Whether you have diabetes or not, it is important to be careful of what you eat. After all, high amount of sugar in your blood can lead to numerous health problems especially if you have diabetes. Typically, diabetic patients are required to monitor the volume of carbohydrates that they consume to help control the blood sugar. Prevention can go a long way, simply by eating right foods and exercising. A healthy diet can even help lower blood sugar level and lower your risk of diabetes.
On the other hand, fiber is also a type of carbohydrate that does not make an impact on blood sugar because foods with fiber are not processed the same way as carbohydrates. Therefore, a diet high in fiber won’t affect your blood sugar. People with diabetes have to use a unique formula to count their daily carbohydrate intake. They calculate this by using the total weight of fiber can be deducted from the total weight of carbohydrates in every food selection. Someone who has diabetes has to use this formula at each meal or snack. This helps them maintain a certain amount of carbs needed to keep their blood sugar in the normal range.
What Foods are the Best Suited for People With Diabetes?
Fruits
These contain almost the same benefits as vegetables, but it is important that you limit the amount of fruit that you eat on a daily basis if your blood sugar is high. Fruit is brimming with nutrients you need, and it is low in fat. Besides, fruits have high fiber content and lower calories than other snacks. Best of all, fruit contains antioxidants. Antioxidants are proven to help your body perform better and help fight free radicals.
Vegetables
Vegetables are low in calories and packed with fiber. Also, they are packed with vitamins and nutrients that make our bodies function efficiently. Try filling your plate with veggies prevent you from filling up on empty carbohydrates. Eating fewer carbs helps reduce your chances of a blood sugar spike and prevent you from eating a ton of unhealthy saturated fats.
Cereals
Breakfast with cereal is a perfect way to load up on fiber and implement it into your daily habits. People who begin the morning with a healthy breakfast that is rich in fiber will eat less for the rest of the day. Choose healthy cereals that contain ample amounts of fiber. Beware of cereals that may contain hidden sugar.
Beans
Beans are a great source of dietary fiber. Dietary fiber helps keep you full longer. Also, it also slows down digestion and keeps the blood sugar from spiking after a meal. Also, eating a fiber rich diet like beans can help lower total blood sugar levels.
Poultry
Chicken breasts are considered a lean choice of meat. This means that you will consume less in calories. Unlike hamburgers and steaks, it has low saturated fat. Plus, you can cook a wide variety of meals using chicken breasts.
Fish
Fish is also an excellent source of protein and the best alternate for fatty meats. Fatty fish contains fatty acids containing omega 3. According to WebMD, a diet containing ample amounts of Omega 3s help increase levels of a hormone called adiponectin that’s linked to insulin sensitivity. If you don’t care to eat fish on a regular basis, you can still benefit from taking fish oil supplements such as Naturemade Burpless Fish oil.
Nuts
Nuts are packed with healthy fats that help prevent heart disease. These fats have also been proven to help make managing your blood sugar easier and prevent insulin resistance. They are also, one of the best food sources that contain ample amounts of vitamin E. Vitamin E, is a natural vitamin and it isn’t a vitamin that you can find in a supplement. The only way to get ample amounts of Vitamin E is to consume foods such as nuts on a regular basis.
Vitamin E has a wide variety of health benefits and is responsible for helping rid the body of toxins such as air pollution, cataracts, neurological disorders such as Alzheimers and diabetes. This powerful antioxidant may assist to prevent eye and nerve damage.
Nuts are rich in magnesium and fiber, both of which may keep maintenance in regulating diabetic’s blood sugar.
Yogurt
Yogurt is an excellent source of protein and contains calcium with weight loss nutrients. Different studies have shown that an individual who eats plenty foods, such as full-fat yogurt, of rich in calcium foods have an easier time losing weight.
Yogurt contains natural probiotics that help maintain a healthy gut. An unhealthy gut can lead to higher levels of inflammation and protect against leptin resistance. Leptin is responsible for telling your body that it has enough fat stored in the body. When people develop leptin resistance, they are more likely to be obese.
Stay far away from low-fat yogurt because it usually is filled with large amounts of sugar. The increase in sugar can cause blood sugar spikes, or it can lead to type 2 diabetes.
Cinnamon
Cinnamon is one of the best in reducing blood sugar level. In fact, you could lessen your blood sugar level by sprinkling it on the foods you are going to eat. Do talk to your doctor to determine if it is safe for you to consume between 1 and 6 grams of cinnamon. Large quantities of cinnamon can be harsh on the liver, and it also could interfere with your medications that you take on a regular basis.
