Control Your Carbs to Resist Diabetes

To prevent insulin resistance, stop eating refined carbohydrates. Limit yourself to only four servings of starches and fruits each day, and never consume more than two servings per day of starches, writes Las Cruces New Mexico-based Burton Berkson, M.D., Ph.D., coauthor of Syndrome X: The Complete Nutritional Program to Prevent and Reverse Insulin Resistance (Wiley, 2000). Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., registered dietitian Cindy Maynard, M.S., R.D., suggests using the "plate method" to ensure healthy carbohydrate intake. Divide your empty plate into the top half and two quarters on the bottom. The top half should hold complex, unprocessed, nonstarchy carbs such as lettuces and greens, asparagus, bok choy, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, sweet and hot peppers, tomatoes, green beans, zucchini or summer squash. In the lower half of the plate, one of the quarters should consist of protein, in the form of meat, poultry or fish. "This should be no larger than a deck of cards, or 3 to 4 ounces," Maynard says. The final quarter of the plate can contain a serving of starchy carbs about the size of a tennis ball. Healthiest choices would include brown rice, whole-wheat couscous or whole-wheat pasta. A serving of fat, such as butter or margarine, should be no larger than a teaspoon. - - - - -