There are many ways to improve your health naturally and safely at home – and elsewhere.  If you follow these ten tips every day, they will soon become a habit.

Oil Pulling

Oil pulling means that you rinse your mouth out – ideally with coconut oil. This can have a very powerful cleansing and healing effect, detoxifying or cleansing the body.The process can also help with dental problems in the mouth.

This is a simple and inexpensive way to whiten teeth and freshen breath.  It can also improve several health conditions (ranging from eczema to arthritis) through its effect on oral bacteria. Imagine the oil that lubricates and cleans vehicle engines for many miles before being changed and fresh oil put in. Oil pulling works the same way in our mouth, getting rid of dirt and grime.

First thing in the morning – on an empty stomach and before drinking any liquids – put 1 to 2 teaspoons of the oil in your mouth. Push, pull and swish the oil between your teeth and all around your mouth for 15 to 20 minutes, long enough to bind bacteria with the oil. Spit out the oil and rinse.  You can then brush your teeth with a natural toothpaste and even a natural sea salt and water mouthwash.  At the start, carry this out 3 times a day if possible for a full detox. Later, change to once a day for maintenance.

Recommended: Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections

Vitamin D supplement and/or Sunlight Exposure

Unless you are a lifeguard on a California beach or you live on the equator, there is a strong possibility that you will be Vitamin D deficient.  Today, we spend much of our lives indoors, under artificial light and when we do get out in the sunlight, we are encouraged to slather on the sunblock.  Make the change to exposing as much skin as possible to the summer sunlight (without skin block) until the skin starts to turn a light pink (if you are light skinned).  Darker skin tones can tolerate more sun.  The darker your skin, the longer it takes to absorb vitamin D.  Aging can also prevent absorption.

During the winter months, most of us need to supplement with a high-quality vitamin D3 and the dosage can be up to 5000 IUs daily.  If you are unsure about how much you should take, get tested.

Coconut Oil

Often considered to be one of the healthiest oils in the world, the flesh of the coconut is very high in healthy fatty acids. While the composition of fat varies depending on the type and processing of the oil, medium-chain saturated fatty acids make up approximately 90% of coconut oil with a slight contribution of mono-unsaturated fatty acids and poly-unsaturated fatty acids.

Many natural health followers believe that adding coconut oil to your diet will help in preventing the onset of Alzheimer’s. Take two tablespoons daily with food. Start off with just a teaspoon of coconut oil and gradually build up, making sure you use organic virgin coconut oil.

Resistance Exercises

Resistance exercise is any form of exercise that forces your skeletal muscles to contract. For this form of strength training, you can use resistance bands or one of those chest expanders.  You can put your foot on one end and pull upwards with your arm for several times and then change to the other foot and arm.  A resistance band can be attached to a chair or a handy pillar.  Any external resistance will lead to increases in muscular mass, strength, endurance, and tone.  An invaluable way to improve your health.

Recommended: 35 Things You Could Do With Coconut Oil – From Body Care to Health to Household

Grounding – Going Barefoot Outdoors

There are numerous health benefits when you are grounded or connecting electrically with the Earth. But, unlike our ancient ancestors, we no longer have this grounding connection – unless we walk barefoot on grass, sand or even in a body of natural water. Grounding helps to combat inflammation by restoring circulation to fingers and toes, can be very beneficial for problem varicose veins, can thin the blood making it less viscous, and even helps to counteract jet lag.  An hour of grounding after a long flight or car journey can eliminate those unwanted effects of long-distance travel.

A Weekly Epsom Salt Bath

Two cups of Epsom salt in a warm bath can be very beneficial, relaxing and therapeutic.  The bath will help to detox; provide a further form of treatment for skin conditions such as eczema and acne; soothe inflammation, bruising, swelling and muscle strain; and top up magnesium levels where deficient.

Relax Your Back

Apart from an Epsom salt bath above, there is a very useful exercise for the relief of lower back pain.  Lie flat on the floor facing upwards before lifting your legs straight up into the air and, bending at the knees, place your feet on the seat of a dining room/kitchen chair.  Remain like this for at least twenty minutes.  Relax as much as you can and even practice deep breathing at the same time.

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A Daily 30-minute Walk

And a brisk one at that!  We all need to get moving more and this is an ideal way to start and a very good habit to get into.  Of course, an hour is even better, but I am not pushing it!

Hydrating

Are you drinking enough liquids and especially water?  A jug or glass of water next to your bed at night helps to keep you hydrated and even aids sleep.  During the day, keep a glass or reusable bottle of water at your workplace to remind you to keep drinking. Carry that same bottle with you when traveling or out and about.  Water is not always as drinkable and as safe as you would hope or expect.  Investing in a high quality home water filter is probably the most practical and affordable solution.

Recommended: Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones

Standing in the Workplace

We don’t have to tell you that most people don’t stand enough, preferring to take the comfortable easy way out.  And yet, spending too much time sitting is now considered to be as dangerous for your health as being a smoker, increasing the risk of diabetes, heart failure, invasive breast cancer, ovarian cancer, colon cancer, reducing blood flow, and even leading to deep vein thrombosis.

Think and plan on how you can become more of a stand-up person.

Taking that daily brisk walk above is one way while re-thinking your workplace set up is another.  Change your workstation to a standing one; take all phone calls on your feet; pace up and down while you talk; and urge your work colleagues to try standing or walking meetings.

These tips are all ones that I try to follow regularly.  Not always every day but I have the best intentions and I do benefit!

Related Reading:

• Detox Cheap and Easy Without Fasting – Recipes Included
• Start Eating Like That and Start Eating Like This – Your Guide to Homeostasis Through Diet
• How to Make the Healthiest Smoothies – 4 Recipes

Eat Salads

Medicine is entering the age of the microbe. We are just beginning to find out how incredibly important our tiny symbiotic friends are to the health of mammals. Your well-being is regulated in large part by the food you eat because your microbial chemical reactions define your health. There is no better way to foster a diverse and beneficial gut-ecosystem than to eat a salad every day consisting of many different vegetables and herbs. Think of your body as your family, and your gut microbes as your children. The health of those kids will completely dictate the health and success of the home. These aren’t just any salads though. We’re not talking a bag of bleached lettuce and some carrot shreds. These salads promote a diverse and beneficial ecosystem because the salads are made that way: here’s a recipe.

Must Read: How To Heal Your Gut

Drink Cranberry Lemonade

Water is wonderful, and chances are, you should be drinking more of it. Let’s take it one step further, though. Cranberries reduce inflammation and keep our kidneys running at peak performance. Lemon juice is said to help clean the liver, and lemons are known to help with digestion and PH balance. Try making cranberry lemonade with stevia, and drink a half gallon or more a day. This counts as your daily water intake too, so you don’t need to drink this and water. It’s super easy, all done to taste, and here’s a recipe. There is probably nothing else easier to do that can beneficially impact your health as much.

