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Part 1: The maximum possible score is 20. The higher your score, the greater the likelihood that you will benefit from the lifestyle changes outlined in this book.

Part 2: There is no maximum score. If you recorded a 10 in answer to the first question, you are by definition insulin resistant. If you scored the first question as 0 but your total in part 2 is 15 or more, you have reason to be concerned.

A total for both parts of 35 or more tells you it’s time to take action.

This test is taken from Blood Sugar Blues, Miryam Ehrlich Williamson.15

How to Improve Insulin Sensitivity

Insulin sensitivity can be restored to a healthful state, which not only results in weight loss, but also in improved health. The right diet like the Coconut Diet is key to improving insulin sensitivity. There’s no magic bullet involved—it’s good choices made daily that will make all the difference. Here’s what you can do:

 Avoid sweets and other simple carbohydrates (refined grains and starches); this is one of the most important steps you can take.

 Avoid artificial sweeteners and nicotine as they cause an increase in insulin. A diet soda or artificial sweetener in your coffee, even though it has no calories, sends confusing signals to your body. Though these artificial sweeteners do not cause blood sugar levels to rise, they can cause insulin levels to increase, which can lead to low blood sugar, weakness, hunger, and ultimately insulin resistance.16 You may think that you are serving your weight loss goals by choosing artificial, non-calorie sweeteners, but in fact, you can be setting yourself up for a life-long struggle with weight management due to insulin resistance and an increased appetite caused by the artificial sweeteners.

 Cut back on coffee. Drinking just two cups of coffee per day has been shown to increase levels of the stress hormone Cortisol. When this hormone is elevated, it can have adverse effects on the immune system, brain cells, sugar metabolism (which includes setting you up for insulin resistance), and weight gain. Coffee drinking has been reported to cause increased body fat, often around the mid-section, due to insulin and Cortisol elevation. (Stress also causes Cortisol to go up.) Research is unclear about why coffee affects weight gain, but clinical studies do show that when coffee intake is reduced, body fat goes down.17 If you just can’t give up that cup of Java, make sure you have no more than one cup a day. The rest of the day, I recommend that you drink tea, either herbal or green tea, water, sparkling mineral water, and some fresh vegetable juice.

 Green tea helps you lose weight. When tea has been substituted for coffee, especially green tea, it had the opposite effect—it helped people lose weight.18 Avoid green tea (and all other sources of caffeine) if you are hypothyroid, have adrenal stress, or are hypoglycemic; green tea does contain caffeine, which should be omitted until these conditions are corrected.

 Increase your intake of essential fatty acids. You can increase cell receptor activity by increasing the fluidity of cell membranes. Omega-3 fatty acids, especially docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) actually make cell membranes more fluid. Essential fatty acids also help to lower levels of “stress chemicals” such as Cortisol and norepinephrine. This may account, in part, for one weight loss study’s success with omega-3S, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, that showed the best weight loss results, along with reduction of glucose and insulin, in the group that ate one meal of fish each day.19

 Learn stress reduction techniques and how to manage stress effectively. This can definitely help improve insulin resistance. High levels of stress activate the “fight or flight” response, which stimulates the production of epinephrine. Epinephrine causes the liver and muscles to convert glucose from its reserved state as glycogen to its active sugar form. Insulin rises to control glucose and increased insulin levels signal fat storage. This is one reason why some stressed individuals cannot lose weight regardless of how strict they are with their food choices. Relaxation techniques such as massage, hydrotherapy, aromatherapy, and prayer can improve insulin sensitivity and fat loss.20

Six Steps to Improving Blood Sugar Balance and Insulin Sensitivity

1 Follow the Coconut Diet. The meal plans and recipes in this book are designed to help you improve your blood sugar balance and improve insulin sensitivity.

2 Eat only healthy fats and oils. Healthful oils help promote insulin sensitivity. This is one more reason we recommend only virgin coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, and essential fatty acids (the omega-3s), which are found in coldwater fish such as salmon and sardines, fish oils such as cod liver oil (rich in EPA and DHA), flaxseeds, and evening primrose oil or blackcurrant oil.

3 Eat only complex carbohydrates; avoid simple carbs. Vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and fruit are rich in fiber; they release their sugars more slowly into the bloodstream. Simple carbohydrates such as sugar, refined flour products, and starches like white potatoes and white rice, break down rapidly into glucose and cause blood sugar to rise. They should be avoided as part of a healthy lifestyle.

4 Eat a moderate amount of lean protein. Protein stimulates the release of glucagon, a hormone that mobilizes fat stores into energy, and it plays an important part in blood sugar stability. Choose naturally raised, organically fed animal products. Such animals yield healthier, leaner proteins. But eat protein moderately. Over consumption of protein can cause an increase in uric acid and taxes the kidneys.

5 Exercise on a regular basis. Aerobic exercise and strength training help increase insulin sensitivity. See pg. for exercise recommendations.

6 Drink green or herbal tea, avoid coffee, and drink at least 8 glasses of water each day.

Now that you know which carbs are good and which ones are bad, you can make wise choices the rest of your life that will encourage healthy blood sugar balance. In the next chapter, you’ll learn the truth about fats and oils. If you were surprised by some of the information in this chapter, I think you’ll be amazed at how misinformed our culture has been about fats. Saturated fats have gotten a bad rap for no good reason. And, a lot of misinformation about these fats has been popularized in mainstream media. Chapter Three presents the lowdown on fats and oils. It is quite possible that your entire manner of preparing food will never be the same after you finish this section. Best of all, you’ll discover which fats make you fat and which ones help you trim your waistline in The Big Fat Misconception.