This hormone affects nearly every cell in the body, so when it goes haywire it can really cause problems - I'm talking about potentially fatal health conditions. If you can get a handle on your insulin's ups and downs, you'll be on your way to restoring your body's hormone power.

Impact on your metabolism: The most important function of insulin is to lower the concentration of glucose in your blood. When you eat something, your body breaks down the food into simple sugars that are released into the bloodstream. Within minutes, the pancreas pumps out a series of insulin surges. Insulin then ushers the sugars directly into the liver, where they're converted into glycogen to fuel the muscles. Insulin also helps turn glucose into fatty acids and stores them in fat cells, where they can be tapped later as fuel.

While high levels of blood glucose trigger insulin release, low levels suppress it. Maintaining low levels of insulin allows your body to more easily tap into your stored fat for fuel. When your insulin-release mechanism is working properly, it helps keep your weight in check. Otherwise, watch out!

How insulin gets messed up: Problems arise when your body starts creating too much insulin, which can happen for a number of reasons. The most common one is eating too many of the wrong carbohydrates (such as refined carbs like white bread and pasta) too often, which will cause your blood sugar to spike.

Here's an example: Let's say you have a Milky Way on an empty stomach. Your blood sugar soars to the point that insulin works twice as hard to clean it out of your blood, with the result that your blood sugar concentration drops, you feel hungry again, and you crave (and probably eat) more carbs. That's the "crash and binge" cycle, the root of sugar addiction.

When muscles are still fueled from your last snack, insulin puts any extra calories straight into fat cells. And as long as these large amounts of insulin are lurking in the bloodstream, your body won't have a chance to tap into your fat stores for fuel - so you won't burn any fat, either.

What to do? Eat healthy fats, lots of fruit and veggies and whole-grains - every day. If you do happen to eat a big meal, go for a 30 minute walk afterward to help lower the blood sugar levels in the body.

My new diet program, Choose to Lose, balances out your insulin levels and sugar cravings. To learn more about how you can lose 10, 20, 30 or 50 + pounds, email me. You don't have to be client to reach your potential!