Eliminate Toxins

The toxins you breathe in are not inconsequential. Cleaning products may do as much damage as a pack-a-day habit. Perfumes, air fresheners, that new car smell, and fragrances in body care have been proven to be highly toxic to the body. Open your windows whenever possible, don’t trap yourself in areas that do not have fresh air circulating, and use non-toxic cleaners like this.

Squat

In many parts of the world, squatting is common while cooking, eating, birthing, and relieving oneself. We used to squat all the time. We are designed to squat. We would squat constantly in the wild. In nature, to navigate life and stay alive, we foraged all day. We would squat down, pick a leafy green, and eat it, likely while still in the squat position, staying low and looking around for trouble or more food. We would squat to track our prey, squat to defecate, and we would squat to relax because we didn’t have chairs. Our bodies have been squatting for a long time, and we are still evolved to squat. Squats even help detoxify the body and regulate our hormones! Click here for more on squats. If squats aren’t possible right now, try “get-ups.” What are “get-ups”? Anything you want them to be, just get up, get back down, and get up again! You may need to start in a chair, or maybe your starting position can be laying on the floor. Just get moving up and down and build up to squats.

Must Read: Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones

Walk and Run

Us humans were meant to walk and jog and sprint on a daily basis. We should be walking, squatting, and running sporadically all day. Jogging can be particularly hard on a body with a heavy toxic load, but it has tremendous benefits too. If you suffer from knee pain, read this. If running or jogging isn’t something you can do yet, walk. If you can run, walk some anyways. Walking is a kind of meditation even when one is not trying to mediate. Take the stairs and park farther away. Walk and jog and sprint every chance you get.

Go Outside in Nature

Have you read the studies about this yet? Nature is really important to our health. We need it and we do not get enough of it! If you are near the woods, take a daily walk. Breathe in the nature around you. Do some grounding by walking barefoot or sit on a rock and meditate. Whatever you do, just get out there and get some negative ions.

Breathe

Speaking of breathing, this is not a small thing. One can radically improve their health and their mental well being immediately by eliminating shallow breathing and learning to naturally take deep, full breaths. If you lie down on the floor and breathe in, does your stomach rise or fall? If it’s sinking in as you take a breath than your breathing is all wrong! Here’s how to breathe properly.

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• Start Eating Like That and Start Eating Like This – Your Guide to Homeostasis Through Diet
• How to Make the Healthiest Smoothies – 4 Recipes
• Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones
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In many parts of the world, squatting is common while cooking, eating, birthing, and relieving oneself. We used to squat all the time. We are designed to squat. We would squat constantly in the wild. In nature, to navigate life and stay alive, we foraged all day. We would squat down, pick a leafy green, and eat it, likely while still in the squat position, staying low and looking around for trouble or more food. We would squat to track our prey, squat to defecate, and we would squat to relax because we didn’t have chairs. Our bodies have been squatting for a long time, and we are still evolved to squat.

Squatting is a fundamental movement that every human being is designed to do. But due to a combination of weakness and immobility from a lifetime of wearing restrictive footwear and sitting in a chair, many of us in urban industrialized societies have lost the ability to squat properly.” – Rui Li, a certified personal trainer

The Main Benefits of Squatting

1. Flexibility

Squatting regularly and properly can help improve range of motion and strengthen muscles throughout the lower body including the glutes, hips, ankles.

2. Body Alignment

Squats can correct body alignment. When you first do a squat (if it’s been a while), not only will you feel stiff and tight, you will also notice that certain joints just aren’t moving right. Things are “out of place” as they say. You could go to a chiropractor, but most would benefit from just doing daily squats. As the body’s joints become used to stretching, get more limber, and as blood flows in areas it was not getting to well previously, the body will usually start to align itself back into place.

3. Testosterone

Squats work most of the largest muscles in your body, such as your hips, glutes, abductors, and quadriceps. Other muscles engaged include your hamstrings, calves, and all your core muscles as well as most other stabilizer muscles. Doing squats naturally produces testosterone and builds muscle, not just in the legs.

4. Detox

Squats move organs and bodily systems, which gently massages and stimulates organs, lymph, and glands. Squats increase blood flow. As the organs get massaged and stimulated, the body gets more flexible. and the joints ease up, you’ll notice an increase in blood flow all over the body.

Related: How To Heal Your Gut

5. Improve Circulation

The circulatory system needs bodily movement to function properly. Doing squats will stimulate the glands, the organs, and help get the blood circulating better.

6. Energy Boost

When you open pathways, you stimulate glands and get the blood flowing you also increase your body’s electrical charge, meaning, you literally have more energy. When scientists talk about the nervous system sending ‘signals’ to the brain, or when they talk about “synapses firing,” they are referring to the flow of electricity in the body. Once squats become easy, nothing else will give you the same energy boost.

7. Eliminate Lower Back and Knee Pain

Doing squats the wrong way can lead to permanent lower back and knee pain, but doing squats with good form can reverse and heal such injuries. For those with knee pain, check your arches and then push your knees outward while you squat.

Related: Running Without Knee Pain

8. Reduce Cellulite

Cellulite is deposits of fat under the skin. Squats can help reduce the appearance of cellulite and help tighten and tone the skin. Some “spot-reduction” can be achieved with squats, but diet is going to play a bigger factor in cellulite reduction.

9. Decrease Risk of Injuries

Who do you think is more likely to be injured by bending over to pick up something? The person who can do 100 squats or the person who can do 5? The increased mobility and strength that comes from squats are realized within just a few days of starting them. Stairs become easier, bending over to pick things up feels like less of a strain. Life becomes less of a strain.

10. Build Core Strength

Squats use almost all of our muscles, and it hits the core hard. You use your abs, lower back, and obliques when doing squats, which also work the internal organs and glands as mentioned above. A weak core is a very weak link in the chain that makes up our musculature system. The strongest legs in the world will not squat much without an awesome core to carry and stabilize the weight.

11. Lift and Tighten the Butt

The bigger the gluteus maximus the higher, firmer, rounder, and sexier the butt is.

12. Fix Posture

If you find yourself slumping, slouching, or generally just looking like you’re fighting gravity just to stand, a few weeks of daily squats can fix that.

13. Improve Confidence, Mood

Improved posture generally improves one’s mood. It’s like forcing a smile when you’re unhappy. Standing tall, fully upright with ease, of a sign of confidence; people with better posture have a leg up in the confidence game.

