Does any of this sound familiar?

You get sugar cravings throughout the day or after meals.
You get extremely irritable, shaky and/or spacey if you haven't eaten recently.
Your diet is full of processed foods and simple carbs.
Your blood test from your doctor came back revealing above normal blood glucose and/or Hemoglobin A1C levels.

If you said yes to any of the above, you may have blood sugar dysregulation.

The bad news is that blood sugar dysregulation can lead to a whole host of issues such as weight gain, depression, hormonal imbalances and diabetes. It may even be a contributing factor to PCOS, infertility and breast cancer in women.

The good news is that blood sugar issues can absolutely be addressed by diet and lifestyle habits.

Blood sugar imbalance is one of the few areas where even conventional medicine looks to diet and lifestyle interventions first.

What are the 3 main steps to getting blood sugar under control?

Increase your intake of healthy fats, protein and fiber
Remove processed carbohydrates from your diet
Add regular exercise into your daily lifestyle (including strength training)

Those are the basic concepts. Now, let me expand on those ideas a bit and help you understand how to do those three things.

I tend to find that my clients have an easier time adjusting their current food intake by focusing on ADDING first, and REMOVING second. Usually, this approach is the most effective and successful. Therefore, in terms of blood sugar management, this means that you want to start my making sure that you are consuming enough healthy fats, protein and fiber. How to do this?

Healthy Fats:

Avocado, Avocado Oil, Olive Oil, Coconut oil, Butter (grassfed), Ghee, Oily Fish, Fish Oil, Flax Oil, Nuts and Seeds.

Fat is key. Thanks to the 1980's people are fat-fearful, but that really needs to go away now. That was a fad that allowed companies to pump their foods full of salt and sugar, but market them as a health food because they were "low-fat." Terrible. Fat slows down the absorption of carbohydrates, limiting the glucose spike that causes blood sugar highs and lows, which can lead to diabetes. Not to mention all of the very important fat soluble vitamins that come with healthy fats.

BTW-Yes, butter is a healthy fat. The key is to make sure that you are getting a good quality butter- meaning grassfed. It really does change the nutrient profile. KerryGold is a widely available grassfed butter, or any smaller local companies that sell grassfed butter at your local healthfood store or farmer's market is great. Coconut oil (another saturated fat and therefore sometimes demonized) is awesome. It is a medium chain fatty acid, which means it is easily absorbed into the body. It is also a high heat oil so you can cook with it. Please only cook with fats that can take high heat. Low-heat oils will oxidize and become very inflammatory. Not good.

Cook with: Avocado Oil, Ghee, Butter, Coconut Oil. (Save the olive oil for low heat situations.)

ALSO, when it comes to fats, organic should be the priority. I realize that price can be an issue and therefore you will need to make the decision that is right for you and your family, but in terms of health and the chemistry of fats, organic is extremely important. Fats can store tons of fat-soluble toxins and fats are mostly absorbed directly into the lymph, which means that they enter our bodies before getting screened by the liver. The liver is our ultimate protector that tries its best to eliminate harmful substances before they enter our blood stream. Fats often skip this first step and therefore it stands to reason that fat-soluble toxins may be even more damaging than water-soluble toxins. (Not that those are good either, we don't want to overload our livers and cause liver disease.)

Protein

It does't have to be animal protein. While quality animal meats (humanely raised, not pumped full of chemicals) can be a healthy source of protein, try also looking toward plant sources such as beans and legumes. They also have the added benefit of being good sources of Fiber.

Fiber

This is where the classic fruits, vegetables and whole grains enter the picture. (+Beans and legumes.) Not only do these foods contain fiber, but they also contain wonderful vitamins and minerals that help our bodies function. Think the color of the rainbow. While whole grains are good in moderation, try to focus on vegetables more than grains.

