How to Lower Insulin Resistance and Blood Sugars Naturally is what a lot of people are curious about.

Those people who have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes are usually told that there isn’t much that can be done to reverse diabetes. In fact if diabetes is poorly managed it can cause blindness, loss of kidney function, and conditions that require the amputation of limbs.

It may seem that you will have to live with this condition forever. However, consuming a better diet, is the key that can move a person in the direction towards better health.

Let’s look at a couple of these food choices:

The Standard American Diet (SAD) is rich in red meat, dairy products, processed and sweetened foods & salt. There’s a minimal intake of fruits, vegetables, whole grains & legumes. It’s been found that less than 12% of the average American’s calories come from plant based foods.

Numerous studies like the Health Professionals Follow up Study & the Nurses’ Health Study have shown that red meat & processed meat increased the risk of diabetes.

Studies have shown that animal based iron (heme) animal fat and nitrate preservatives in meat, damage pancreatic cells, cause weight gain and aggravate inflammation.

There is a link between chronic inflammation and the development of heart attacks, strokes, diabetes & autoimmune diseases, and cognitive decline.

So here are some reasons to consider going on a whole food plant based (WFPB) diet.

Plant Based Diets are high in fiber, antioxidants & phytonutrients. “Phyto” in the Greek means plant. These chemicals protect plants from germs, fungi & other threats. Besides fruits and vegetables, other plant based foods like whole grains also contain phytonutrients.

In the United States the two major killers are heart disease and strokes & elevated cholesterol levels is the key risk factor for them. Saturated fat is mainly found in animal and dairy products and have been shown to raise blood cholesterol levels.

In contrast WFPB diets, because they are low in saturated fat, lower blood cholesterol. They are also high in fiber which is very important because it can’t be broken down into sugar molecules & pass through the gut undigested. Fiber also helps regulate blood sugars and keeps hunger at bay.

Gut Health Insulin Resistance

Good Health Starts in Your Gut

The bacteria in our gut are estimated to weigh up to 2 kg. They plays an important part in our digestion as well as inflammation, because the gut mediates inflammation in the body.

It’s the job of the trillions of microbes that live within us to maintain the integrity of the gut lining. When we damage the gut lining by our diet or medications, then the gut becomes more permeable which amplifies inflammation in the entire body – the heart, brain, joints and skin.
So, food choices are very important because the permeability of the gut also increases inflammation of the brain and can manifest in the brain as cognitive decline.

Besides consuming a WFPB diet, to increase fiber,we can consume more fermented foods like Kimchi, Kombucha, and Kefir which have good levels of probiotic bacteria in them.

We also need to take prebiotic fiber found in vegetables like dandelion greens, onions, garlic, leeks and Jicama, artichoke and apple cider vinegar. A good choice would be to get a nutritional supplement from the health food store.
Pre-biotic fiber is the food that these microbes love to feed on. Nurturing these good gut bacteria will enable them to heal the gut lining so that they can make the vitamins that we need.

Our food choices directly affect the diversity of our gut bacteria and the health, longevity and ability to resist disease.

Type 2 Diabetes

The cause of type 2 Diabetes is insulin resistance which means that insulin is not able to do it’s job of getting the glucose from the bloodstream into the cells where it can be used for fuel.

The first line of defense is lifestyle & diet. Here’s how to start a whole food plant based diet.

Eliminate:

  1. All animal based foods. Animal foods have no fiber while plant foods are packed with fiber.
  2. All dairy. Contrary to what we’ve been told we don’t need to consume dairy to have healthy bones. You can get plenty of calcium from WFPB foods without consuming dairy
  3. Vegetable oil. It’s 100% fat and calorie dense
  4. Avoid refined & processed foods. The processing has removed the fiber, vitamins and minerals and converts to glucose easily causing a spike in blood sugar levels, which increases the risk for insulin resistance.

This is a very brief introduction on whole food plant based foods.

Remember that at your core you are magnificent, powerful and awesome.

To your optimum health,

Brenda

**Be sure to get our Free Special Report “Busting The Myths About Diabetes”

.