As a society, we’re eating a lot of high glycemic foods that rapidly turn into sugar in the blood stream ... pastas, white bread, crackers, rice, cookies, cakes ... that sort of thing. They’re all around us and many of us tend to snack on them throughout the day.

When we take in foods that cause a rapid rise in blood sugar, our body produces hormones like insulin from the pancreas to deal with it. Insulin allows the cells to take in the sugar molecules use them for fuel.

While our bodies are designed to deal with this on an intermittent basis, snacking and drinking sugary drinks throughout the day produces constantly high levels of sugar and insulin, both of which are not good for us.

There are several approaches we can take to get off this roller coaster. One is simply to not snack as much.

Another is to learn about and eat lower glycemic foods like most vegetables and fruits such as apples, berries, and pears.

A third way to get off the insulin ride is to help your body reset by fasting.

Fourteen hours a day has been suggested as a healthy target as long as you don’t have medical conditions or take medications that would prevent you from doing that safely. Most people accomplish a 14 hour fast by eating their evening meal around 6 p.m. and then not eating breakfast until 8 a.m.

One way to include less carbohydrates in your diet is to use a protein powder supplement to displace some of the carbohydrate calories.