(...previous page) to compensate for the high volume of sugar, but your muscle cells are getting tired of being bombarded with it day in and day out.? They start refusing delivery.

So now you've got excess sugar floating around in your bloodstream which will lead to diabetes and the complications associated with it.   You've got increased levels of insulin, which have been associated with increased risk of heart disease.  And to top it all off, you're tired because you can't get that sugar into the muscle cells where it would have been burnt for energy.

One more point: Before you get to the actual threshold of diabetes, you probably will notice that you're gaining weight, usually in all the wrong places, like around your middle.  That's because when insulin tries to get rid of the sugar and can't get into the muscle cells, its second choice is your fat cells.  So what's a body to do?  The solution is actually quite simple.  Notice I said simple, but not necessarily easy.  It's not always easy to change a lifetime of eating habits.  That's why it's important to see a nutritionist to help you modify your diet.  All you need to do is cut down on those foods that cause your body to make a lot of insulin, namely high sugar, highly processed foods, and eat low-insulin producing foods instead, like vegetables, fruits, legumes (like kidney, black and pinto beans), protein foods and healthy fats.

Give your pancreas (the organ that makes the insulin) a rest, give those muscle cells a chance to recover from the "sugar deluge" and they'll start to become a little more receptive to the glucose delivery again.  Here's the rule to follow: Think of carbohydrates in terms of color - the more color a carbohydrate has, the better it is for you.  (Unless, of course, it's artificially colored, so put those jellybeans down??.now!) Foods that come from a green plant, like fruits and vegetables, should be your first choice for energy providing carbohydrates.  Next best are the "brown" or earth-toned foods, like whole grains, legumes, and potatoes with the skin.  What you want to stay away from is the "white stuff", like refined sugar and flour and all the things that are made from them.  In other words, "processed food".   The more processed a food is, the more quickly it will turn to "sugar in the blood".  It doesn't even have to taste sweet to be dangerous!

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