14. Improve Libido

With the glandular activity, energy boost, more confidence, and an increase in testosterone, it’s pretty easy to see what squats can do for you in the bedroom.

How To Squat

The goal is to be able to feel relaxed and comfortable in this position:

The image is from an excellent article called Interesting Facts About the Natural Squatting Position.

There are bodyweight squats and there are weighted squats, and there are countless various methods for both. For this article, we’ll stick to bodyweight squats. There are many schools of thought on how best to do squats, but I highly recommend you mix them up. Here are a few to try:

Prison Squat

This is like a power squat without the weight if you are familiar with barbell lifting. Stand with your feet slightly beyond shoulder-width apart with your toes forward and your knees pushed outward. Keep your hands on your head or otherwise unable to assist. Squat down to parallel or a little below with a tight core, flex the core hard on the way up keeping the lower back stable and stiff.

Narrow, Close Stance, Legs Together Squats

When you put together the legs you work the leg muscles differently. Where before you will feel a lot of abductor work and core activation, with these squats you’ll find more quadricep use and a need for increased flexibility. I prefer to take these squats all the way down, and I will bend at the ankles at the very bottom, but attempt to do this less and less as the ankle joints loosen. You will want to flex the core hard on the initial phase of the come-up. I prefer to let my arms swing a bit on this exercise.

Chinese Wall Squats

For those who are graduating to more difficult squats, but still want to stick to bodyweight exercises, there are lunges, there are pistol squats, and then there’s my favorite, Chinese Wall Squats! These are much harder than they look, but if you can do them then you have very strong legs and a strong core and excellent mobility.

GetUps

I have certainly been so sick before that any squat recommendations would have been laughable. For people who can’t do squats yet, I recommend getups! They’re easy. Just lay down on the floor, and then get up. The trick is to notice how you stabilize yourself and to alternate each time. For instance, if you get down on your right knee, and push with your right hand on your leg, and get up with your left leg first, you need to alternate all of these leverage points with your body so you don’t get too strong on one side which can throw the body out of alignment and actually reduce mobility.

It’s important to note that on a severely toxic body, physically demanding squats can lead to more damage. Even with perfect form, if the body is in an extremely inflammatory state, doing squats with knee or back pain can cause more inflammation of an injury and the entire body. If you’re someone who is dealing with chronic pain, take it slow, watch the video below and work towards that, start with just a few, build up slowly, and read the first few articles below the video in the “Must Read” section!

If you’ve ever watched a toddler play, they squat easily and often,” Dr. Jasmine Marcus, a physical therapist with McCune and Murphy Physical Therapy in Ithaca, New York, told MNN. “As we age, we stop performing this motion and tend to lose hip, knee and ankle range of motion.” – MNN

Must Read:

• Detox Cheap and Easy Without Fasting – Recipes Included
• Start Eating Like That and Start Eating Like This – Your Guide to Homeostasis Through Diet
• How to Make the Healthiest Smoothies – 4 Recipes
• Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones
• How to Detoxify and Heal the Lymphatic System

In an ironic twist, the president of the Amercian Heart Association, Dr. John Warner, suffered a heart attack in the middle of a health conference at the age of 52.

Dr. Warner’s speech at the conference focused on how his family’s history of heart disease has impacted his family, citing his father and his father’s father heart bypass surgery while in their 60s, While Dr. Warner is recovering after doctors cleared a clogged artery, the fact remains that the head of an organization dedicated to living lives free of cardiovascular disease or stroke had a heart attack more than a decade earlier than the age of the average man’s first heart attack. It’s like finding out the vegan restaurant you love is run by a guy who competes in whole hog barbeque contests on the weekends. Does the AHA treat cardiovascular disease or simply manage it?

Recommended: 35 Things You Could Do With Coconut Oil – From Body Care to Health to Household

Treating Symptoms

One in four deaths in the U.S. is from cardiovascular disease. The CDC identifies high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and smoking as key factors in developing it. But simply addressing these misses the bigger picture – high blood pressure and high cholesterol are symptoms. They don’t exist in a vacuum. In fact, many of the causes of crucial heart disease risk factors are the same: diet and exercise.

AHA diet recommendations are perfectly pleasant, but they don’t address critical factors in an actual healthy diet. They vilify salt without explicitly acknowledging that the problem is actually the processed food. The association’s first-ever guidelines for added sugars were introduced in 2016, years behind emerging dietary research. let’s not get into their complicated an incredibly damaging relationship with fats, including the AHA’s recent denouncement of coconut oil. The AHA doesn’t actually fix the diet, much like it only fixes symptoms.

Recommended: Start Eating Like That and Start Eating Like This – Your Guide to Homeostasis Through Diet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2K04vCy73oM

Recommended: Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System

A Non-Profit, Emphasis on the Profit

The AHA has a laundry list of powerful friends in industries that would are very interested in controlling the heart disease narrative – especially pharmaceutical companies. Many well known pharmaceutical companies have contributed millions to the AHA. Some of the best-selling drugs in the country, statins and medications to lower blood pressure, are the AHA’s solution of choice for treating heart disease. The AHA provides a steady stream of customers, and one could argue that the recent drop in healthy blood pressure guidelines that added 30 million Americans to the potential sales…patient pool.

Sources:

• Heart attack strikes American Heart Association president – CNN
• AHA president doing well after minor heart attack – American Heart Association News
• Heart Disease Facts – CDC.gov
• Nearly half of U.S. adults have high blood pressure under new guidelines – CBS
• The American Heart Association — Protecting Industry Not Patients – Huffington Post

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is responsible for as much as 70 percent of infertility issues in women. In fact, this disorder affects one out of every ten women of childbearing age, and yet, few women are aware of PCOS and its symptoms.

Common Symptoms of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Before we explore why PCOS happens and how we can reverse it, we must first get familiar with it. Here are the most common symptoms of PCOS:

• irregular periods
• amenorrhea (the absence of menstruation)
• trouble conceiving a child
• infertility
• fatigue
• mood swings
• low sex drive
• weight gain
• trouble losing weight
• acne
• hirsutism (excessive hair growth on the face, abdomen, chest, and back)
• thinning hair

From fatigue to infertility to unsightly hair growth, these symptoms are a random assortment of things that no man or woman would ever want to experience. Could these all be a part of one disorder?

Unfortunately, the answer is yes. However, there is a silver lining — all of the PCOS symptoms point to the same underlying cause.

Related Reading: Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones

What Causes Polycystic Ovary Syndrome?

To understand how PCOS happens, we must understand the nature of this disease.

