Most of us want to lose weight to feel confident, fit and — in our heart of hearts — to look great.But fast, effective weight loss will also have a massive impact on many other aspects of your health, too.
The 8-Week Blood Sugar Diet — a simple 800-calorie-a-day eating plan based on the Mediterranean diet — was originally devised to combat diabetes.But the health benefits of this diet go far beyond that.The worrying truth is, even if your weight sits comfortably in the 'healthy' range on your doctor's BMI charts, if you have a diet packed with sugars and refined carbohydrates, as mine was, you are very likely to be putting your health at risk.
A big part of the problem is that we eat far too many sugary carbohydrates which are easily and swiftly broken down in your gut to release sugar into your system.
Your body responds by pumping out insulin, but if you have an unhealthy diet and low activity levels (as so many people do) you can easily become insulin-resistant. And that leaves your blood sugar levels on a permanent high.
If you have raised blood sugar levels, the sugars can stick to the proteins in the walls of your blood vessels making them stiffer and less flexible.
Simply having raised blood sugars and insulin increases your risk of strokes, dementia, cancer and a lifetime on medication — even if you're not diabetic.
Studies show you don't have to have blood sugars in the diabetic range for damage to occur.