YOUR HORMONES MAY BE out of balance; specifically, you may be getting too much insulin. Eighty-million Americans suffer from a condition we call insulin resistance. It affects many varieties of people and is not exactly the same in everyone, but the ultimate consequences can be similar.

Most afflicted have extra fat around the middle (check your waist to hip ratio–a measurement around your belly button divided by the measurement around the hips–if it is greater than 0.8 you likely have insulin resistance). You may be tall or thin, short or fat or any combination and still have insulin resistance.

The only sure way to know is with an insulin response test (measuring blood sugar and insulin fasting and one and two hours after a 75-gram sugar drink).

For now I want to show you how you can reset your metabolism of sugar and insulin by stopping the things that knock you off balance, and providing the things that put you balance in balance allowing you to thrive.

Here is what to do:

• Stop eating flour and sugar products, especially high fructose corn syrup.
• Don’t have liquid calories–your body doesn’t feel full from them so you eat more all day!
• Stop all processed, junk or packaged foods. If it doesn’t look like the food your great-great-great grandmother ate, then stay away.
• Stop eating trans or hydrogenated fats.
• Slow the rate of sugar uptake from the gut through balancing your meals (low glycemic load) with healthy protein (nuts, seeds, beans, small wild fish, organic chicken), healthy carbs (vegetables, fruit, beans, whole grains) and healthy fats (olive oil, nuts and seeds, avocadoes, fish oil)
• Rough it up: eat plenty of soluble fiber (30-50 grams a day)
• Eat smaller more frequent meals

Read more on hormone imbalance–and how to correct the problem–in step 3 of my UltraWellness series: Hormones & Neurotransmitters.