How to Reverse Insulin Resistance Naturally: Tests, Treatments, and What Actually Works - Part II

If you have been told your blood sugar is a little high, or that you are pre-diabetic, or that you just need to watch what you eat, there is a good chance you were also told it is not that serious yet. That single message, delivered in the space of a short appointment, sends more people down the wrong path than almost anything else in conventional diabetes care. Because the window between "not serious yet" and insulin-dependent diabetes is exactly when naturopathic medicine can make the biggest difference. Most people never learn that until it is much harder to address.

This is Part 2 of our series on blood sugar and insulin resistance. In Part 1, we covered the basics of what Type 2 diabetes is and how conventional medicine approaches it. Today, Dr. Katz and Dr. Ryder go deeper into the testing most conventional doctors never order, the naturopathic treatments that can support your body's ability to regulate blood sugar, the diet strategies that have real research behind them, and the herbs and supplements that have been used for this purpose for centuries.

Key Takeaways

The glycemic index has real limitations. Carrots can score worse than ice cream on it, but the carrot is still the better choice.

Fasting insulin and HOMA-IR are early warning markers that can detect insulin resistance before your standard labs move out of range.

Alpha-lipoic acid IV therapy may support nerve repair, kidney protection, and blood sugar regulation when administered by a qualified provider.

The insulin resistance diet limits grains and refined sugar while prioritizing fiber-rich vegetables and whole foods.

Berberine, gymnema, inositol, and several well-studied herbs can support blood sugar management when chosen based on individual testing.

A Quick Recap: What Is Actually Happening in Your Body

Before we get into treatments, it helps to ground this conversation in what is actually happening physiologically. Type 2 diabetes is not simply a blood sugar problem. It is an inflammatory condition. Your body is struggling to regulate glucose because inflammation has damaged or impaired the pancreas's ability to produce and deploy insulin effectively. The blood sugar number on your lab report is a downstream signal of something that has been building for a while.

The symptoms most people recognize include increased sugar cravings, heightened appetite, frequent urination, persistent thirst, blurry vision, fatigue, and numbness or tingling in the hands or feet. That last one, peripheral neuropathy, tends to get dismissed or attributed to other causes. But if it is showing up consistently, it is worth a thorough investigation.

What makes Type 2 diabetes manageable early is also what makes it serious when ignored. If you treat it aggressively when blood sugar is just starting to trend upward, before you become insulin-dependent, you have a real shot at turning it around. If it goes unmanaged for years, the long-term consequences become much harder to avoid. Retinopathy, kidney damage, non-healing infections, and nerve damage are not inevitabilities. They are outcomes of prolonged, uncontrolled blood sugar. The time to act is not when things get critical. It is right now, at the stage most doctors call "not serious yet."

What Your Conventional Doctor May Not Be Testing

One of the most consistent themes in Dr. Katz and Dr. Ryder's clinical work is that standard blood sugar testing leaves significant gaps. Conventional medicine typically runs an HbA1c and a fasting glucose through a comprehensive metabolic panel. Those tests are useful. But they are not the complete picture.

Fasting Insulin and HOMA-IR

The fasting insulin test is inexpensive and deeply informative, yet it rarely appears on a conventional diabetes workup. When combined with a fasting glucose number, it generates a marker called HOMA-IR, which stands for homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance. This marker can reveal early insulin resistance before your HbA1c or glucose levels have moved out of the standard reference range. It is one of the earliest windows available into how your body is actually handling blood sugar.

Here is why tracking this matters. If your blood sugar is creeping up and your insulin is creeping up alongside it, your body is working harder and harder to do the same job. The insulin is becoming less effective. That is insulin resistance building in real time. On the other hand, if both your insulin and blood sugar trend downward together, it means your insulin is becoming more efficient, and you need less of it to maintain normal glucose. Watching those numbers move in relation to each other over time gives you a much clearer picture than a single HbA1c reading.

The standard lab reference range for insulin is very wide, typically somewhere between 2.5 and 25. At NPG, Dr. Katz prefers to see patients in the 3 to 10 range with normal blood sugar. An insulin level of 25 alongside elevated blood sugar represents a significant problem, even if the lab has not flagged it as out of range.

Food Sensitivity Testing

This is one of the most powerful tools in the naturopathic approach to blood sugar, and it is almost never discussed in conventional diabetes care. If diabetes is an inflammatory condition and food is one of the primary drivers of inflammation, then identifying which specific foods are triggering inflammation in your individual system is essential. Yet this step is routinely skipped.

