Your body uses carbohydrates to create glucose, the body's primary energy source. The pancreas releases insulin to help move glucose into the cells. When you have insulin resistance, your body cannot complete this process as efficiently and it requires more and more insulin to push glucose into the cells. This problem can serve as a precursor to diabetes and you must make a serious effort to control blood sugar through diet. Dietary recommendations do not vary between the sexes, meaning that nothing would specifically apply to just women.
Differences in Carbohydrates
All carbohydrates eventually break down into glucose but do so at different rates. If you have insulin resistance, you must limit your intake of quick-burning carbohydrates that produce large amounts of glucose at once as well as foods that contain high amounts of carbohydrates. This includes refined, white flour foods stripped of most of their fiber, sugar-laden drinks and beverages and starchy carbohydrates like corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams and even whole grains. Naturopathic physician Randall Bradley, writing for his website, does not advocate completely cutting out whole grains but eating them in small amounts -- they always represent a better choice over refined ones.
Glycemic Index
Randall notes that the recommended diet for insulin resistance mirrors diet plans like South Beach. These sorts of diets focus on the Glycemic Index, a ranking of foods based on how quickly they raise your blood sugar. The scale goes from 1 to 100 and recommends eliminating or strictly limiting any item that ranks above 70, explains Mayoclinic.com. This index might serve as a useful tool for designing an eating plan to deal with insulin resistance.
Recommended Carbohydrates
You cannot completely cut carbohydrates out of your diet, but you should choose foods with lower amounts of them. These sorts of carbohydrates should make up a majority of your intake. Examples include non-starchy vegetables like broccoli, onions, peppers, leafy greens, tomatoes, cauliflower and spinach and legumes like soy, beans and peas. Berries of all kinds have lower amounts of sugar compared to other fruits.
Protein and Fats
Lowering the amount of carbohydrates can increase the risk of eating too much animal protein high in fat and cholesterol. Eat healthy fats found in oils like olive and canola, raw nuts and vegetable fats like avocado and coconut. Randall notes that milk in general might contribute to higher blood sugar levels and low-fat and fat-free milk exert the strongest effect; if you do drink milk, he recommends full-fat in moderate amounts. Stick to lean cuts of red meat like sirloin and flank, chicken, turkey and fish.
Importance of Weight Loss
Luckily, following the recommendations to lower insulin resistance will naturally result in weight loss. The National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse notes that losing even 5 to 7 percent of your body weight can reduce your risk of getting diabetes by 60 percent.
