If you’re like a lot of women when you left your 40s behind you started to slowly gain weight. It wasn’t long before you were lugging around a few extra pounds and finding it nearly impossible to get rid of them.
But those extra pounds might not be the only thing you share in common with those women. It turns out over half of women who are battling a muffin top, sparring with a spare tire, or combatting saddlebags are also suffering from an overwhelmed pancreas.
So how did you get here? Well diet, age and even the toxins you come into contact with every day can end up doing a number on your insulin receptors, making them less and less responsive a condition known as insulin resistance or metabolic syndrome.
Your poor pancreas tries to compensate by pumping out more and more insulin, eventually tuckering itself out. Meanwhile, your now insulin-resistant cells are no longer efficiently converting the sugars and carbs you eat into fuel to burn. This triggers your body to begin squirrelling them away as fat instead.
Left with a damaged pancreas and a bulging belly that refuses to budge it’s easy to begin to feel hopeless. But don’t despair, research has revealed a novel solution. A way to kickstart your pancreas and get it firing on all cylinders again.
And it all starts in your kitchen with four foods that can help you reign in your blood sugar to give your overwhelmed pancreas a chance to heal.
1. Coffee:
If you’re a coffee lover you’re in luck. It turns out your favorite hot beverage isn’t just delicious, it’s also a blood sugar hero. Research has shown that coffee, which is loaded with chlorogenic acid, can help beat back rising blood sugar numbers and even slash your risk of diabetes up to 50 percent.1,2,3,4,5 Plus your cup of java can help keep pancreas-damaging proteins from forming.
2. Flaxseed:
The humble flaxseed supports your overloaded pancreas in two different ways, according to a study published in the journal Nutrition Research.6 Loaded with soluble fiber and lignans flaxseed naturally puts the brakes on the release of sugar into your bloodstream, while improving your cell’s insulin sensitivity at the same time.
According to researchers just one tablespoon of flaxseed a day for three months reduced volunteer’s fasting blood sugar by an impressive 20 percent and insulin sensitivity by an incredible 19 percent. Grind up whole flaxseeds in your coffee grinder to get to the good stuff in the seeds and mix them into your morning yogurt, smoothies or even scrambled eggs.
3. Red wine:
If you’re a red wine fan I’ve got great news. It turns out a daily glass of vino may help tackle your metabolic syndrome head on, according to a study published in The Annals of Internal Medicine.7 Five ounces of red wine a day delivered better blood sugar control to study participants. But the benefit didn’t end there, the red-wine drinkers also saw their “good” HDL cholesterol rise and their total cholesterol levels drop. Choose a dry red such as merlot which is brimming with insulin friendly resveratrol, and stick to just five ounces with your evening meal.
4. Garlic:
Make garlic a part of your daily routine and your pancreas problems could be a thing of the past. Incredibly, supplementing with garlic oil for one month can literally increase the number of healthy beta cells in the pancreas, according to an animal study published in the Research Journal of Pharmaceutical, Biological and Chemical Sciences.
Experts theorize that the sulfur compound allicin is responsible for helping to balance blood sugar, while repairing your overwhelmed pancreas. As a bonus, garlic could help you shed more weight. Animals given the garlic supplement lost four times more weight than those that didn’t get the garlic. Aim for using two cloves of garlic a day in your favorite dishes. But be sure to allow your crushed garlic to sit for at least 10 minutes before using it to get the most benefits from the allicin.
References:
1. “Coffee, decaffeinated coffee, and tea consumption in relation to incident type 2 diabetes mellitus: a systematic review with meta-analysis,” Arch Intern Med. 2009 Dec 14;169(22):2053-63
2. “Caffeinated and caffeine-free beverages and risk of type 2 diabetes,” Am J Clin Nutr. 2013 Jan;97(1):155-66
3. “Coffee, tea, and incident type 2 diabetes: the Singapore Chinese Health Study,” Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Oct;88(4):979-85
4, “Caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and a dose-response meta-analysis,” Diabetes Care. 2014 Feb;37(2):569-86
5. “Coffee consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus,” Lancet. 2002 Nov 9;360(9344):1477-8
6. “Flaxseed supplementation improved insulin resistance in obese glucose intolerant people: a randomized crossover design,” Nutr J. 2011; 10: 44
7. “Effects of Initiating Moderate Alcohol Intake on Cardiometabolic Risk in Adults With Type 2 Diabetes: A 2-Year Randomized, Controlled Trial,” Ann Intern Med. 2015;163:569-579
8. “Histopathological and Biochemical Effects of Allium Sativum Oil Administration on Type 1 Diabetic rats,” January – March 2013, RJPBCS, Volume 4, Issue 1, Page No. 1045
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