Sticking to a diet of diabetic foods is one natural way to help manage your condition and feel as good as possible all day long. If you’re tired of the cycle of eating foods that spike your blood sugar levels, this list will help you avoid those foods and crowd them out with better, more healthy choices.
Today we will present you 25 foods that will improve your overall health and you can consume them without any fear of aggravating diabetes. The following foods are full of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber.
1. Apples
Apples are a good source of vitamins, minerals, and fiber, which is why they’re generally recognized as a healthy food. As a diabetic you may be wondering if apples are something you can eat or not.
The good news is that they are something that you can enjoy, and they join other fruits on our list as a potential way of having something that’s naturally sweet instead of opting for artificially sweetened items.
2. Asparagus
Eating asparagus is recommended for diabetics because it provides important vitamins and minerals, and is a non-starchy vegetable that can be eaten in larger quantities. It’s also a good source of fiber, and promotes weight loss, which is why you’ll often spot it on diet programs of all types.
Asparagus goes great with salmon, a diabetic food found on this list, and it also goes well with other protein dishes, like chicken and steak. It’s one of those vegetables that you simply can’t go wrong with.
3. Avocado
These fruits are rich in unsaturated fats. Many studies have found link between diabetes and avocados.
According to the research that was conducted in 2008, people who consumed larger quantities of good fats were 25% less likely to develop type 2 diabetes. This fruit must be included into your diet!
4. Beans
Beans have more to boast about than being high in fiber (plant compounds that help you feel full, steady blood sugar, and even lower cholesterol; a half cup of black beans delivers more than 7 grams). They’re a not-too-shabby source of calcium, a mineral that research shows can help burn body fat. In ½ cup of white beans, you’ll get almost 100 mg of calcium—about 10% of your daily intake. Beans also make an excellent protein source; unlike other proteins Americans commonly eat (such as red meat), beans are low in saturated fat—the kind that gunks up arteries and can lead to heart disease.
How to eat them: Add them to salads, soups, chili, and more. There are so many different kinds of beans, you could conceivably have them every day for a week and not eat the same kind twice.
5. Blueberries
Whenever you feel run down or that you don’t have enough energy, reach for a handful of blueberries. They contain antioxidants and fiber and are a fruit that’s diabetic-friendly.
Blueberries aren’t just a tasty berry that will do minimal damage to your blood glucose, but they go a step further and can actually help your body manage your blood sugar by helping to process the glucose you do take in.
6. Broccoli
This nonstarchy vegetable makes just about every superfood list, and it’s easy to see why. For starters, it has more vitamin C per 100 grams than an orange, plus it’s high in the antioxidant beta-carotene, which the body uses to make vitamin A. This dark green vegetable’s vitamin A power promotes healthy vision, teeth, bones, and skin. It is also rich in folate and fiber, all with minimal calories and carbs.
7. Carrots
Cooked or raw, carrots are a healthy addition to any meal plan. While cooked carrots have the rich texture of starchy vegetables, such as potatoes, they are classified as nonstarchy veggies because they don’t contain a lot of carbohydrate. A 1-cup serving of raw carrots has about 5 grams of carb, as does a 1/2-cup cooked serving. According to the American Diabetes Association, five baby carrots are considered a “free food” and do not need to be counted in a meal plan.
8. Cranberries
Cranberries are a rich source of phytochemicals that will help your body in a number of ways, and at the same time they won’t set you back when it comes to maintaining healthy blood glucose levels.
They’re also great for weight loss and for helping to lower your cholesterol, two factors that will greatly enhance your overall health and help ease symptoms related to diabetes.
Because of the concentrated amount of sugar in dried cranberries, marketed as Craisins, you will want to stick to fresh cranberries.
9. Fish
Herring, tuna, lake trout, salmon, mackerel, sardines and halibut are extremely rich in omega 3 which reduce the risk of arrhythmia. Fish reduce the risk of diabetes and stroke so implement it into your diet.
10. Flaxseed
Flaxseed can become your new best friend when charting out your plan for how to live and eat in a diabetic friendly manner. It provides fiber and omega-3s, and can easily be added to any meal or snack for added nutrition.
The lignans in flaxseed act as antioxidants, helping to protect you from free radical damage, so this is one diabetic food that is worth getting to know better if you’ve never tried it. The Mayo Clinic lists healthy eating as one of the ways to help manage type 2 diabetes, and flaxseed is one way to help the cause.
Ground flaxseed is so powdery that it’s a cinch to add it to soups, salads, and smoothies. If you add it to a salad make sure to add it after you add the dressing so it will cling to the dressing and not wind up on the bottom of the plate.
11. Spinach
Spinach is one of many leafy greens that have been shown to drop the risk of developing diabetes; collards are another great choice. People who consume more than one serving a day of spinach and other leafy greens slashed their risk by 14 percent, compared to people who ate less than 1/2 a serving daily, found one British study. This green is particularly rich in vitamin K, along with several minerals including magnesium, folate, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc. It’s also a good source of the plant chemicals lutein and zeaxanthin, and various flavonoids. Although spinach is technically a rich source of calcium, another nutrient in spinach called oxalic acid prevents much of that calcium from being absorbed, but you can blanch spinach (boil it for just one minute) to reduce this chemical.
12. Sweet potatoes
One analysis found that sweet potatoes reduce HbA1c measures between 0.30 and 0.57 percent and fasting blood glucose by 10 to 15 points. Sweet potato also contains anthocyanins, which are the natural pigments that give the sweet potato its deep orange color and the antioxidants believed to have anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and antimicrobial qualities.
