How to Structure Your Day to Keep Insulin Low

TL;DR

Structure your day to keep insulin low by eating little to no carbohydrate at breakfast and lunch, making lunch your largest protein-and-fat meal, and saving carbohydrates for dinner. Dr Benjamin Bikman also recommends stopping evening snacking, especially around 7 or 8 p.m., when temptation often rises. Read on for his reasoning, meal structure, exercise guidance, and daily routine.

Transcript

coming into 2026 and I want 2026 to be the year where I finally get a grip of my health, where I finally become the person that I know deep down I could be and I desperately do want to be. And I asked you, Dr. Ben, >> to make me a plan, >> the perfect plan, the perfect diet. I know everyone's different, so we're going to have you're going to have t... Read More

Key Insights

• Insulin control, not calorie counting, is the organizing principle of Dr Benjamin Bikman's approach. His stated method for staying lean at 50 years old is keeping insulin low while still not being hungry all the time, which he achieves by shifting carbohydrate intake to a single meal.
• Glucose levels naturally rise in the morning in anyone wearing a continuous glucose monitor, and this coincides with a mild state of daily insulin resistance caused by changes in cortisol and other hormones. Eating starchy, sugary food at breakfast doubly loads the glucose that is already rising.
• Protein and fat are the two macronutrients with little to no effect on insulin. Fat has none, and protein may have a modest effect depending on some other variables. Carbohydrate is the third macronutrient and the one that drives the insulin response Bikman is trying to avoid.
• A bigger lunch reduces evening carb cravings. Bikman advises making lunch the largest meal, mostly protein and fat, because it makes tapering off later in the day easier, and he notes that carbs are essentially the only thing anyone craves in the evening.
• Fasted exercise suits metabolic goals, not performance goals. Bikman trains fasted because he does body weight exercises and dislikes a full belly, and because training fasted helps continue burning fat and maintain insulin sensitivity. Collegiate athletes or elite rugby players should instead take fuel before working out.
• Yerba mate has a GLP-1 effect that increases satiety. Bikman drinks it instead of coffee while making his kids' breakfast, and skipping breakfast himself extends his fasted state. He says he is not generally hungry in the morning anyway, so he may as well keep the fast going longer.
• A morning ice bath improves evening sleep, in Bikman's experience. He describes himself as a terrible sleeper, and in the northern hemisphere winter the sun may not rise until around 9 a.m., so the cold shock provides a jolt that gets his internal clock ticking and leaves him tired by bedtime.
• Beta-hydroxybutyrate, the main ketone, is measured in millimoles and rises after taking a ketone precursor that the liver converts. At 0.9 millimoles, the brain and heart begin using ketones and reliance on glucose falls. BHB has been shown to be anxiolytic and to help with depression, attention, memory, and cognition.

Questions & Answers

Q: How should I structure my day to keep insulin low?

Eat little to no carbohydrate at breakfast and lunch, and make lunch your biggest meal with mostly protein and fat. Save carbohydrates for dinner, then avoid snacking later in the evening.

Q: Why does Dr Benjamin Bikman recommend avoiding carbohydrates at breakfast?

Glucose levels naturally rise in the morning alongside a mild state of insulin resistance caused by changes in cortisol and other hormones. Bikman therefore advises against adding starchy or sugary foods while glucose is already climbing.

Q: What should I eat for breakfast and lunch?

Bikman allows as much protein and fat as desired at breakfast and lunch, although he personally skips breakfast. He recommends a big, hearty lunch composed mostly of protein and fat because it can make tapering food intake and managing carbohydrate cravings easier later in the day.

Q: Why does this plan emphasize protein and fat?

Bikman says fat has no insulin effect, while protein may have a modest effect depending on other variables. He uses these foods to keep insulin low without being hungry all the time.

Q: What is the highest-impact change for improving metabolic health?

Bikman's single recommendation is to stop snacking in the evening. He says people often become more tempted by foods such as cookies around 7 or 8 p.m., even after resisting them throughout the day, but eating then can send them to bed with blood glucose spiking or crashing.

Q: Should I exercise while fasted?

Bikman says fasted exercise is appropriate when the goal is metabolic health because it helps continue fat burning and maintain insulin sensitivity. For performance goals, such as those of a collegiate athlete or elite rugby player, he recommends taking fuel before exercising instead.

Q: What does Dr Benjamin Bikman's daily routine look like?

At 5 a.m., Bikman rucks one mile uphill and one mile back while wearing a weighted vest and carrying 15-pound kettlebells. He later completes brief resistance training around 10:30 or 11, spends 12 to 15 minutes in the sauna, and then eats a large lunch; family dinner is around five or six.

Q: Why does Dr Benjamin Bikman drink yerba mate instead of eating breakfast?

Bikman says he is generally not hungry in the morning, so skipping breakfast extends his fasted state. While preparing breakfast for his children, he drinks Yuna Mate yerba mate because he likes its taste, describes it as having a GLP-1 effect that increases satiety, and treats it as a small pick-me-up instead of coffee.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Dr Benjamin Bikman's prescription for a metabolically healthy year starts with zero to little carbohydrate at breakfast and lunch. Glucose levels naturally rise in the morning alongside a mild state of insulin resistance driven by cortisol and other hormones, so adding starchy or sugary food at that time doubly loads glucose that is already climbing.

• Protein and fat can be eaten in whatever quantity the person wants, especially at lunch, which Bikman recommends making the biggest meal of the day. Fat has no insulin effect and protein may have a modest one depending on other variables, which is why this combination keeps insulin low without leaving a person hungry all the time.

• His own day runs on structure: a 5 a.m. ruck with a weighted vest and 15 pound kettlebells, one mile uphill and one mile back, an ice bath, breakfast made for his kids while he sips yerba mate, a brief resistance session around 10:30 or 11 followed by 12 to 15 minutes in the sauna, then a large lunch.

• Dinner at around five or six is the family's social meal and the one place carbs appear. Bikman eats whatever his family eats, partly because he has daughters and, as a college professor who has seen young women struggle with eating disorders, he has never wanted his talk about diet to become obsessive in the home.

• Asked for the single highest impact change, Bikman says stop snacking in the evening. Evening is when people are at their weakest: a plate of cookies can be walked past all day and only becomes tempting at 7 or 8 p.m., yet that is one of the worst times to eat, since it means going to bed with spiked or crashing blood glucose.