Remove the Junk

Once you've got a hold of including the goodies, you should feel more prepared to remove the troublemakers. Typically, the sheer act of including more of the good stuff will crowd out some of the bad stuff, but incase there is still a bunch of processed, refined carbohydrates on your plate: time to chuck them. They are nutrient deplete (seriously, absolutely no benefit other than containing calories) and they spike your blood sugar very high. This spike in blood sugar (aka. blood glucose) will result in your body bringing tons of insulin onto the scene to move that bucket of sugar into your cells. Unfortunately, this process will work too well and your blood sugar level will drop too low, resulting in reactive hypoglycemia and sugar cravings. That is why you crave sugar soon after meals. This can be the beginning of a roller coaster ride for your body's blood sugar management team: You continue to eat processed junk spiking your blood sugar, insulin comes in and works too hard to move the sugar into cells, which causes your blood sugar to drop low enough to cause sugar cravings. If you indulge this craving the whole things repeats itself until your body is literally worn out. The insulin receptors stop working as well, moving you into non-insulin dependent Type II diabetes. If you continue, your body will be too tired to make insulin at all and you will have insulin-dependent Type II diabetes and require insulin injections. Once your body loses its ability to produce its own insulin, it can never be reversed. You will require insulin injections for the rest of your life. Not Fun. Let's stop you from getting there. (If you are already there, we can still vastly improve your quality of life and prevent you from other unfortunate complications of diabetes. Never give up on your health!)

Exercise

Not only is exercise good for weight management and cardiovascular health (just to name a couple), but the physical act of contracting your muscles will move glucose (sugar) from your blood stream into your cells WITHOUT the use of insulin. How cool is that?! If you are heading on the path towards diabetes, or have already been diagnosed with diabetes, how important do you think it is to give the insulin in your body a break? VERY that's how important. Since it is the contraction of muscles that is key, strength training really is the golden boy in this scenario. Instead of just hopping on the elliptical, throw in some strength training and you will reap the rewards!

I realize that was a crap ton of info, and I still feel like I only scratched the surface. If you have any questions, thoughts, confusions, etc. please leave them in the comments section below and I will answer them/discuss them with you.

Colds and influenzas are common in the winter months. They are not, however, inevitable, and if you do find yourself under the weather, it doesn't have to be a long suffering experience. If you support your immune system you will find that you can get through annoying illnesses much faster and maybe even avoid them all together.

Some great foods for aiding in relief and prevention of colds:

Garlic
Turmeric
Ginger
Raw honey

1. Raw garlic is a tough one for people, but if you can manage to eat some raw garlic when you start to feel the onset of something, or simply have spent your day in a office with sick people, it can work wonders. I chew it and eat it like a badass, which sucks, but I think works better (maybe I'm kidding myself, but I've heard it releases more of the medicinal properties) but you can also chop it into small pieces and swallow it.

2. A tea made of hot water with turmeric and ginger powders with some raw honey is great for chest congestion.

3. Eat nutrient dense foods. Cooking and eating for immunity means consuming a large variety of micronutrients to support your body's functions. It also means making it easier on your digestive system by properly preparing your grains and legumes. It's amazing how many people don't think that they can eat grains and/or beans and it is because they don't know how to properly prepare them. For tips on preparing beans, visit one of my earlier posts entitled Don't Fear the Bean.

Grains also need to be presoaked. I know that this is a less talked about topic, but many grains contain phytates that can inhibit digestion and absorption. Soaking grains in water with something acidic (ex. 2 T of vinegar or lemon juice) will do the trick. A few hours to overnight is ideal, but even a last minute 30-60 minutes is better than nothing. Strain the grains and use fresh liquid when cooking. As an added bonus: your cooking time will decrease if you've presoaked.

(There is also the kefir/buttermilk/yogurt option which I personally like, but I imagine freaks some people out. If you want to soak your oatmeal in kefir, buttermilk or yogurt, be sure to cover it!)

Another great option is sprouting your grains or beans. Mung beans are especially great for sprouting and grains such as quinoa and buckwheat are great for beginners. Sprouted grains/legumes are much more easily digestible and super easy. Initially soak your grains/legumes in cool water for a few hours - overnight. Then drain them in a mesh strainer. Keep them in the strainer, and 4 times a day or so, take the strainer to the sink, rinse them in cool water and set them aside. Little tails will start to form within a day or two. Voilà! Sprouted. You can let them keep going and create full-on sprouts, or leave it and cook with them immediately.

4. Another thing to keep in mind is eating seasonally and intuitively. Most people want warming stews over raw salads in the winter. This natural inclination does not need to be fought. I'm not saying to abandon fruits and vegetables, not at all, but prepare them in a way that feels good to you. Winter squashes, roots and tubers are very appropriate for this time of year and actually have nutrient profiles that support our bodies in the colder months.