13. Turmeric
Turmeric may have been protecting the health of an entire Indian subcontinent for about 5,000 years. A traditional Indian diet features white rice and flour breads, which as rapidly digested carbs would ordinarily raise blood sugar dramatically. But the presence of turmeric—the yellow spice that lends its color to many curry dishes—helps to manage the potent impact on blood sugar. Curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric, is the compound believed to regulate fat metabolism in the body. Curcumin acts directly on fat cells, pancreatic cells, kidney cells, and muscle cells, dampening inflammation and blocking the nefarious activities of cancer-causing tumor necrosis factor and interleukin-6. Experts believe the combined action of all of these factors together gives curcumin the power to reverse insulin resistance, high blood sugar and high cholesterol, and other symptoms linked to obesity.
14. Garlic
This veggie has been used as medicine for thousands of years ago. Garlic has been used to treat cancers, high blood pressure, heart issues and high cholesterol. In order to boost the active compounds in it, let the garlic rest for 10 min before cooking.
15. Melons
Pepino, Persian, Crenshaw, casaba, honeydew, muskmelon, cantaloupe and watermelon are varieties of melons. The presence of lycopene in its content makes watermelon ideal in the fight against heart issues.
16. Walnuts
Just 1 ounce of these healthy nuts (about 14 halves) delivers almost 2 g of fiber plus 2.6 g of ALA, the omega-3 precursor. But you get about 185 calories in that same ounce, so count out a proper portion if you’re watching your weight.
How to eat them: Aside from a stand-alone snack, chopped walnuts make a great topping for salad and add a bit of crunch to cookies and brownies.
17. Quinoa
Perhaps you’ve heard about quinoa in recent years, as its been making the rounds along with the gluten-free trend. This is often referred to as a pseudo-grain because it shares properties of grains and cooks up like a grain, but isn’t necessarily a grain and is gluten free.
For diabetics, quinoa represents a better option than other blood sugar-spiking side dishes like white rice and traditional pasta. It’s full of protein and fiber as well as an assortment of vitamins and minerals.
If you’ve never tried quinoa before, it’s best to test your blood sugar levels before and after trying it to see how well you handle it.
18. Oatmeal
There’s nothing more comforting than a warm bowl of oatmeal in the morning. Plus, it’s a more nutritious option than many other starchy breakfast foods, such as sugary cereals, sweet rolls, and bagels, according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA). Also, because of its fiber content (2 grams fiber in a 1/2-cup serving of cooked oatmeal), it gives you more staying power than low-fiber options.
19. Raspberries
These little berries pack a big nutritional punch. A 1-cup serving provides over half of the day’s vitamin C, a powerful antioxidant beneficial for bone and skin health, as well as cancer and heart disease prevention. Even more amazing is their fiber content: a whopping 7 grams of dietary fiber, in part due to the edible seeds.
20. Red Grapefruit
This grapefruit has larger amounts of antioxidants than the white one. It is also high in soluble fiber and Vitamin C which make perfect cure for different ailments.
21. Red Onions
Don’t hold the onions – especially red ones. They not only add great color to salads, burgers, and sandwiches, but they also score higher in antioxidant power compared with their yellow and white cousins.Onions are also a good source of fiber, potassium, and folate – all good for heart health. Onions’ high flavonoid content also puts them on the map for cancer and cardiovascular research as well as other chronic diseases, such as asthma. According to a 2002 study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, having a high dietary intake of the flavonoid quercetin found in onions may lower the risk of these chronic illnesses.
One serving of this nonstarchy vegetable is 1/2 cup raw or 1/4 cup cooked. If you love onions but not the lingering scent on your breath, try chewing on a few springs of parsley or a mint leaf.
22. Cinnamon
Several studies show that this delicious spice can help reduce blood sugar. One, published in the journal Diabetes Care, noted how people with type 2 diabetes who’d taken one or more grams of cinnamon daily had dropped their fasting blood sugar by a whopping 30 percent, compared to people who took no cinnamon. They also reduced their triglycerides, LDL cholesterol, and total cholesterol by upwards of 25 percent. Here’s why: Cinnamon is rich in chromium, a mineral that enhances the effects of insulin. It’s also loaded with polyphenols, antioxidants that gather up all the free radicals in your blood to protect you from cancer and also lower systemic inflammation, further guarding you from diabetes and heart disease.
23. Red Bell Peppers
These veggies are packed with lycopene and vitamin C and A. They improve our overall heath and reduce the risk of some types of cancer, diabetes and heart issues. This food is one of the richest sources of antioxidants.
24. Olive oil
Following a Mediterranean-style diet rich in olive oil helps reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes by as much as 50 percent compared to a diet low in fat, according to a recent Spanish study. Independently, researchers at Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the University of Vienna found that olive oil improved satiety the most when compared to lard, butter, and rapeseed (canola) oil. In addition to being a standout source of health-promoting monounsaturated fats, olive oil is also rich in antioxidant nutrients that protect cells from damage, and prevents the development of heart disease.
25. Soy
Regardless of the form, soy products have a deserved reputation for providing high-quality protein that is low in saturated fat and cholesterol. In fact, soy is a great way to help meet the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommendation to “replace protein foods that are high in solids fats (such as many meats) with choices that are lower in solid fats and calories.”
The one soy product you should avoid.
Soy is also a source of niacin, folate, zinc, potassium, iron, and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), a fatty acid that can be converted into omega-3 fatty acids. Edamame is also high in fiber with 4 grams per serving.