Olive Oil
At the center of the famously heart-healthy Mediterranean diet is olive oil is considered as a healthy fat that may lessen the risk of heart attack. In addition, it has been shown to help maintain blood sugar level in steady by minimizing insulin resistance.
Implementing a healthy diet and lifestyle is important if you want to control high blood sugar and reduce your risk of diabetes. You can still enjoy life by doing the things you like as you take care of yourself too. These simple, yet effective foods are proven to help manage your blood sugar and ward off diabetes so that you don’t have to take medication to control it.
This is such great information! I don’t have blood sugar issues, but I know that maintaining and even blood sugar level also helps with appetite and weight loss. Thanks!
My brother is a diabetic and he honestly doesn’t take very good care of himself. I need to forward this to him so that he starts taking better care of himself.
I am trying to be more healthy in what I eat so I am going to have to follow this and see if I can help my blood sugar as well.
My husband is diabetic so I read this with great interest. Thank goodness I am doing something right when it comes to fixing him food.
Great tips. I must say as a Type 1 Diabetic even the healthy cereals do shoot my blood sugars up sky high. I have to take a lot of insulin to cover it. Fruits can be tricky as well as they do have plenty of natural sugars. I love that you included cinnamon! This does help as does any spicy food! Good health and nutrition are important for all. I hope this reaches many readers!
I have heard about cinnamon and beets being good for helping maintain sugar levels. I am not too familiar with blood sugar issues, but nonetheless, these are all good ways to eat healthy and stay healthy.
This is a great list. My husband has diabetes and I heard cinnamon helps a lot..
Other family members have this problem, and it’s not easy. Thank you for the list that I can suggest to them. It is important to watch the food intake and eat more healthy food.
I consume most of these except yogurt and cereal. I am not fond of eating them but I eat them once in a while, not just often. Great info yo]u have here.
These are great tips for those who need to be mindful of their blood sugar. I will share this post with a friend who is prediabetic.
This is good to know, I knew about cinnamon but the rest is news to me. Thanks for sharing!
I definitely need to let my mother in law read this. She has diabetes and I have to fight with her all the time about what she should eat.
This is great to know. Both my father and father in law have diabetes. I’ll have to share this post with them.
What a great post! So much information for those who suffer, not only from diabetes, but want to live a healthier life. For me, I do my best to stay away from processed sugar and carbs. If I eat those things, I know I’ll feel awful the rest of the day. x
Hey – thanks for the great information! I tend towards high blood sugar – anything under 108 is good for me. Luckily, I like everything on your list. I’m a huge fan of veggies and not really a big fan of red meat.
I’ll keep these ideas in mind for sure. I do eat a lot of nuts! I didn’t know that about cinnamon. I also use olive oil often.
My husband is diabetic and a lot of cereal can be bad because it has so much sugar. You definitely need to read the boxes to make sure you are not getting one full of sugar. He will be starting Keto soon to help with his Diabetic so cereal will be out of the question then.
This is a very helpful post, especially for people with diabetes. Will repost and share on our social media pages.
Although I love me some sweets I’m proud that my blood sugar is at a healthy level. I eat a lot of the items on this list and that is reassuring to me. I had no idea they would serve me well.
This is very smart, I have a few friends who would really love to read this!
Great list. While some were obvious to me – vegetables, etc… I was surprised by others – cinnamon! Cool!
This is such a great article! My mom has diabetes and she watches her diet carefully and checks her sugar level daily.
This is a fabulous list! I am going to send it to my mom, she really needs to read this as she is going through some related medical issues,
Cinnamon has been my go to blood sugar management for a while now. A teaspoon in the morning with some honey keeps my levels balanced all day.
These are all great tips. I’m working on eating a healthier diet and didn’t realize some of the additional benefits of these foods.
I have hypoglecemia and have never heard this before. It’s practically everything I eat though!
I don’t have blood sugar issues, but probably because most of my favorite things to eat are on this list! 🙂
I’m a type 1 diabetic, and I have to be really careful with fruits and cereals. They can skyrocket my sugar as much as a donut or other sweet treat if I’m not careful. I have to use a LOT more insulin to cover them. That said, there are some fruits, like berries, that I can eat more easily with less of an impact on my sugar. Diabetes is hard.