The food sensitivity panel that NPG runs also screens for candida and aspergillus, two types of fungus that thrive on excess blood sugar. This matters because fungal overgrowth can disrupt hormone function and intensify sugar cravings, creating a cycle that makes blood sugar significantly harder to manage over time.

A common shortcut patients try is the elimination diet, and Dr. Katz is direct about why it almost always fails. Most food sensitivity reactions are delayed. You eat something Monday morning and react that evening or even into Tuesday. You have eaten several other things in the hours between. There is no reliable way to connect the dots without objective testing. As Dr. Katz puts it, trying to self-diagnose food sensitivities without a panel is like playing darts without a dartboard.

Fungal Screens and Pancreatic Enzymes

If blood sugar is elevated, testing for candida and other fungal overgrowth is worth including in the workup. These organisms feed on sugar, and their presence can drive cravings while interfering with how hormones function. Dr. Ryder noted that candida may actually grow into hormone receptors, which may help explain why some people, particularly women, experience persistent sugar cravings and chronic infections that seem impossible to fully clear.

Pancreatic enzyme testing is also part of a thorough naturopathic evaluation. The pancreas produces insulin, and when it is under stress or showing early damage, enzyme levels can reflect that. An early indicator you can monitor without any testing is your digestion. Consistent gas and bloating after meals are not normal, even if they have been part of your life for years. They are often an early signal that something upstream needs attention.

The Glycemic Index: A Useful Tool With a Serious Flaw

Many conventional doctors use the glycemic index to guide diabetic eating. The concept behind it is sound: foods are ranked by how quickly they raise blood sugar when eaten alone. In theory, that should help patients make better choices. In practice, it has some significant gaps that are worth understanding.

Here is the most striking example Dr. Katz raises. According to the glycemic index, carrots can score worse than ice cream. Carrots have no fat, so the carbohydrates in them enter the bloodstream relatively quickly, which the index flags as a high blood sugar risk. Ice cream has fat mixed with its sugar, which slows the blood sugar spike, so the index rates it as less dangerous. By that logic, the carrot is the problem.

But apply common sense. Carrots are rich in vitamin A, which protects your eyes. They support kidney function. They are, in fact, genuinely beneficial for managing the long-term damage that elevated blood sugar causes. Ice cream with both dairy and sugar does the opposite. As Dr. Katz says plainly, nobody ever got Type 2 diabetes from eating too many carrots. Plenty of people have developed it from eating too much ice cream.

The glycemic index measures one food in isolation. It does not account for what you eat alongside it, the overall quality of that food, or what else it does for your body. Use it as one reference point among several, not as the foundation of your entire food strategy.

Naturopathic Treatment Options

Once testing is complete and you have a clear picture of what is actually happening in your body, treatment can be highly targeted. Here is what Dr. Katz and Dr. Ryder work with most frequently in practice.

IV Therapy: Alpha-Lipoic Acid

Alpha-lipoic acid, or ALA, is a potent antioxidant that has been studied for its effects on blood sugar regulation, nerve health, and kidney and eye protection. When delivered as an IV infusion, it allows for a significantly higher dose than oral supplementation can achieve.

At NPG, ALA infusions have been used with patients who have neuropathy, kidney stress related to long-term elevated blood sugar, and eye-related complications from chronic glucose elevation. The IV protocol at NPG is individualized. Dosage is based on each patient's labs, clinical history, and presentation. It is not a standard formula applied to everyone. If you are considering IV therapy for blood sugar support, a thorough workup first ensures the treatment is matched to what your body actually needs.

This content is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice. IV therapy is a clinical treatment that should only be administered under the supervision of a qualified healthcare provider. Results vary by individual. Discuss all treatment options with your provider before starting.

The Insulin Resistance Diet

Diet is the foundation of blood sugar management. No supplement or IV protocol will compensate for a diet that keeps flooding the body with inflammatory foods and repeated glucose spikes. The insulin resistance diet focuses on reducing grains and refined sugar while prioritizing fiber-rich vegetables, quality proteins, and healthy fats. Fruit is limited because it does contain sugar, though as Dr. Katz notes, nobody developed Type 2 diabetes from eating too many blueberries. The real culprit is always the heavily processed forms.

