Six of the best foods for diabetics

Tuesday, August 28, 2012 by: PF Louis
Tags: diabetics, foods, glycemic index

(NaturalNews) There are two forms of diabetes: Type one and type two. Both types involve imbalanced blood sugar and insulin issues. Insulin is the hormone that helps convert glucose into the cellular energy that's needed for the cells to metabolize nutrients.

Type one diabetes is sometimes called juvenile diabetes because it usually occurs early in life. The pancreas doesn't produce any or enough insulin and usually needs to be supplied externally.

That often means insulin injections by manual syringe, or an easier managed insulin injection pen, insulin pills, or a portable insulin pump.

The pancreas is usually functioning with type two diabetes, which normally occurs later in life. However, the body is insulin resistant, or not using the insulin well enough. Type two diabetes can often be controlled by exercise and diet while monitoring blood sugar.

Again, chronically high blood sugar is an indicator for both types of diabetes. But sometimes low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) occurs, especially with type two diabetes.

Many diabetic symptoms cross over with adrenal and thyroid issues as well as fibromyalgia. So it's best to get your blood sugar tested to determine whether or not your health problems are diabetes related.

Foods for diabetics

Obviously, foods with high glycemic indexes (GI) need to be avoided. Those include refined starches and carbohydrates, sugar, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) honey, maple syrup, candies, cakes, and cookies. Synthetic sugar substitutes cook your brain cells.

Unsweetened fruit juices are short-term solutions for low blood sugar (hypoglycemia), but should be avoided unless diluted if one suffers from high blood sugar.

Did you know that many foods from fast food restaurants and processed foods off the shelf contain sugars even if they're not meant to be sweet? Avoid them all. Buy bulk organic as much as possible.

(1) Veggies, especially greens, are items you can eat every day. Steamed veggies and raw salads are nutritionally beneficial for anyone and certainly if you have a low glycemic index.

Off-the-shelf salad dressings often contain sugar or other sweeteners. Use only unprocessed cold-pressed virgin vegetable oils, except soy, and vinegar or lemon/lime.

(2) Slice some avocado into your salad for taste variety and good nutrition. Avocados have low GIs. Avocados' high omega-3 content contributes to healing chronic inflammation, which is often associated with diabetes; leading to other serious diseases.

Avocados are an excellent plant source of protein. (https://www.naturalnews.com/029864_avocados_health.html)

(3) Walnuts are also a good low GI source of omega-3. You can sprinkle them onto salads or veggies for a tasty change. Most other unsalted, raw nuts are also okay for diabetics. (https://www.naturalnews.com/032772_walnuts_omega-3s.html)

(4) Fresh wild (not farmed) fish, especially tuna or cold water salmon, are another high source of omega-3 with very low GI levels. All other meats are low GI high protein sources, if you are so inclined.

Then try to stick with grazing grass-fed livestock or poultry that's free range, both to stem the excessive animal cruelty and avoid consuming the toxic antibiotics and hormones injected into factory farm animals.

(5) Grains are tricky. Obviously avoiding processed grains is necessary. But some whole grains have a higher GI (glycemic index) than you would think. Whole wheat is one of them. Quinoa and buckwheat are good substitutes. (https://www.naturalnews.com/036845_wheat_belly_weight_gain_gluten.html)

Organic brown rice may work for some diabetics since it is a complex carbohydrate that doesn't convert to glucose rapidly. But most experts recommend diabetics not make brown rice an everyday meal.

(6) Various legumes (beans) can be added to a dish of brown rice for a delicious entree. Beans are high protein and fiber with lower GIs than potatoes. They can also be mixed in with veggies or prepared as a side dish. (https://www.naturalnews.com/025175_cancer_WHO_risk.html)

Sources for this article include:

http://www.ehow.com/about_5372662_safe-foods-diabetics.html