9 elements of metabolically healthy meal from my last newsletter - it’s so much more than just “low carb”!!! 🍽👇🏻 1. Load up on micronutrients 🧅 Aim for more magnesium, zinc, selenium, and B vitamins, which are cofactors for metabolic health processes, including how the body handles glucose. 2. Get more fiber 🍐 The body mostly doesn’t break down fiber, so it doesn’t end up as glucose in your bloodstream. It feeds the gut microbiome, which has beneficial effects on metabolic health. Eat more plant foods. 3. Include more antioxidants 🥦 Antioxidants protect against oxidative stress, which is linked to cancer and diabetes. Include more colorful plants, cruciferous and green veggies, and cold-water fish 🎣. 4. More omega-3 fats 🍣 Omega-3 fatty acids are key elements of cell structure, inflammatory pathways, and metabolic pathways. They contribute to elasticity of your arteries. Add more fatty fish, chia seeds, flax, and walnuts. 5. Champion probiotic-rich fermented foods🫙 A high fermented food diet (6 servings/day) steadily increases microbiota diversity and decreases inflammatory markers. Add kimchi, sauerkraut, low-sugar kombucha, etc. 6. Minimize refined sugar and grains ✄🥨 I prefer to focus on what we can ➕ to our diets rather than ➖. But we now eat more carbs as refined sugars and grains—as much as 10X more—than just 200 yrs ago. 7. Focus on food timing ⏰ Experiment with narrowing your eating window to 8-10 hrs during the day; fast for the rest. Avoid high-glycemic meals in the late evening. A narrow eating window promotes metabolic flexibility. And our bodies may be naturally more insulin resistant at night. 8. Combine foods optimally 🥑 Eating carbohydrates alone is likely to spike glucose more than if the carbs are eaten with fat and/or protein. Extra fiber helps too. 9. Choose organic when possible 🍓 Opting for organic when possible will help you avoid endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Focus especially on avoiding the dirty dozen. Frozen and canned organics can help with💰 🖇 Link in my bio, where you can also sign up for the newsletter and read more about the how and why. #MetabolicHealth #mealtips #glucose #CGM #plantfoods #eatorganic