High blood sugar diet plans are pretty simple at their basics – eat foods that are healthy for you. What does that statement mean? It translates into eating calories that carry good nutritional value per calorie. The high blood sugar diet needs to be balanced and moderate with relatively less fat and calorie-dense foods (especially avoiding foods like potato chips, French fries, and other foods recently shown to be at the foundation of obesity and, secondarily, type 2 diabetes associated with being overweight.
Foods that are good for diabetics and anyone else unless they are allergic to a specific food include high fiber, whole grain foods, fresh fruits, and vegetables. Fish, especially fattier fish such as wild salmon or mackerel, has health benefits such as higher levels of omega 3 fatty acids, a good kind of fat that the body needs to block inflammation and promote healthier body tissues. Because of the increased risk of heart disease and stroke in people with high blood sugar such as diabetics, eating fish 2-3 times per week is a good way to set up your diet plan.
Fruits that bring in good nutritional value, such as antioxidants in blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries can help fight the development of complications from high blood sugar levels. Antioxidants can protect cells from damage that high sugar levels can cause, from oxidative stress. Eating beans like black beans bring in good levels of protein and fiber as well as bioflavonoids that also help protect cells from everyday wear and tear. Bean intake itself can lower blood sugar levels and even reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Berries and beans also have good profiles on the low glycemic index food list.
The glycemic index is a value assigned to each food in terms of how fast and how high eating the food can raise your blood sugar. Especially for people with diabetes, it is very helpful to stick to a diet low on the glycemic index.
No, you do not have to give up carbohydrates. Good carbohydrates are part of a properly balanced diet. however, more complex forms of carbohydrates are better than refined starches like white bread or white rice. Healthier carb foods include beans (as well as peas and lentils), fruits, vegetables, and whole grains (whole wheat bread – unless you are gluten intolerant; whole oats; brown rice). The fiber in complex carbohydrates slows down how fast the digested sugar hits your blood stream and so keeps your blood sugar levels from going as high as they otherwise would.
Avoiding plain white sugar is also preferable. Of course any sweetener has its possible issues of intolerance reactions or long term health risks, but at this point, stevia is a natural sweetener that does not hit your blood sugar hard and is extremely sweet. You can sweeten beverages, cook, and bake with various forms of stevia (a plant-based sweetener).
Although nuts are high in fats and dense in calories, nuts have many health-promoting benefits to lower cholesterol levels and even bring in magnesium, a mineral that many diabetics get deficient in because of the effects of high blood sugar and losses in urine. Magnesium is essential for proper heart function, nerves (it can calm you, help with muscle cramps, and perhaps even reduce insomnia).
The better kind of fat to cook with is from olive oil whenever you can. Diets rich in olive oil appear to promote better heart health, an important benefit for people with high blood sugar and its risks of increasing heart disease.
Finally, it is important for anyone with diabetes or high blood sugar levels to take a good multivitamin/multimineral supplement. Apart from the quality of the diet, research has shown that this simple step can reduce colds and other upper respiratory infections in people with diabetes. In turn, having fewer colds or even less severe colds will help improve blood sugar control, since infections release immune system mediators that can increase insulin resistance and raise blood sugar levels.
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