To Do Glucose, Weight, and Insulin Control

Eating for Health is eating from the rainbow. Consuming a wide variety of
colorful vegetables, fruits, and other foods on a regular basis provides the widest
spectrum of health-giving nutrients and may help us all find our way to the “pot of
gold”—our good health. In the process, we will leave behind our blood sugar
irregularities and greatly reduce our risk of insulin resistance, diabetes, and breast
cancer.

Our list of supernutrients in this chapter is by no means exhaustive. In fact, a
varied whole-foods diet, with or without these foods, will provide enormous
benefits toward preventing or reversing dysglycemia and maintaining overall
health. In addition, please keep in mind that whole fruits (not juice) and, especially,
vegetables contain some of the highest levels of vitamins and minerals, as well as
large amounts of fiber, of any foods. They also provide a wide range of
phytonutrients, which helps us with blood sugar control and on so many other
fronts.

To Do Glucose, Weight, and Insulin Control

• Avoid sugar and processed carbohydrates, such as pasta, bread, pastries, and bagels. Be especially wary of anything made with high-fructose corn syrup.

• Use instead in moderation: raw honey, maple syrup (grade B or C), blackstrap or sorghum molasses, date or palm sugar, stevia, or xylitol.

• Create an exercise program that works for you, after consulting your practitioner.

• Eat a breakfast with high-quality proteins, such as eggs, or a smoothie with whey or rice protein powder and yogurt.

• Keep your life simple and your carbohydrates complex!

• Choose fats that are mostly monounsaturated, such as those from olives and avocados; healthy saturated fats, such as coconut oil; and the omega-3 unsaturated fatty acids found in fish, flaxseeds, and walnuts.

• Feed your cells nutritional superstars, such as chile peppers, buckwheat, and cinnamon.

• Consider supplementing with the mineral chromium (or a good multinutrient containing chromium) to manage and prevent hyperglycemia.

Last Word Glucose, Weight, and Insulin Control

I found that keeping sugar and sugar-laden products out of my house was the
key to keeping them out of my life. It was difficult in the beginning; I had to sit
down with my family and explain to them exactly what the stakes were. Once
they were on board, it was so much easier. We all agreed to just say no to
packaged foods, and made the commitment to make one or two changes every
week until I got to where I am today: sugar free, cancer free.

—Sela S., breast cancer survivor