Hello lovely,

Thank you for signing up to my email and deciding to take responsibility for your own health.

To help you get started with this journey to health, I have created this short and easy plan to guide you through your first days.

You may already have chronic symptoms or challenges that you want to improve, or you just want to prevent diseases, feel good, and look youthful and healthy. Whatever your goals, it is important that you commit to your following your plan.

INsulin resistance

Insulin resistance – metabolic syndrome – is a common problem. It is the root cause not only of type 2 diabetes, but also of almost all common chronic symptoms; including obesity, fatty liver, hormonal imbalance, many inflammatory conditions, chronic aches and pains, intestinal problems, and even many mental health problems, such as depression. What does insulin resistance mean? Insulin regulates various metabolic processes in the body. Insulin’s best-known function is to move sugar from the bloodstream into the cells. When we eat and our blood sugar levels rise, the pancreas releases insulin, which moves the glucose into the cells for energy production. Insulin also has many other functions, including helping to store excess glucose as glycogen and fat. Any excess glucose that our cells don’t need is stored with the help of insulin.

Insulin resistance is a condition in which the pancreas produces insulin, but the cells don’t respond to it normally. They become resistant to the effects of insulin. As a result, the body tries to compensate by producing more and more insulin to maintain normal blood sugar levels. This leads to a situation where insulin levels are constantly elevated – this is called hyperinsulinemia. This in turn leads to many problems and symptoms. In addition to numerous health problems, many people with insulin resistance also gain weight because insulin stores much of the excess carbohydrate as fat. There is so much insulin in the body that it prevents the burning of excess fat stores, the effect of the glucagon hormone is blocked. So not only do we gain weight, but it is almost impossible to lose weight, no matter what we do.

To recap: when we eat, the pancreas begins to secrete insulin. When there is a break in eating, insulin secretion stops, and the pancreas begins to secrete glucagon. The purpose of glucagon, in turn, is to release energy from adipose tissue and the liver. At the same time, the lipase enzyme is activated. Without this enzyme, fat cannot be released from adipose tissue. In short, insulin stores energy and glucagon releases energy for the body to use. Too much insulin disrupts this normal interaction.

There are many causes of insulin resistance, the most important of which is the modern diet, which contains too many carbohydrates, especially refined carbohydrates, sugar and processed foods. Industrial oils are another, huge problem, they cause oxidative stress and inflammation in the body, which in turn causes insulin resistance, and worsens existing problems. Chronic stress is also a big problem for many. Chronic stress not only affects the gut microbiome, causing imbalance and chronic inflammation, but constantly elevated stress hormone levels also affect other hormones, such as insulin (hormonal balance is disrupted).

What can i do?

The purpose of low carb diet is to reduce the amount of insulin in the body and improve the insulin sensitivity of cells. The diet avoids those foods that increase the body's insulin load the most (carbohydrates). In addition, foods that cause inflammation (industrial vegetable oils and other processed foods) should be avoided.

The quality of food is very important to prevent inflammation and ensure the intake of micronutrients that support cells. We need many micronutrients for all body functions. It is clear that if you eat poor-quality food, the body will not get the nutrition it needs. Eating is not just about filling your stomach, it is important to give your body the nutrients it needs to function properly. Whatever your health problem, food can either help improve it or make it worse. Make sure you eat nutritious food every day. In addition to diet, avoiding stress and getting the right amount of exercise are important.

Food

The nutritional content of food is extremely important. There is research evidence that nutrient-poor food makes people eat more calories than necessary. The explanation for this is that the human body needs a sufficient amount of hundreds of compounds, many unknown to us, that are found in natural food. If there is a shortage of nutrients, people will eat too much to try satisfy the body's need. It is worth investing in quality food. This does not mean expensive food, but food that you make yourself from basic ingredients.
Food is truly the most important thing, the mistakes of which cannot be corrected in any other way. Food is therefore a source of energy, a building block for the body, but also a source of information for the body. The first two have been widely known for a long time, but few people know that food is also information that shapes the body in the most diverse ways, right down to the genetic level.

- Avoid processed food, and especially industrial seed oils.

- Eat natural, real food that you have prepared yourself.

- Choose organic products whenever possible.

- Eat lots of healthy herbs and/or berries every day.

- Eat healthy natural fats, such as butter and beef fat, olive oil and coconut oil.

- Make sure you get enough quality protein (meat and fish) in your food.

- Enjoy food and all its goodness. Make every meal meaningful, don't rush.

- Take care of your gut microbiome by eating a variety of vegetables, herbs and berries. Maybe try fermented foods like kefir or sauerkraut.

MEal times

It is very important to follow strict meal times. This means eating ONLY breakfast, lunch and dinner, never snacks. It is important to give your body time to eat and gather all the necessary nutrients and then let your body use up stored energy between meals. As I said above, all these different functions are regulated by different hormones, and eating too often disrupts this natural balance and function.

First, you can start with a three-meal rhythm: breakfast, lunch and dinner. Then, once you get used to this, you can skip breakfast and build your food rhythm around lunch and dinner. There can be 6–8 hours between lunch and dinner, during which you don't eat at all. You can drink fluids such as water, coffee or tea.

So, focus on your eating rhythm and food quality at the beginning. For many, this combination alone solves their problems. Children in particular respond very well to this alone.

If you have a metabolic disorder, insulin resistance or DM 2, you should start restricting carbohydrates after you have first followed strict meal times and been avoiding snacks. Restricting carbohydrates to 70g/day is sufficient for many. Ketosis is a good thing in many cases, but it is not necessary.

Carbohydrate restriction

- Avoid starchy foods such as bread, pasta, beans, rice, porridge, potatoes, sweet potatoes and drinks such as beer

- Avoid sugar

The benefits of carbohydrate restriction include:

- Reduction of insulin levels in the body, which leads to a rapid reduction in all symptoms caused by insulin resistance

- Reduction of excess fat in the body, including in the liver

- Reduction of chronic inflammation, which reduces the symptoms of possible autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and strengthens the immune system

Low-carb meals

Meals mainly contain protein (meat, fish, eggs), vegetables and a sufficient amount of fat.

If weight loss is the only motivation for switching to a ketogenic diet, many people make a key mistake when they think that they must reduce calories. It is absolutely essential to eat enough calories at every meal, whether you have one, two or three meals a day.

Another mistake is the belief that many people have that eating fat makes you lose weight and therefore eat too much fat. If you eat too much fat when following keto diet, the body does not use its own fat stores. Your weight will not decrease and may even increase. However, you should not be afraid of fat in any way, it is an important part of your diet. I always recommend eating fatty meat for example, because of the nutritional content.

Protein is an important building block. Dietary protein speeds up metabolism and reduces appetite. If the amount of protein is 30% of the calories, it speeds up metabolism by up to 100 kcal per day. However, not all protein is the same. Animal based protein is the best, of which meat is the absolute number one. Meat is very healthy, even if the food industry marketing claims otherwise.

Scroll down for 5 low carb dinners to try this week...