Think you know what’s behind those extra pounds that have somehow found their way to your butt? If you want to shed them, you may want to think insulin. It doesn’t matter that you’re not diabetic. At least not according to the new book The Thinsulin Program: The Breakthrough Solution To Help You Lose Weight And Stay Thin, which names insulin—and the foods that cause 
it to spike—as the culprit behind weight gain and obesity.
The idea is simple: When you eat foods like certain carbs with a high glycemic index (GI) that raise your insulin level, your body stores fat. Lower that level and your goes into fat burning mode. But as soon as you pop that slice of cake in your mouth, a new influx of insulin floods your system, rising to higher levels than before you cheated.
The result? Your body reacts by reverting to storing rather than burning fat and now, it can take up to three weeks for your insulin level to drop again. Unless, that is, you color-code your foods. Here’s how, using three colors we all understand the meaning of—red, yellow and green.
How to Color-Code Your Food to Help You Lose Weight
If you color-code your foods according to how they affect your insulin levels, you’ll lose weight, the book promises. Here are the three color choices and how they apparently affect the body.
Red = STOP!
These are the foods that have a high glycemic index (GI), and will cause insulin levels to spike. They should be avoided like the plague, and not eaten at any time of day.
Th
ey include:
- Sweets and desserts
- Soft drinks and fruit juice
- Snack foods
- Grains
- Potatoes and other root vegetables
- Corn
- Carrots
- Beets
- Mangos
- Pineapples
You’ll see foods that you think of as healthy on this list. Um, what’s wrong with carrots? What’s wrong with mangos? Again, for this diet to be effective, you are trying to nix spikes in insulin levels in the body. All of the foods listed above are insulin-spiking foods. Below you will find other fruits and vegetables that allow you to eat a healthy, balanced diet without spiking your insulin levels.
Yellow = Proceed with caution…
These foods are fine in moderation since they have a low GI and are unlikely to spike insulin levels when consumed in moderation.
They include:
- Apples
- Oranges
- Grapes
- Berries
- Raw nuts
You’ll notice a large number of fruits on this list, and probably scratch your head. “I thought fruit was good for me?” That is why these fruits are in the yellow, cautioning category. They are good for you—in moderation. It’s best to eat fruits in the morning with breakfast, or as a snack to help kick pre-lunch cravings.
But why can you only have fruit as a morning snack? Because the amount of fruit you can eat (one portion) probably won’t work well as an afternoon snack, to help keep you full between lunch and dinner. One portion of fruit is equal to about the size of your fist, and eating more than one portion size will increase your insulin. You are much better off eating a portion of nuts as an afternoon snack as they are more filling, and sticking to fruit in the early parts of the day.
Green = Go for it!
Because these foods don’t cause insulin levels to spike, you can have as much as you want.
They include:
- Protein such as beef, pork, chicken, seafood, and egg whites
- Vegetables, except the 4 listed as “Red.”
- Tofu
- Lentils
As long as you are avoiding the starchy vegetables coded “red”, all other vegetables are fair game. This is because flowering parts of plants typically don’t store starch, so their GI is low. Low-GI food is low-insulin food, which will keep your body happy and burning fat. Remember, as long as you are eating generous helpings of the many foods available to you in the yellow and green categories of the Thinsulin Program, you are not missing out on vitamins and minerals.
For nearly 2 decades, Drs Nguyen and Nguyen have used this approach at their specialized clinics in southern California to help thousands of patients lose excess weight and keep it off for good. For more info on how to eat foods that help you lower insulin and cut down on body fat, check out their new book, The Thinsulin Program.