A few points worth understanding from this episode. Fruit juice is not equivalent to eating fruit. When you juice an orange, you remove the flesh and fiber, which are precisely what slow the release of sugar into your bloodstream. What remains is essentially a concentrated dose of sugar. The orange itself is a far better choice. Dr. Ryder makes the point clearly: the pulp in a carton of orange juice does not count as eating the whole fruit.

Organic also does not mean healthy. An organic cookie is still a cookie. Organic sugar still drives the same blood sugar response as conventional sugar. The label reflects how something was grown, not what it does in your body once you eat it.

Seed oils, often discussed as "the hateful eight," are highly inflammatory and show up not just in fast food and fried food but also in products that are marketed as healthy, including whole grain crackers and protein bars. Reading ingredient labels is not optional when you are managing blood sugar.

One important caveat. If you are already insulin-dependent, the insulin resistance diet is not automatically appropriate for you. Restricting carbohydrates while using insulin can cause dangerous drops in blood sugar. This is a conversation to have with your provider before making changes.

Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting gives your digestive system time for a full clearance cycle between eating windows, which can reduce inflammation and protect against the repeated insulin spikes that come with constant eating throughout the day. It does not have to be a strict daily commitment. Condensing your eating window even once or twice per week, for example eating between noon and 8 PM, can support insulin sensitivity over time.

One important note. If you have adrenal deficiency, intermittent fasting may add stress to a system that is already struggling. Testing first, rather than starting any new diet approach on instinct alone, protects you from doing something that feels healthy but may be working against your specific biology.

Supplements That May Support Blood Sugar

Supplements are not a replacement for diet and lifestyle, but when chosen based on individual testing and clinical evaluation, they can play a meaningful supporting role. Here are the ones Dr. Katz and Dr. Ryder discuss most often for blood sugar.

Alpha-lipoic acid can be taken as an oral supplement as well as through IV. The oral dose achievable is lower, but it still may support blood sugar regulation, nerve function, and kidney and eye protection over time.

Inositol also plays a role in broader hormonal health, including adrenal and sex hormone balance, which we cover in our full guide to bioidentical hormone therapy. It appears in many supplements used for blood sugar as well as in those designed for adrenal support.

Chromium has been studied for its anti-diabetic properties, including its potential to reduce insulin resistance and lower blood sugar. It may also help reduce the risk of kidney complications over time.

Quercetin is used at NPG for blood sugar as well as for its anti-inflammatory and natural antihistamine effects. It works at multiple levels of the inflammatory cascade, which is relevant in a condition as inflammation-driven as Type 2 diabetes.

Resveratrol is one of the more well-researched longevity supplements, with studied benefits that include improving hyperglycemia and glucose dysfunction whether blood sugar is running too high or too low. It also supports healthy lipid levels.

Berberine is probably the most researched supplement specifically for blood sugar. Studies have repeatedly shown it can reduce HbA1c. One essential caution: berberine can interact with conventional diabetes medications, and it is not appropriate during pregnancy. This is one that must be discussed with your provider before you start, not after.

Zinc is consistently found to be low in people with Type 2 diabetes. Correcting that deficiency and adding zinc to a blood sugar protocol addresses a common and measurable gap.

This content is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice. Always discuss supplements with a qualified healthcare provider before starting or stopping anything, especially if you are on diabetes medications or managing a chronic condition.

Herbs That Have Been Used for Blood Sugar for Centuries

Herbal medicine has a long track record in this area. Many of the herbs used today for blood sugar support have been studied in modern clinical settings and used in traditional medicine systems across cultures for hundreds or thousands of years.

Cinnamon has been shown in studies to help improve glucose levels and support lower cholesterol. It is an easy addition to coffee, tea, or food. A note worth including: the so-called cinnamon challenge, which circulated as an internet trend and involved eating a dry spoonful of ground cinnamon, caused serious breathing emergencies and several deaths. That is not what is being recommended here. Sprinkling cinnamon on food or stirring it into a drink is safe and beneficial.

Bitter melon, also known as Momordica, inhibits the absorption of glucose from the intestine, which directly supports lower blood sugar. It also helps with lipid management and has been used in Ayurvedic and East Asian medicine specifically for glucose-related conditions for a very long time.

Panax ginseng has been shown in studies to improve insulin sensitivity and help reduce blood sugar. It also supports energy levels, which matters because persistent fatigue is one of the most common and disruptive symptoms people with blood sugar dysregulation experience.

