Planning a weight loss program without addressing blood sugar would be like planning a wedding without a bride– it’s just plain useless. In order to effectively burn fat, your body relies on certain signals, one of which is your blood sugar.
If your blood sugar level is as unpredictable and extreme as the roller coasters at your favorite theme park, you’re essentially setting yourself up for a metabolic disaster, making it that much harder for you to burn fat and lose weight.
Keep your blood sugar under control by trying these 3 changes:
1. Switch to Organic Dark Coffee
Once thought to be a bad habit, coffee is now being redeemed, in light of mounting evidence supporting its health benefits, ranging from reducing risk of various cancers to prevention of dementia.
Another helpful benefit from coffee is that it lowers your blood glucose level and may even increase your metabolic activity. Researchers have suggested that the mechanism responsible for reducing blood sugar is by doubling the amount of glucose that is taken up by he cells, which means that less sugar stays in the blood.
Separate studies from Japan and Germany published in 2010 and 2012 respectively, have found that drinking moderate amounts of coffee can help protect against type 2 Diabetes. Choose a dark roast over light, make sure it’s organic, and don’t even think about adding dangerous creamers and other flavorings, which are themselves probably packed with sugar or artificial sweeteners.
2. Discover Banaba Leaf
For years, the people of the Philippines and India have used banaba leaf extract to control their blood sugar. This old-age secret is now being confirmed by recent scientific studies. Researchers have discovered that one of its active ingredients, corosolic acid, mimics insulin in that it shuttles blood sugar out of the blood and into your cells.
A study on patients with diabetes mellitus (type 2 diabetes) showed that supplementation with banaba leaf extract for four weeks was effective in maintaining balanced blood sugar levels, compared to patients who took placebo. Now available as tea and conveniently sold online, it makes an excellent substitution to your favorite mid-morning or mid-afternoon drink.
3. Meet (and eat!) Vanadium, Chromium’s Sidekick
It’s been known since the 1970’s that the mineral chromium plays an important part in maintaining healthy levels of blood sugar in diabetics and non-diabetics alike.
What most medical experts missed was that another mineral, vanadium, worked in conjunction with the chromium to deliver the excellent results seen in patients with blood sugar problems.
Although vanadium supplements are available, most doctors don’t recommend taking them alone, as few human studies have been done on those specific (often synthetic) forms of vanadium. Instead, opt for natural sources of vanadium, which include black pepper, mushrooms, dill weed, parsley, and even lobster (yum!).
Substitution rather than elimination is key to sticking to your weight loss goals. While most plans focus on eating less, the foods mentioned above are ones you can actually eat more of, without the guilt. By eating foods that encourage healthy, balanced blood sugar levels, you’ll optimize your metabolic function, putting yourself on the fast track to weight loss success!
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