Best Food for Diabetics

Being a diabetic comes with many dietary and lifestyle restrictions. Trying to find the right balance between foods that helps maintain blood sugar levels, while still preventing other health complications can be tricky. Here are 5 of the best food items that diabetic patients should include in their daily diet:

Leafy Green Vegetables

Leafy green vegetables are known to be extremely nutritious while being low in calories and digestive carb content, making them the perfect addition to a diabetic patient’s diet. Vegetables like spinach and kale are good, natural sources for vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin C. Research has proven that people living with diabetes suffer from lower vitamin C levels, making these vegetables an absolute must-have in their diet plans.

The high antioxidant levels and anti-inflammatory qualities in these vegetables help regulate cell regeneration. In addition, antioxidants like lutein and zeaxanthin protect your eyes from common diabetic complications like macular degeneration and cataracts.

Fatty Fish

Fatty fish like salmon is considered to be some of the healthiest foods on the planet. They contain important nutrients like omega-3 fats that are proven to reduce inflammation and other risk factors that contribute to strokes or heart disease. They are also a great source of protein that helps regulate blood sugar.

Avocados

Avocados are considered good fats, and rightly so! Containing less than 1 gram of sugar, few carbohydrates, and a super high fiber content, eating avocados doesn’t raise your blood sugar levels. In fact, avocado consumption is known to improve the overall quality of one’s diet and lowers body weight and body mass index (BMI). These qualities make it an ideal snack for diabetic patients.

Chia Seeds

Extremely rich in fiber, yet low in digestive cards, chia seeds can work wonders for people with diabetes. It helps maintain ideal blood glucose levels and also helps one lose weight!

Beans

Cheap, nutritious, and extremely healthy, beans, like other legumes, are rich in fibers, vitamin B, as well as important minerals such as calcium, potassium, and magnesium.

Beans also contain a very low glycemic index that helps in the management of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.