I have high fasting insulin levels. What can I do to reduce this?

Insulin resistance or having high fasting insulin means your body is finding it hard to metabolise carbohydrates correctly. One way to reverse this condition is by opting for the right foods instead of taking medication right away. However, please consult your physician before discontinuing your medication in case you have started on it. You can make food behave like your medicine and heal your body inside. The two main ways you can use food to help is by increasing the amount of good fats, and reducing the amount of carbohydrates. Taking supplements like omega 3 (2,000mg) if you are not on blood thinning medication will also dramatically help each cell of your body get more sensitised to insulin. Increasing the amount of good fats from coconut, nuts, avocado, ghee, organic butter, nut butters and olives will not make you gain weight, provided you bring down your consumption of carbohydrates too. Avoid eating more than 200 grams of carbohydrates a day. These carbs should come from sources that are naturally better for your gut, such as rice over bread and potatoes over wheat-based rotis.

I’ve been reading a few articles that say dairy is not good for kids. Is that true?

Dairy has many issues. As parents, we consume it and give it to our children only because we were forced to have it when we were young. The quality of dairy available 30 years ago was very different from what we get now. ‘You are what you eat’ is a principle that goes even for animals, not just humans. In order to make bigger profits by getting more milk, cows are raised very differently these days. Very often, they are pumped with antibiotics and hormones, just so they can produce more milk. These antibiotics and hormones are present in the milk that we get from cows and eventually enters your child’s bloodstream, too. Eliminate dairy from a child’s diet, and add nuts, ghee, eggs, fish and sesame seeds. This will ensure there are no issues with their calcium levels. Get their Vitamin D levels tested. Without this vitamin only 25 per cent of the calcium actually gets absorbed by the body. Nut-based milks, such as those of coconut, almond and hazel are good options. If you think your child must have milk, go for organic and full-fat.