Gymnema is an Ayurvedic herb that increases insulin secretion and is particularly useful for people who struggle with relentless sugar cravings. It contains a compound that actually blocks the craving signal for sugar, which makes following a lower-sugar diet considerably easier for patients who have struggled with it.

Stinging nettle reduces glucose production in the liver and supports blood sugar control. It has additional anti-inflammatory benefits as well.

Milk thistle is best known as a liver herb, and the connection to blood sugar is direct. The liver is where glucose gets processed. Supporting liver function with milk thistle has been shown to help decrease blood glucose levels and offers broader metabolic benefits.

Fenugreek has been used for hundreds of years for blood sugar and cholesterol. Studies have supported its ability to help lower HbA1c. It also causes urine to smell like maple syrup, which is harmless and simply a side effect of the compounds it contains.

Aloe vera may help improve insulin function and support lower blood sugar and HbA1c levels. It also offers some protective properties for the kidneys and eyes. An important caution: too much aloe taken internally can cause loose stools, so moderation and provider guidance matter here.

Ginger is a powerful anti-inflammatory with broad digestive and metabolic benefits. In combination with other treatments, it may help lower blood sugar. It also helps reduce cortisol, which is directly relevant because chronic stress drives the cortisol response, which in turn drives inflammation and can contribute to pancreatic stress over time.

One More Factor Worth Taking Seriously

Dr. Ryder closes the episode with a point that might seem unusual but is grounded in real physiology. Sustained hugging releases oxytocin, which supports the pancreas in regulating insulin. This is not a throwaway comment. Chronic stress elevates cortisol. Cortisol drives systemic inflammation. Systemic inflammation damages the pancreas. Any consistent practice that genuinely reduces your stress response, whether that is physical connection, time in nature, or other restorative habits, has a measurable downstream effect on blood sugar over time.

FAQs

Can insulin resistance actually be reversed? In many cases, yes, particularly when it is caught before you become insulin-dependent. Addressing the root causes through diet, targeted supplements, hormonal and metabolic testing, and lifestyle changes can allow the body to restore insulin sensitivity over time. The earlier you begin, the more options you have and the more significant the potential improvement. This is something Dr. Katz and Dr. Ryder evaluate on a case-by-case basis because the right approach depends on where you are in the progression.

What tests should I ask for if I think I have insulin resistance? Beyond a standard HbA1c and fasting glucose, ask about fasting insulin and HOMA-IR, which is the homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance. A food sensitivity panel can also reveal which foods are driving inflammation in your body specifically. A fungal screen and pancreatic enzyme testing may also be appropriate depending on your history. If your conventional doctor is not ordering these, a naturopathic evaluation can fill those gaps.

Is berberine safe to take for blood sugar? Berberine has strong research support for reducing HbA1c and supporting blood sugar regulation. It is not safe to take alongside conventional diabetes medications without provider supervision because of the risk of interactions. It is also not appropriate during pregnancy. If you are on any diabetes medications and want to explore berberine, have that conversation with a qualified provider first.

What is the best diet for insulin resistance? The insulin resistance diet limits grains and refined sugar, prioritizes fiber-rich vegetables, and is thoughtful about fruit. Eating whole fruit rather than juice, avoiding seed oils, and not being fooled by organic labeling on processed foods are all important distinctions. What works best for you specifically depends on your food sensitivities, which is why Dr. Katz and Dr. Ryder recommend testing before overhauling your diet.

Ready to Take the Next Step?

Ready to take a closer look at what your body is telling you? Dr. Steven Katz and Dr. Loreena Ryder offer personalized, root-cause evaluations for patients who are tired of being told their labs look fine.

If you missed Part 1 of this series, begin with Blood Sugar Tests: What Your Doctor Misses. It explains why routine blood sugar testing may not reveal the full picture and introduces additional markers that can help uncover insulin resistance earlier. Once you understand which tests to consider, this Part 2 guide will help you explore the nutrition, lifestyle, supplements, and personalized treatment strategies that may support healthier insulin sensitivity and blood sugar regulation.

Schedule here: https://naturopathicgroup.com/contact

Call: (480) 451-6161
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This content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Nothing here replaces the care of a qualified healthcare professional. Please speak with a provider before making changes to your medications, diet, or supplement routine.