When we dig through the research the first evidence we come across is that women with PCOS have an increased risk for:

• hypertension
• dyslipidemia
• insulin resistance
• obesity
• glucose intolerance
• diabetes

These conditions are all a manifestation of poor lifestyle choices (overeating and inactivity), but we cannot draw the same conclusion about PCOS by looking only at its associated risks. Let’s look a bit deeper into the cells of a woman with PCOS (I know it sounds a bit creepy, but bear with me here.)

Must Read: The Top 10 Supplements You Can Use To Reverse Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

The common consensus among PCOS researchers is that most women with PCOS have higher levels of insulin and insulin resistance than normal women. This is an important clue that points us to the cause of PCOS.

How Insulin and Insulin Resistance Cause PCOS

You probably already know by now that insulin resistance has something to do with diabetes and obesity, but did you know that it can also cause infertility and other PCOS symptoms? Let’s find out how.

When cells are consistently resistant to insulin, insulin levels continue to rise. High insulin levels trigger the ovaries to produce more androgens, including testosterone. Insulin also decreases the production of sex-hormone binding globulin — a glycoprotein that prevents testosterone from freely entering cells.

Related: Diabetes, Endocrine Functions of the Pancreas, and Natural Healing

With more androgen production and less sex-hormone binding globulin, free testosterone freely floats through the blood and interacts with cells. This is not a good thing for a woman’s health, leading to mood swings, fatigue, low sex drive, acne, and other PCOS symptoms.

As androgen levels continue to increase, they stimulate 5-alpha reductase activity — an enzyme that converts testosterone to a more potent metabolite called DHT. (You may be familiar with DHT as one of the instigators of male pattern baldness and thinning hair.)

Although genetics play a role in PCOS as well, the disorder will not progress without the presence of high insulin levels and insulin resistance. To create a chronic state of insulin resistance and elevated insulin levels, it takes a combination of poor lifestyle habits that contribute to many common diseases.

The Seven Lifestyle Factors That Cause PCOS

If you want to prevent PCOS or reverse it (or improve your health rapidly), avoid these things:

• high sugar foods
• excess calorie consumption
• chronic stress
• inactivity
• too much exercise
• exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (e.g., Bisphenol A, Methylparaben, Nicotine, Sodium Fluoride, PBDEs/PCBs, etc. )
• having a high percentage of body fat (being overweight or obese)
• having a low percentage of body fat due to unhealthy calorie restriction

Each one contributes to PCOS in some way. High sugar foods, excess calorie consumption, and inactivity increase insulin levels and insulin resistance, making PCOS worse. Chronic stress, over-exercising, and having a low body fat percentage will increase cortisol levels, creating more insulin resistance.

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals can also exacerbate PCOS symptoms. These chemicals can cause hormonal imbalances and cell damage, so it is important to avoid consuming them or putting them on your skin.

However, avoiding these PCOS contributors may not completely reverse the disorder. To get the best results, you need to follow a diet that addresses the underlying cause of PCOS — insulin resistance.

Is There a PCOS Diet?

The scientific literature on diets for PCOS is sparse. However, the researchers of a treatment review suggest that PCOS women will do best by eating complex carbohydrates and avoiding sugar. This suggestion was confirmed in one study on the effects of low-glycemic index diet in women with PCOS.

To find more convincing evidence for a PCOS diet, we must look at the diets that are most helpful for addressing the disorders underlying causes. After sifting through the research, the low-carbohydrate diet is the clear winner. It is more effective at reducing insulin levels and insulin resistance than every other diet it was put up against.

There is one important caveat. Carbohydrate restriction may cause stress and make PCOS worse for some women. This is why it is important for women with PCOS to follow the guidelines below.

Related: 80% Raw Food Diet

The New And Improved PCOS Diet

A low-carbohydrate diet can help many women reverse their PCOS. For some women, however, carbohydrate restriction may cause excess stress and keep them from getting results. This is why it is important to follow these guidelines to create the right PCOS diet for you:

1. Restrict Carbohydrate and Sugar Intake

Experts suggest that women should eat between 75 and 150 grams of carbohydrates to maintain fertility and improve insulin levels. It is important to avoid consuming refined sugar as well. The best way to do this is by sourcing your carbohydrates from whole plant foods like leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables, root vegetables, and legumes.

Related: Are Low-Carbohydrate Diets Healthy for Women? How Do Carbs Affect Fertility and Pregnancy?

2. Eat High-Fiber Vegetables With Every Meal

High-fiber vegetables, like broccoli, kale, and spinach, can help combat insulin resistance and reduce inflammation. Have them with every meal for best results.

3. Eat Enough Calories to Achieve Your Ideal Weight

If you are overweight or unhealthily skinny, tracking your calories can help you reach a healthy weight. (I prefer to use MyFitnessPal to calculate calorie goals and increase my awareness of what I’m eating.) After about a month or so of tracking your calories, you’ll develop a greater intuitive sense of how to maintain a healthy weight.

By following these guidelines, you will be able to lower your insulin levels, balance your hormones, and reverse many of the PCOS symptoms. However, the wrong lifestyle can still get in the way of the right diet. This is why it is important to follow the lifestyle tips below to improve your health even further.

The Lifestyle That Helps Reverse PCOS

Combining a vegetable-rich sugar-free diet with exercise, sleep, and meditation is one of the most efficient ways to reverse PCOS.

1. Exercise

What kind of exercise should you do? It’s up to you. Many different types of exercise have been found to help women with PCOS including resistance training, aerobic exercise, and yoga.

Make sure you are getting at least 30 minutes of low to moderate intensity exercise, like yoga, cycling, or a brisk walk, every day. (Add in resistance training, three days a week, for even better results.)

It is also important to prioritize stress reduction as well. The more stressed you are, the more insulin resistant your cells will be. This will cause an increase in insulin levels and PCOS symptoms. The simplest way to reduce stress levels? Sleep and meditation.

2. Sleep

The most efficient way to reduce stress levels is with sleep. However, getting quality sleep may be more difficult for women with PCOS. In a review published in Human Reproduction, researchers found that “sleep disturbances were twice as common in women with PCOS,” and women with PCOS especially had difficulty falling asleep.

However, there is some good news for these women. Sleep disturbances will most likely be cleared up by the diet and lifestyle suggestions in this article so that they can finally get a restful sleep. For those that still struggle with sleep issues after following our suggestions, meditation will help tremendously.

3. Meditation

Studies have shown that meditation lowers cortisol levels and improves blood sugar levels, which creates a reduction in insulin resistance and insulin secretion. Meditating 30 minutes before you plan on going to sleep is a great way to improve sleep quality and reduce stress at the same time.

