All fats are not bad for your health – recent dietary guidelines have changed to allow for more healthful foods like certain nuts in the diet of diabetics and people wanting to support their health in other ways. Researchers recently reported on a study in which they looked at 117 type 2 diabetic people eating one of three different food programs – mixed nuts, muffins, or half nuts and half muffins.
They used a common blood test for average blood sugar control, called the HbA1c level (guidelines suggest that keeping it normal or at least less than 7.0 reduces the risk of diabetic complication from high blood sugar levels), as the main outcome. They also looked at “bad” cholesterol levels.
The study showed that the greater nut intake was associated with a significant reduction in HbA1c toward normal, along with LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels.
What does this mean for your high blood sugar? Nuts, if you are not allergic to them, are a good source of nutrition. Even though they are calorie dense, they have health promoting types of fats in them, some protein, and can help stabilize your appetite to reduce your sense of hunger. Pecans, almonds, and walnuts are among the nuts with various types of health promoting benefits.
