‘fed’ with the glucose (like using a key to unlock the door). Any leftover glucose (if, for example, the cells are full) turns into fat and stores in your body.
A second way your pancreas adapts is to pump out more insulin than is actually needed for that particular level of food, and then your blood sugar drops to unsafe (low) levels – and you get hungry and cranky, because your body is looking for fuel to balance the insulin surge. Sometimes, after years of this kind of ping-pong interactions between glucose and insulin, your pancreas gets worn out or the cells become less and less receptive to insulin’s ‘key in the lock’ action.
Everyone needs to eat foods that nourish their bodies. Each individual has differing needs. This eating plan is designed to become a way of life. It is not a short-term weight loss ‘diet’, although many persons who follow these basic principles will lose weight. If weight loss is your primary goal, also count calories and aim to eat 500 less calories a day than you need to maintain your current weight. You also need to exercise regularly. This eating plan is intended to help you even out the surges of glucose in your blood stream by focusing on eating foods that don’t cause the high spikes, while getting enough of a variety to meet your daily nutrient needs.
The foundation of the eating plan is two fold: Avoiding foods that cause severe blood sugar spikes, and choosing foods with a low glycemic index. If you are able to monitor your own blood glucose, you can find this out by trial and error, but published lists of the glycemic index of various foods can really help. In general, if a food has a G.I. (glycemic index) greater than or equal to 100 (the G.I. of a slice of white bread), you shouldn’t eat it. Most people do best if they stay with foods lower than 80. A useful list of these foods can be found at: http://diabetes.about.com/library/mendosagi/ngilists.htm
Grains, when eaten, should be whole and not ground or processed. Steamed brown rice, steel cut oats, bulgur wheat, and rye berries are all examples of this. Servings of grain foods can be measured out with something like an ice cream scoop.
Starchy vegetables like potatoes, peas, corn, and lima beans should also be limited and some individuals’ fine they need to eliminate them entirely. Fruits are acceptable when eaten entire and not cooked or ground. Juicing fruits markedly increases the glycemic index, as well as making it easy to overindulge. Try to avoid fruit juices except maybe a squeeze of lemon or lime juice as a flavoring
Proteins are essentially unlimited but try to vary the source of your proteins, and to get vegetable as well as animal source proteins. Avoid meats and beans that are flavored with sugars, such as maple cured hams, Boston baked beans, or barbecue sauced anything. Sources of proteins include meats, eggs, dairy, soy products, nuts, beans, seeds (like sunflower, flax, and pumpkin). Commercial nut butters and peanut butter often have added in sugars and hydrogenated fats –Look for pure nut butters, with a minimum of additives.
The foundation of this eating plan is vegetables, and lots of them! With the exception of a few high G.I. tubers, you can eat all of the low glycemic vegetables you want. Make up a big pot of vegetable soup and freeze individual portions. Start lunch or dinner with a big bowl of veggie soup, and start the other meal with a big bowl of salad greens. Try making a meal from steamed veggies and melt some cheese over it. Stir fry Asian vegetables with cubed tofu and a little soy sauce and sesame seeds.
Breakfast and snacks are sometimes a problem for those trying to change their eating habits. If you don’t want to eat eggs, try some other protein foods or a low G.I. steamed grain. Add some fresh fruit and a glass of milk or soymilk. For snacks, prepackaged carrot sticks, apples, hard cheeses, sliced chicken breast or similar lunchmeat has all been used with success.
Fats are part of a balanced diet, but they need to contribute more than just calories. Healthy fats include those contained naturally in most nuts and seeds, like olive oil or avocados. Flaxseed and cold-water fish (like salmon) contain essential fatty acids that have been shown to contribute to health in many ways. Most margarines, solid shortening, commercial lard, and similar products contain chemicals called trans-fatty acids that are as bad for your health as the highly saturated fats they were designed to replace. Olive oil or butter, in small quantities, adds flavor to foods. But don’t drown your foods. Part of this program should be that you enjoy your foods, not that you are eating in desperation ‘just because it is there’.
Use seasonings such as herbs, spices, vinegars, olives, garlic and ginger. Look for hidden sugar in foods such as ketchup, barbecue sauces, canned cream soups, gravies, jams jellies and syrups. Cinnamon can add a sweet taste to beverages, as can an herb called Stevia – but try to retrain your taste buds if you can. Drink lots of water, and if you slip up, remember that each day is a new chance to start over again.
A great new book that seems to provide good nutritional information is The South Beach Diet by Dr. Agatston