Putting it all Together — The Ideal Diet and Lifestyle for Women with PCOS

Here’s a simple breakdown of the diet and lifestyle that will help reverse PCOS:

• Limit sugar and carbohydrate intake
• Eat high-fiber, low-carbohydrate vegetables with each meal
• Eat enough calories to achieve your ideal weight (use MyFitnessPal to assist you with that)
• Exercise for at least 30 minutes every day
• Meditate every night before sleep
• Make sure you are getting 7-9 hours of sleep every night

and last but not least:

• If you need more help, consider using the natural supplements that you will find in this article to reverse PCOS. 

Editor’s Note:

Eliminate wheat, eliminate candida, and consider progesterone (I particularly like this Progesterone Plus with black cohosh and chasteberry) – but if the wheat and candida are eliminated you shouldn’t need progesterone (or any of the other aforementioned supplements).

Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections

Recommended Reading:

• The Top 10 Supplements You Can Use To Reverse Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
• Are Low-Carbohydrate Diets Healthy for Women? How Do Carbs Affect Fertility and Pregnancy?
• Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones
• Detox Cheap and Easy Without Fasting – Recipes Included

Sources:

• Insulin Resistance and the Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: Mechanism and Implications for Pathogenesis — Oxford Academic
• Polycystic ovary syndrome: etiology, pathogenesis and diagnosis — Nature
• Can My Diet Relieve Symptoms of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)? — Healthline
• Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) — Deep Dyve
  
• The effects of a low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet on the polycystic ovary syndrome: A pilot study — BioMed Central
• Dietary Composition in the Treatment of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A Systematic Review to Inform Evidence-Based Guidelines — Science Direct
• No. 1 Cause of Infertility? Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome — Dr. Axe
• Cortisol-Induced Insulin Resistance in Man: Impaired Suppression of Glucose Production and Stimulation of Glucose Utilization due to a Postreceptor Defect of Insulin Action — Oxford Academic
• Abdominal fat and what to do about it — Harvard Health Publications
• State of the science of endocrine disrupting chemicals – 2012 — World Health Organization
• Effect of a low glycemic index compared with a conventional healthy diet on polycystic ovary syndrome — American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
• MINDFULNESS-BASED STRESS REDUCTION IS ASSOCIATED WITH IMPROVED GLYCEMIC CONTROL IN TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS: A PILOT STUDY — ProQuest
• Effect of buddhist meditation on serum cortisol and total protein levels, blood pressure, pulse rate, lung volume and reaction time — Science Direct
• The effect of flaxseed supplementation on body weight and body composition: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 45 randomized placebo-controlled trials — Wiley Online Library
• The Effect of Flaxseed Supplementation on Hormonal Levels Associated with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome: A Case Study — NCBI
• Sleep Duration, Exercise, Shift Work and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome-Related Outcomes in a Healthy Population: A Cross-Sectional Study. — NCBI
• Sleep disturbances in a community-based sample of women with polycystic ovary syndrome. — NCBI
• Effect of a yoga program on glucose metabolism and blood lipid levels in adolescent girls with polycystic ovary syndrome. — NCBI
• Effects of a holistic yoga program on endocrine parameters in adolescents with polycystic ovarian syndrome: a randomized controlled trial. — NCBI
• Effects of supervised aerobic training on the levels of anti-Mullerian hormone and adiposity measures in women with normo-ovulatory and polycystic ovary syndrome. — NCBI
• Resistance Exercise Impacts Lean Muscle Mass in Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. — NCBI
• Systematic review and meta-analysis of dietary carbohydrate restriction in patients with type 2 diabetes — BMJ

The combination of too much fat, too much sugar, and too little exercise is the best way become obese — in the liver. Fat buildup in the liver that is not due to alcohol consumption, also known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, affects 20-30% of adult populations in developed countries.

At first, this disease looks like another major issue to worry about, but it is simple and easy to reverse. In fact, it is intimately linked with other reversible conditions like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, hyperlipidemia, metabolic syndrome, and obesity because they all share a similar cause.

Related: How To Heal Your Gut

The Vicious Cycle of Fatty Liver Disease

Think of fatty liver disease like obesity and diabetes of the liver. When we eat an excess of calories and sugar, insulin is released from the pancreas to let our cells that we have plenty of energy. Our cells take what they need from the fat and sugar that is circulating in the blood.

Problems arise when we eat too many calories and too much sugar. The cells already have enough energy, so they stop listening to insulin — a biological process called insulin resistance. As a result, fat and sugar build up in the blood, contributing to type 2 diabetes, heart disease, hyperlipidemia, metabolic syndrome, and obesity.

The liver cells are also negatively influenced by the influx of calories and sugar. They become insulin resistant and start making fat from the excess sugar (fructose causes the most liver fat gain). Eventually, fat builds up in the liver to the point that it becomes toxic and creates inflammation.

The combination of obesity in the body and the liver causes inflammatory cytokines and reactive oxygen species to accumulate. This leads to more inflammation and oxidative stress that damages the liver.

Meanwhile, in the gut, a lifestyle that promotes fatty liver disease changes the microbiome and increases candida growth. This increases inflammation, oxidative stress, and endotoxin absorption, which causes more liver damage.

Recommended Reading: Lower Cholesterol and Prevent Heart Disease Without Drugs

Don’t worry — there is a silver lining to this vicious cycle. It is possible to reverse nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and liver damage naturally.

How To Reverse Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

The key to disrupting the vicious cycle of fatty liver disease before it damages the liver is exercise and diet.

That’s right — Treating obesity of the liver is similar to treating obesity of the body. In fact, many scientific papers agree that the treatment of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease should be focused on controlling diabetes, obesity, insulin resistance, and hyperlipidemia.

This means that the best way to reverse nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and prevent liver damage is with the same lifestyle that has been proven to control diabetes, obesity, insulin resistance, and hyperlipidemia.

The Fatty Liver Disease Lifestyle Cure

In a review of studies on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease treatments, the researchers found that weight loss leads to a substantial improvement in this condition. Weight loss of 3-5 % reduces liver fat, but a weight loss of 10% may be needed to reverse liver damage. To accomplish this, researchers used the most well-known ways to promote weight loss: caloric restriction and exercise.

Let’s start with exercise. Physical activity alone improves insulin sensitivity and reduces fat in the liver. In fact, one study kept the body weight of their subjects constant while they implemented an exercise training program. They found that exercise alone leads to a substantial decrease in liver fat.

Related: If You Drink Soda, It’s Probably The Worst Thing You Do To Yourself (even worse than smoking!)

