Foods That Lower Blood SugarHere are some foods that can help you achieve normal blood glucose levels...
Eating foods that lower blood sugar is certainly beneficial in helping you achieve normal range blood sugar levels. This is important because constantly high blood sugar levels are dangerous to our health. It may lead to diseases like diabetes, heart disease and stroke. It also stops the fat burning process in the body because high glucose induces insulin secretion. Insulin is a storage hormone that promotes the uptake of nutrients into cells. As a result, mobilisation and utilisation of fat from the fat cells ceases with high blood sugar levels. There are 4 categories that we will consider regarding foods that lower blood sugar. They are:
There are also 2 other food-related topics that you should consider as well. They are: Also, adding low GI foods to meals slows down the absorption rate of other carbohydrate-containing foods, therefore lowering the GI of high GI foods. Some low GI foods include (which are foods that lower blood sugar): Oats, brown rice, pasta, pears, apples, peach, plum, sweet potato, peas, sweet corn, yoghurt, and milk. Foods that improve insulin sensitivity There are several foods that may help improve insulin sensitivity. Foods containing omega 3 oils as well as foods containing glucose disposal agents (GDAs) are good examples. Omega 3 fatty acids come mainly from fish and flax seeds (and their equivalent oils). They are also present in small amounts in green leafy vegetables. Fats/ oils make up the membranes of all body cells (phospholipids). As a result, having a greater intake of high quality fats means that the integrity of cell membranes also improves. By improving the quality of cell membranes, the passage of nutrients both into and out of cells improves because the insulin sensitivity improves. By improving the passage of glucose into cells, omega 3 fatty acids act as foods that lower blood sugar. Glucose disposal agents (GDAs) are compounds that assist the body in disposing of glucose effectively and therefore also keep insulin levels low. They tend to be herbs or components of food, for example, minerals. Here are some examples of GDAs: chromium, selenium, vanadium, gymnema syvestra, alpha lipoic acid, fenugreek seed extract and cinnamon extract. Some foods that contain GDAs are: whole grains, shellfish, meat, fish, egg yolk, cheese, yeast, cereals, fenugreek seeds, cinnamon and legumes. Often it may be difficult to include all of these foods in your diet on a regular basis and often the levels of the GDAs in these foods may be too low to have a therapeutic effect. As a result, it is definitely worthwhile taking supplemental forms of GDAs. People who are interested in losing body fat need only take GDA supplements with lunch and dinner. However, people who have some degree of insulin resistance, namely type 2 diabetics and women with polycystic ovarian syndrome, should take GDAs three times a day with meals. Ideally, breakfast, lunch and dinner. BCN have a product called GI Factor which contains a unique combination of some of the most powerful glucose disposal agents including: chromium, alpha lipoic acid, gymnema syvestra and fenugreek seed extract. GI Factor has been proven to be effective at lowering blood sugar immediately after meals as well as getting rid of sugar cravings that some people get in the afternoons and evenings. Best of all, GI Factor can increase insulin sensitivity, which may help overcome symptoms of diabetes as well as help keep insulin levels low. By keeping insulin low in the body, you can access and use body fat as a fuel source much easier. GI Factor is a great support to a thermogenic like,
XLR8 Thermogenic. For example, an apple has a much lower glycaemic index than apple juice simply because there is fibre in the apple and the apple juice has had its fibre component removed. Fibre has a tendency to ‘dilute’ the carbohydrate, which slows absorption. Fruits and vegetables are the best source of both soluble and insoluble fibre and should be the foundation of your diet. Most of them are foods that lower blood sugar. However, there are some exeptions. The standard recommendation of 5 serves of vegetables and 2 serves of fruit a day is ideal to ensure you get an adequate amount of fibre in your diet as well as many other ‘phytonutrients’ that come from these foods. Foods Containing Other Macronutrients (protein and fat) Protein is similar to fibre in that it has a ‘diluting’ effect on carbohydrate and therefore slows the absorption rate of the carbohydrates in a meal. Therefore, it is definitely one of the foods that lower blood sugar. Some examples of protein-containing foods include: fish, chicken, red meat, eggs, cottage cheese, beans, nuts and seeds. Fat lowers a food’s glycaemic index by slowing down its passage through the gastro-intestinal tract. This slows the absorption rate of carbohydrate. Good examples of this are chocolate and ice-cream. Both of these foods contain a consider¬able amount of fat along with carbohydrate and both have relatively low glycaemic indexes. However, this certainly doesn’t mean you should increase your intake of these foods because both are very ‘calorie dense’ due to the large amounts of fat and sugar contained in them. They are good examples, however, of how fat slows down the absorption, and utilisation rate of carbohydrate. Other examples of predominantly fat foods are: oils, nuts, seeds, avocado, and butter.
Eat 'complete' meals By doing so, the protein and fat components (and fibre) slow down the absorption rate of the carbohydrate, which means it has the effect of helping maintain normal range blood sugar levels. Even though this is not one of the foods that lower blood sugar, it certainly is a way that people can stabilize their blood sugar with food.
Have small, frequent meals Small, frequently meals ensure minimum insulin response from meals and therefore reduced opportunity for inducing
insulin resistance
and easier maintenance of a normal blood sugar level.
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