Here is why it’s important to use less insulin: The fact is that insulin is not your friend. You need it to live, but you want to use as little as possible. You want the levels of insulin in your bloodstream to stay as low as possible. Like sugar. The lower the better (within reason, say 80 to 99 for fasting blood sugars). When it comes to insulin, you want your levels to remain as low as necessary to do the job, not zero of course, but on the low side. Why is that? There are a number of reasons.

First of all, insulin is the fat-storage hormone. Control your insulin levels, and you control the amount of fat you deposit.

Secondly, insulin prefers to store fat in your belly. The worst place possible. Belly fat is called “visceral” fat, and visceral fat is the bad kind. You’ve probably heard or read about how some folks are shaped like apples vs. others who are shaped like pears. And how apples are the ones at greater risk for developing diabetes and heart disease. Folks shaped like apples are the ones with more visceral fat, and they are the ones whose insulin levels are too high.

Thirdly, insulin stiffens your blood vessels and raises your blood pressure.

Fourth, insulin raises triglycerides, a part of the cholesterol profile that gets checked when your doctor sends you to the lab to check your cholesterol. Believe me, you do not want your triglycerides to rise. Why not? Because people with high triglycerides are at greater risk factor for diabetes and heart disease. Do you see the pattern?

Fifth, insulin interferes with fertility. Have you ever heard of “polycystic ovarian syndrome,” or PCOS? This is a situation that makes it hard for women to conceive. Doctors treat PCOS with a diabetes medicine that improves insulin sensitivity. Does that strike you as kind of odd? It should.

Finally, insulin coats the satiety centers in your brain, so you can’t tell you’re full. If you’ve ever had the experience of cruising the cabinets after dinner, even though you know your stomach is full, maybe it’s because your insulin levels are high. When your insulin levels are high, it’s hard for your brain to tell that you’re full. So it thinks you still need food. But you don’t. Your belly is full. Your brain just doesn’t know it.

How can you lower your insulin levels? By eating real food — rich in fiber, protein and nourishing fats — that you absorb more slowly. Refried beans, hummus, edamame, peanuts, sunflower seeds, guacamole, vegetables, fruits, salmon, turkey, eggs, whole grains, milk. And avoiding manufactured calories, stripped carbohydrates, and the thousands of other edible inventions that are absorbed very quickly. Whenever you eat something that you absorb slowly, you only need a little bit of insulin to catch it and take it to your cells. Whenever you eat something that you absorb quickly, like Special K or granola bars, you need a boatload of insulin to catch it and take it to your cells.

What can you expect as your insulin levels begin to drop? It takes about three days for your body to notice that you don’t need as much insulin as you used to. Once that happens, you notice that you aren’t quite as hungry as you were before. In no more than two weeks you’ll notice that your pants are starting to fit better.

Just one more thing: I believe that it is a particularly bad idea to eat stripped carbs in the morning.  But what’s the typical American breakfast? Toast, bagels, waffles, muffins, cereal, biscuits, bread, pancakes. All stripped carbohydrates.

So if you’re looking for just one thing to change, one thing that will give you the biggest bang for your buck, one thing that will make the biggest difference, then change your breakfast. Skip the white flour, and eat a spoonful of peanut butter, or finish the leftover tuna fish in the refrigerator. Maybe eggs, whether scrambled or hard boiled. You could try a cup of refried beans, and melt some cheese on top if you want. You could just eat a slice of cheese, with or without an apple. Jarlsberg (a kind of Swiss) is a favorite in my house. There are lots of great cheeses at the supermarket. Just don’t buy one that’s called “processed American cheese food.” If someone has to tell you it’s food, it probably isn’t.