In studies that combine caloric restriction with exercise, the results are even more promising. For example, one study took twenty-five obese patients with fatty liver and put fifteen of them on a calorie restricted diet and exercise program for 3 months. The calorie restricted diet was based on a daily calorie intake of the patient’s ideal weight in kilograms multiplied by 25 calories, and the exercise program is described as “walking or jogging”.

The researchers found that the treatment group’s “weight, blood biochemical data such as aminotransferase, albumin, cholinesterase, total cholesterol and fasting blood glucose values, and steatosis (fatty liver) were significantly decreased after the trial. In the control group, there were no significant differences in the clinical and histological findings before and after the trial.”

It’s that simple. Eat less and move more, and you can reverse fatty liver disease. Many other review articles on the treatments for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease also agree on this simple principle.

The jury is still out, however, on the best diet for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. We know for certain that restricting your calories helps, but there is an even better way to reverse disease and improve liver health.

The Best Fatty Liver Diet

Restricting calories works, but the studies tend to ignore the importance of food quality. For example, diets that consist of mainly refined and processed food have been found to promote the growth an obesity-causing microbiome. On the other hand, eating a high-fiber plant-based diet favors a microbiome that reducing inflammation and improves health. This is one of the reasons why it is best to stop counting calories and count on these guidelines instead:

1. Limit Your Added Sugar Intake

By doing this, you will greatly reduce the likelihood of fat build up in the body and the liver. You will also reduce insulin resistance, blood sugar, inflammation, and gut health issues as well.

Related:  Signs You Have Too Much Candida

2. Eat High-Fiber Foods With Every Meal

The healthiest way to get more fiber is by consuming plenty of low-carbohydrate vegetables. They will improve gut health, reduce the absorption of harmful lipopolysaccharides, and improve the health of the cells throughout your body.

Try the salad recipe in this article for the best results: Detox Cheap and Easy Without Fasting – Recipes Included

3. Eat Liver Healing Foods

You can also add these four scientifically-proven liver healing foods to your diet to help reverse fatty liver disease:

Oily Fish

Two or more servings of oily fish per week can have a beneficial effect on blood lipids and may reduce liver fat. Wild-caught salmon is one of the healthiest oily fish.

Nuts

A handful of nuts per day improves liver function tests. Walnuts, in particular, have been found to be one of the healthiest nuts for your liver.

Avocado

Avocado consumption is associated with weight loss and improved liver tests. This is mainly because avocados have a substantial amount of monounsaturated fat, fiber, and antioxidants.

Olive Oil

This popular oil improves liver function tests and helps with weight loss because it is loaded with antioxidants and oleic acid.

Related: Best Cooking Oils Health Benefits Smoke Point Which to Use and Avoid

4. Use Liver Healing Supplements

When you search the internet for liver supplements, you are inundated by supplements that seem promising, yet have no shred of evidence that backs of their claims. To save you some time and experimentation, here are three supplements that have been found to improve liver health:

Spirulina

Spirulina is a natural algae powder that is incredibly high in protein and a good source of antioxidants, B-vitamins, and other nutrients. A dose of 4.5 grams (about a teaspoon) per day of spirulina has been shown to help reverse fatty liver disease.

Betaine

Betaine is a compound that is naturally found in beets and spinach. It is essential for the normal function of the blood, bones, eyes, heart, nerves, and the brain, and it reduces build up of fat in the liver.

The best way to supplement with betaine is by eating raw beets or taking a TMG supplement. TMG stands for Trimethylglycine, and it is the form of betaine that is found in beets.

Milk Thistle

Milk thistle contains a compound called silybin. Silybin can reduce fat build up in the liver, and it may even reverse liver damage.

Probiotics

In a meta-analysis on the effects of probiotics on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, the researchers found that probiotic therapy can help reverse insulin resistance, improve liver function, and reduce inflammation. However, not just any probiotic will do.

Product Recommendation: Syntol AMD – Arthur Andrew Medical

Bifidobacterium longum, for example, was found to be the most effective probiotic strain at reducing liver fat, inflammation, and endotoxin levels. The best way to add this strain to your diet is by taking a stomach-acid resistant probiotic that contains it. FloraMend by Thorne Research is one of the best probiotics in this regard.

Recommended Reading: Probiotics, Bacteria, and Our Health

5. Limit Alcohol Consumption

Although no alcohol consumption is best for reversing nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, some alcohol consumption may be beneficial as well. In fact, one nonalcoholic fatty liver disease treatment review found that limiting alcohol consumption to less than one drink per day may actually have a beneficial effect on liver health.

6. Exercise Everyday

The kind of exercise that is best for reversing fatty liver disease is not yet known, but almost any type of exercise will help. It is probably best to go for brisk walks throughout the day and do resistance training at least 3 times a week.

But don’t get caught up in finding the perfect workout plan. Any exercise is better than no exercise for all aspects of health. Start by doing what you enjoy doing.

What About Using Drugs for Fatty Liver Disease?

For a typical nonalcoholic fatty liver disease patient, pharmaceutical drugs are not usually recommended. However, when the disease progresses to liver-damaging nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), drug therapy may be necessary.

Related: The Gallbladder, Bile, and Gallstones

A drug called thiazolidinedione has been shown to be effective for improving diabetes, liver function, and fibrosis of the liver. However,  there is one problem — patients relapse when they aren’t on it.

In a study that tested thiazolidinedione in the treatment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, researchers found that diet and exercise were essential in maintaining the results achieved by drug therapy. When patients in the study followed up after 37 months, the patients who had sustained exercise programs and reduced their body mass index, also had normal liver enzyme levels, fibrosis improvement, and were free from diabetes. Conversely, patients who made no lifestyle changes had gotten worse after discontinuing the drug.

What are we suppose to take away from this study? That, even in the worst case scenario, pharmaceutical drugs cannot replace diet and exercise.

