Insulin

Question
I have diabetes in my family, and I seem to have many of the symptoms of insulin resistance, thus I am watching my carb intake and eating lower glycemic.
I have a friend that says she lost weight by not eating carbs in the morning. Instead she has some fruit with low fat yogurt.
The theory is that insulin levels are highest in the morning so most of that starch gets stored as fat and also slows your metabolism.
I found this interesting. I find it hard to lose weight, even though I am a picky eater and am very active.
All my life I have had a breakfast of cereal and toast. Perhaps with my genetics, this is what was hapening to me?
At the very least, yogurt and fruit sounds healthier!?
Thanks for your thoughts!

Answer
Hi Sue,
I commend you on trying to prevent the condition that you know runs in your family.
I would have to say the number one preventive for diabetes is to maintain a healthy weight. In order to do this it's important to limit your intake, not of just carbs, but of all calories; and exercise to maintain a balance that keeps you at a healthy weight.

Your friend told you she has no carbs at breafast, but just fruit and yogurt? Fruit is pure carbs, and there are also carbs in yogurt--so it's important to find someone to get accurate information you need and try not to put too much faith in what friends tell you, what you read on the internet, and other sources that are not helpful, but in fact often confusing!

The main symptom of insulin resistance is going to be high blood sugar. Therefore, I recommend getting a blood test to see where you stand. A test called "hemoglobin A1C" shows what your sugars have been running over the past 3 months, so it's even a better picture than one fasting blood test.
And if you are overweight, that would be your first line of defense!

Please let me know if you have more questions, and let me know how you're doing :)

laurie

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