Recommended Foods For Diabetes
Brewer’s Yeast
Brewer’s yeast is a wonder food. It is rich in traces of mineral chromium. This mineral helps the pancreas produce more insulin. It is one of the best supports for the normal handling of sugar by the body. According to an article by Dr. Richard J. Doisy and others, which appeared in the Medical World News, Brewer’s yeast has lowered the insulin requirements of many diabetes patients.
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Broccoli
Broccoli, a close relation to cauliflower, has long been a popular food in Europe. This vegetable has proved to be an effective anti-diabetic food. It is a rich source of chromium, a trace mineral that seems to lower blood sugar. This trace mineral regulates blood sugar, thereby often reducing the medication and insulin needs of diabetes. In cases of mild diabetes, chromium may prevent the onset of the full-fledged disease. If a person’s glucose tolerance is on the border, chromium can help control it. Even low blood sugar levels can be brought to normal with chromium.
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Curd
Curd injects friendly bacteria into the digestive system that stimulate the pancreas. It also washes the pancreas of its acids and wastes. These cleansing actions enable the pancreas to perform much better and thereby help in the production of insulin.
Garlic
In scientific trials, garlic and its constituents have been found to lower blood sugar in diabetes. This vegetable is rich in potassium, which effectively replaces the large quantities of potassium lost in the urine of diabetics. It also contains zinc and sulfur, which are constituents of insulin. Some authorities believe that low levels of zinc may be one of the factors responsible for the onset of diabetes. Garlic also contains manganese, a deficiency of which can contribute to diabetes.
Garlic constituents appear to act by blocking the inactivation of insulin in the liver. The result is higher blood insulin levels and lower blood sugar.
Garlic has other benefits for diabetes besides lowering blood sugar. It prevents arteriosclerosis, which is a common complication of diabetes and relieves body pain. Diabetics can take the equivalent of one or two cloves of garlic a day in any form they like, either raw or cooked in food or as capsules. Garlic milk, prepared by adding four cloves of crushed garlic to 110 ml of milk, is one good way of taking garlic. The best way, however, is to chew raw garlic thoroughly first thing in the morning.
Bengal Gram
Bengal gram, also known as chickpea, is a widely used important component of the Indian diet. It is a valuable anti-diabetic food. Experiments have shown that the oral ingestion of the water extract of Bengal gram increases the utilization of glucose in diabetics as well as normal people. In a study conducted at the Central Food Technological Research Institute in Mysore, the requirement of insulin for chronic diabetes patients
decreased from 40 units a day to 20 units, when kept on a diet that included liberal supplements of Bengal gram extract.
Diabetic patients who are on a restricted diet, which does not severely limit the intake of carbohydrates but includes liberal amounts of Bengal gram extract, have shown considerable improvement in their fasting blood sugar levels, glucose tolerance, urinary excretion of sugar, and general condition.
Bitter Gourd
The bitter gourd is a common vegetable cultivated extensively. It has excellent medicinal virtues. This vegetable has been used as a fold medicine for diabetes since ancient times. Research has established that it contains an insulin-like principle designated as plant-insulin, which has been found beneficial in lowering blood and urine sugar levels.
Bitter gourd is thus an effective anti-diabetic food and should be included liberally in the diet of a diabetic.
Juice of three or four bitter gourds taken every morning on an empty stomach has been found more effective than eating fruits. The seeds of bitter gourd can be powdered and added to regular meals. A decoction prepared by boiling chopped bitter gourd in water is equally effective, as is its dry powder mixed with liquid foods.
Bitter gourd is rich in all essential vitamins and minerals especially vitamins A, B1, B2, C, and iron. Its regular use, therefore, prevents many complications associated with diabetes including hypertension, eye complications, neuritis, and the defective metabolism of carbohydrates.
Black Gram
Black gram is a highly prized pulse in India. It is an anti-diabetic food. Germinated black gram taken with half a cup of fresh bitter gourd juice, forms an effective remedy for treating mild types of diabetes. It should be taken once a day, for three to four months, with a restricted intake of carbohydrates.
In severe diabetes, regular use of this combination is an effective complement to other treatments. It is also a useful health food for preventing complications due to malnutrition in diabetes. Milk prepared by grinding sprouted whole black gram is also recommended for diabetics.
Groundnut
Groundnuts are valuable in diabetes. Eating a handful of groundnuts daily by diabetics will not only prevent malnutrition, particularly the deficiency of niacin but also checks the development of vascular complications.