Putting It All Together

You can reverse fatty liver disease by following these six simple steps:

1. Limit sugar intake
2. Eat low-carbohydrate vegetables with every meal
3. Exercise every day
4. Take scientifically-proven liver healing supplements like spirulina, betaine, milk thistle, and probiotics
5. Include liver healing foods in your diet like avocado, nuts, oily fish, and olive oil
6. Limit alcohol intake

Related: Sugar Leads to Depression – World’s First Trial Proves Gut and Brain are Linked (Protocol Included)

Sources:

• The diagnosis and management of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: Practice Guideline by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, American College of Gastroenterology, and the American Gastroenterological Association — Wiley Online Library
• Treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease — BMJ Journals
• Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: an overview of prevalence, diagnosis, pathogenesis and treatment considerations — Clincial Science
• New-found link between microbiota and obesity — NCBI
• Association between composition of the human gastrointestinal microbiome and development of fatty liver with choline deficiency. — NCBI
• Eubiosis and dysbiosis: the two sides of the microbiota. — NCBI
• A meta-analysis of randomized trials for the treatment of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. — NCBI
• Effects of exercise training on intrahepatic lipid content in humans — Springer Link
• The effects of low carbohydrate diets on liver function tests in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials — NCBI
• Therapeutic effects of restricted diet and exercise in obese patients with fatty liver — Science Direct
• A Low-Carbohydrate as Compared with a Low-Fat Diet in Severe Obesity — The New England Journal of Medicine
• Effect of Vitamin E or Metformin for Treatment of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Children and Adolescents: The TONIC Randomized Controlled Trial — The JAMA Network
• A Randomized Controlled Trial of Metformin versus Vitamin E or Prescriptive Diet in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease — ProQuest
• Insoluble Dietary Fiber from Pear Pomace Can Prevent High-Fat Diet-Induced Obesity in Rats Mainly by Improving the Structure of the Gut Microbiota — JMB
• Hepatoprotective effects of Spirulina maxima in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a case series — BioMed Central
• Spirulina improves non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, visceral fat macrophage aggregation, and serum leptin in a mouse model of metabolic syndrome — Science Direct
• Spirulina — Examine
• Sitting for just a couple hours has measurable (and negative) health impact — PLOS
• Oily fish, coffee and walnuts: Dietary treatment for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease — NCBI
• Avocados Contain Potent Liver Protectants — Science Daily
• Non alcoholic fatty liver disease and metabolic syndrome — NCBI
• Metabolic Endotoxemia Initiates Obesity and Insulin Resistance — Diabetes Journals
• Physical activity as a treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: A systematic review — NCBI
• Prebiotic fiber modulation of the gut microbiota improves risk factors for obesity and the metabolic syndrome — NCBI
• Milk Thistle — Examine
• Thiazolidinediones for the treatment in NASH: sustained benefit after drug discontinuation? — NCBI
• Effects of probiotics on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: A meta-analysis — NCBI

Every 23 seconds another person is diagnosed with diabetes — one the leading causes of death in the United States.

But these people don’t have to suffer. Diabetes is preventable, manageable, and reversible.

What is Diabetes? — A Quick Overview

There are two types of diabetes — type 1 and type 2.

This is an over-simplified chart, but it gives you a good visual of the differences and similarities between the two. Now, let’s dig a little deeper into each type of diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes is characterized by high blood sugar levels and insulin resistance. Insulin resistance happens when blood sugar levels are so consistently high that the cells don’t respond to insulin (a hormone that helps lower blood sugar) like they used to.  When the cell aren’t as sensitive to insulin, blood sugar levels raise even more. As a result, insulin levels raise and the cells become more insulin resistant. This vicious cycle is commonly caused by eating too much sugar, not moving enough, and stressing too much.

Conversely, type 1 diabetes is when the body lacks the ability to produce insulin. In some cases, this is happens because the immune system attacks the cells in the pancreas that make insulin. Despite the lack of insulin, type 1 diabetics can still manage their blood sugar levels by taking exogenous insulin.

Although type 1 and type 2 diabetes are caused in completely different ways, they both lead to higher blood sugar levels that will destroy cells throughout the body and cause chronic inflammation. If we can improve blood sugar levels then we can manage and reverse diabetes — regardless of which type of diabetes it is.

The Best Treatment for Diabetes — Diet

Studies continuously show that eating less sugar and more whole foods is an effective way to manage blood sugar levels. For example, ketogenic diets — the lowest of low carbohydrate diets — were found in one study to help type 2 diabetics get off their medications completely.

The right diet may even transfer over to type 1 diabetics as well. One case study that put a type 1 diabetic on a paleolithic ketogenic diet found that it was effective in managing blood sugar levels and may even halt or reverse the disease process.

Even specific vegetables, fruits, herbs, and spices can help reverse type 1 and type 2 diabetes. For example, consuming curcumin (from turmeric) and fenugreek seeds together can be an effective way to lower blood sugar levels and improve the health of the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin.

Must Read: Top Ten Blood Sugar Lowering Foods  

Related: How to Optimize Curcumin Absorption

There is one important caveat. Food isn’t the only thing the impacts blood sugar levels. Even if you eat a plant-based, low-carbohydrate diet, your blood sugar levels can still be an issue.

Stress and Blood Sugar — The Missing Link

Right before we wake up in the morning, a stress hormone called cortisol is released. Cortisol raises blood sugar levels to provide you with the energy you need to wake up and get your morning started. To keep insulin from decreasing your blood sugar levels, cortisol also tells the cells to resist the seduction of insulin.

This brief period of insulin resistance is necessary for your body to maintain its blood sugar levels until you have your first meal. This is a great idea. Good job, body!

However, this same process occurs whenever you are stressed as well. Whether you are being chased by a lion or you are mad at a family member, cortisol is released so that you have enough energy to deal with that situation. The only problem is that most modern day stressors don’t require extra energy. They require logical thinking and empathy — two processes in the brain that cortisol shuts down.

When every day is filled with stress, your cortisol levels will be consistently high. And you know what leads to — higher blood sugar levels, insulin resistance, and poor decision making.

This can happen regardless if you eat the healthiest food or not (although healthy food will help a lot). Reversing diabetes does not rely only what you eat, It relies on what you do as well.

Related: Natural Remedies for Chronic Stress

The Cheapest & Most Natural Ways to Reverse Diabetes

Whether you start with food or with stress, it is still important to address both. However, if you are struggling to make ends meet, you don’t have to wait to improve your health. You can help yourself right now — for free.

Drink More Water

Hydration is important. Although there are no studies that examine the direct effect that water consumption has on blood sugar levels, one observational study found that people with the highest blood sugar levels tended to drink the least amount of water.

This correlation can be explained by the fact that the systems that control both blood sugar and body fluid levels are linked. In other words, drinking more water can indirectly improve your blood sugar levels.

Related: What’s the Best Water for Detoxifying and For Drinking?

Exercise

The fastest way to lower your blood sugar levels is by exercising. But before you lace up your running shoes, it is important to consider the type of exercise.

Low-intensity exercises like walking and cycling have a minimal effect on blood sugar levels unless they last for longer than an hour. Studies suggest that the optimal exercise strategy is high-intensity interval training.

Many different variations of high-intensity interval training can lower blood sugar levels and improve insulin sensitivity (the opposite of insulin resistance).

