By Howard John
Can controlling your blood sugar
levels and preventing Diabetes complications can be as simple as eating the
right foods?
The answer is yes. Certain foods are
overflowing with nutritional substances that stabilize the blood sugar levels,
protect out heart, and even save our vision from the harmful effects of
Diabetes.
The following 9 foods can give us all
a great advantage in our war against Diabetes:
1.
Apples
At a long-term research in Finland,
researchers found that men who ate the largest amount of apples had 20% less
diabetes or heart associated death. Their research indicated that the active
ingredient responsible for this was Quercetin.
If you can't find apples or don't like
them (rare but happens), other lesser but still good sources of Quercetin are
onions, tomatoes, green vegetables and forest berries. So yes kids, your mother
is right, eat more greens!
2.
Cinnamon
A research in Mariland, at the Human
Nutrition institute, found that if you add just half a spoon of Cinnamon a day
to your diet, your cells will gradually become more sensitive to insulin. This
means that they will metabolise sugar into energy in a more efficient process,
and so will control the blood sugar levels better.
Diabetes patients who received an
extract of cinnamon every day for 40 days straight experienced a noticeable
reduction of sugar levels in the blood after eating, as well as marked
improvements to the health of their hearts.
Don't forget - You can add cinnamon to
almost anything. So keep it handy when cooking and add just a bit every day, it
may prolong your life!
3.
Citrus Fruits
As you may already know, people who
suffer from diabetes often have a shortage in vitamin C. So citrus fruits,
chalk full of vitamin C as well as loads of antioxidants - are a great choice.
More importantly - Yummy.
4.
Cold Water Fish
As if getting Diabetes isn't hell
enough, those that suffer this disease have doubled their chance to suffer from
heart disease. That is why a diet rich in the Omega-3 amino acid, also known as
'the good fat' in cold water fish, can help reduce the levels of 'bad'
cholesterol while raising the levels of 'good' cholesterol.
5. Foods rich in fiber
Not only does it help reduce those
frequent trips to the bathroom, but a research at the university of Texas found
that people who have raised their daily fiber intake from 24 grams to 50, have
experienced dramatic improvements to their blood sugar levels. In fact, the
fiber rich diet is no less effective than certain diabetes medicines.
6.
Legumes
Legumes are a great addition to soups,
salads and a variety of other foods. This low fat, low calorie ingredient is
also rich in fiber and proteins, and helps to reduce the risk of diabetes and
cardiovascular diseases. The fibers slow the release of glucose to the blood,
which prevents the rise in blood sugar level
7.
Green Tea
Research shows that chronic
inflammation caused by fat-rich foods, little to no exercise and a diet lacking
in the proper amounts of fruits, vegetables and 'good' fat - can increase your
chances of getting hit with a cardiovascular disease and sabotage the body's
attempts to absorb the sugar in your blood.
Simple solution: Drink green tea and
orange juice. They are filled to the brim with substances that prevent and
fight inflammation.
The green tea is also a wonderful
source of antioxidants.
8.
Dark Chocolate
Researchers at Tufts university found
that dark chocolate can improve the cells sensitivity to insulin (much like cinnamon
as we've mentioned) and may reduce the risk of diabetes.
Dark chocolates, especially those that
haven't gone through much processing, tend to contain more of substances called
flavonoids, as well as less saturated fat than does milk chocolate. However,
Cocoa powder and baking chocolate may offer a higher concentration of
flavonoids than dark chocolate does. To those who like White chocolate, we have
bad news - they typically contain none.
9.
Vinegar
Two spoons of vinegar taken before a
meal can help reduce our blood sugar levels, according to a research held at
the University of Arizona, testing three groups of people: Healthy, Showing
early diabetes signs, and full on diabetes.
The results: An hour after taking the
vinegar, the diabetes patients had a 25% reduction in their blood sugar levels.
To the healthy and those with early signs of diabetes the news was even better
- A 50% reduction in their blood sugar levels.
No comments:
Post a Comment