One of the high-intensity workouts used in many studies went like this — thirty seconds of maximal cycling efforts 4 to 6 times separated by 4 minutes of rest. That’s all you need to do to lower your blood sugar levels. And if you don’t have access to a bicycle or stationary bike, all you have to do is sprint.

Here is an example sprinting workout from one of the studies:

5-10 near-maximal sprints for 30 seconds each with 3-minute rest between.

By doing this, you can lower your blood sugar in less than 20 minutes (for free).

Meditate

One of the best ways to mitigate stress and reduce cortisol levels is with meditation. In one study, researchers decided to see if meditation helped lower blood sugar levels in diabetics. After one month of meditation, the eleven patients that completed the intervention had lower blood pressure and A1C levels (more about this later in the article) and less anxiety and depression.

Sleep

Sleep for at least 7 hours a night, and you can maintain healthy blood sugar levels. But if you sleep for only 4 to 5 hours a night, your fasting blood sugar levels will increase significantly.

Continue to sleep like this, and your cells become resistant to insulin. As this vicious cycle continues, your blood sugar levels continue to rise regardless of how little sugar you eat. This sounds eerily familiar to what stress does to the body because it is.

Sleeping less is a form of stress that leads to more cortisol release than normal. The cortisol raises blood sugar levels and tells the cells to become more resistant to insulin. Keep this from happening by making sleep a priority.

Putting it all Together — The Anti-Diabetes Lifestyle

Here’s is a simple weekly checklist you can follow to improve your health dramatically:

1. Drink a gallon of purified water a day.

We suggest drinking a gallon of cranberry lemonade every day to provide you with a healthy and tasty detox drink while you hydrate yourself.

2. Eat only whole foods.

Make sure you get all of your food from high-quality sources as well. Look for bio-dynamic, organic. and non-GMO produce, and source all of your animal products from animals that lived a healthy life.

3. Do 3 to 4 high-intensity exercise sessions a week.

Here’s a simple workout you can try:

5-10 near-maximal sprints for 30 seconds each with 3-minute rest between.

Combining high-intensity training and resistance training is an even better idea.

4. Meditate for 15 to 30 minutes a day.

You can use an app like Headspace to guide you or check out Sam Harris’s guided meditation:

5. Sleep for at least 7 hours a night.

To improve your sleep quality, turn off all electronics and lights at least 30 minutes before you want to fall asleep and meditate laying down.

Related: Is Diabetes Caused by Sugar or Bad Genetics?

How to Know if You Are Really Reversing Diabetes

To know if your blood sugar levels are chronically high, many doctors will check your A1C levels. A1C stands for glycated hemoglobin, which is formed when blood sugar attaches to hemoglobin (the oxygen-carrying protein in red blood cells).

A1C tests measure the percentage of your hemoglobin that has blood sugar attached to it. If blood sugar levels have been high for the past 3 months, then more hemoglobin will be glycated. Thus, A1C testing provides an accurate measurement of how high your blood sugar has been over the past two to three months.

An A1C level of 6.5 percent or higher on two separate tests indicates that you have diabetes. An A1C between 5.7 and 6.4 percent indicates pre-diabetes. Below 5.7 is considered normal.

But Dr. Chris Masterjohn suggests that you shouldn’t only look at A1C levels. This is because high A1C levels do not directly cause diabetes, and people with diabetes can have low A1C levels (if they have faster blood cell turnover than the average person). In other words, A1C testing provides an indirect measurement of blood sugar levels so it isn’t always a reliable indicator for diabetes.

For example, if you are obese and your fasting blood sugar is consistently above 100 mg/dl (pre-diabetic), but your A1C levels are low, then you should still be considered as a pre-diabetic that needs to implement dietary and lifestyle changes to lower your blood sugar.

This is why it is important to consider fasting blood glucose levels, blood sugar levels after a meal, and other measurements like weight and waist circumference to develop a clearer picture of what is going on inside of the body.

While you are implementing the steps to the anti-diabetes lifestyle, it is important to pay attention to multiple measurements. Fat loss, lower blood sugar levels, lower A1C levels, and decreased waist size are all indicators that you are on the right track.

Recommend Reading:

• Healthy Alternative Sugars and More
• Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our
• The Way We Used To Eat – The Real Paleo Diet
• Are Low-Carbohydrate Diets Healthy?
• Detox Cheap and Easy Without Fasting – Recipes Included

Sources:

• Diabetes — CDC
• The impact of brief high-intensity exercise on blood glucose levels — NCBI
• Influence of physical training on the fuel-hormone response to prolonged low intensity exercise — Science Direct
• MINDFULNESS-BASED STRESS REDUCTION IS ASSOCIATED WITH IMPROVED GLYCEMIC CONTROL IN TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS: A PILOT STUDY — ProQuest
• Recent Developments in Delivery, Bioavailability, Absorption and Metabolism of Curcumin: the Golden Pigment from Golden Spice — NCBI
• Effect of fenugreek seeds on blood glucose and serum lipids in Type 1 diabetes — Indian Council of Medical Research
• Effect of ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.) and fenugreek (Trigonella foenumgraecum L.) on blood lipids, blood sugar and platelet aggregation in patients with coronary artery disease — Science Direct
• Curcumin and Diabetes: A Systematic Review — Hindawi
• Low–Glycemic Index Diets in the Management of Diabetes — American Diabetes Association
• Systematic review and meta-analysis of dietary carbohydrate restriction in patients with type 2 diabetes — BMJ
• The effect of a low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet versus a low-glycemic index diet on glycemic control in type 2 diabetes mellitus — Nutrition & Metabolism
• Type 1 diabetes mellitus successfully managed with the paleolithic ketogenic diet — Edorium Journals
• Beneficial effects of ketogenic diet in obese diabetic subjects — Springer Link
• A low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet to treat type 2 diabetes — Nutrition & Metabolism
• The effect of a low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet versus a low-glycemic index diet on glycemic control in type 2 diabetes mellitus — Nutrition & Metabolism
• Role of Sleep Duration and Quality in the Risk and Severity of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus — The JAMA Network
• Cortisol-Induced Insulin Resistance in Man: Impaired Suppression of Glucose Production and Stimulation of Glucose Utilization due to a Postreceptor Defect of Insulin Action — Oxford Academic
• Systematic review and meta-analysis of dietary carbohydrate restriction in patients with type 2 diabetes — BMJ
• American Diabetes Association Releases 2016 Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes — Diabetes
• Low water intake and risk for new-onset hyperglycemia. — NCBI
• Plasma copeptin and the risk of diabetes mellitus. — NCBI
• Mastering Nutrition Episode 012: What Is Measuring Our Hba1c REALLY Telling Us About Our Blood Glucose and Diabetes Risk? — Chris Masterjohn PhD