Good Foods for Diabetics
Good Foods for Diabetics are those that are low in sugar, salt and fat while high in fibre, vitamins and minerals.
There are few myths about what can a diabetic eat. Some say that a diabetic cannot eat certain food types at all. Contrary to this, various researches have proved that diabetics can eat all foods in small portions. Diabetics must eat small balanced meals with a mix of variety of foods few times a day.
A balanced meal typically contains starches, vegetables, fruits, proteins, dairy, fat and drinks. Good foods for diabetics include small portions from each of the above types of food.
A diabetic can eat the best foods in each of these categories in moderate quantities to keep good health. The best foods in each category are listed below.
Starches
Starches or carbs are an essential part of any balanced diet. Carbs give us the energy we need.
The best sources of starches include brown rice, oatmeal, quinoa, millet, amaranth or any other whole grains which are low in sugar. Oven baked sweet potato, whole grain based bread, cake, biscuits with no added sugar also give us good starch.
Vegetables
Vegetables are a great source of fibre and contain very less fat, salt and sugar. Fresh vegetables are great for diabetics.
Diabetics can eat any vegetable raw, lightly steamed, roasted or grilled. Green vegetables such as kale, spinach etc. are very good foods for diabetics. Cauliflower and Broccoli are also good foods for diabetics.
Fruits
Fruits are a great source of carbs, vitamins, minerals and fibre and very low in fat and sodium. However fruits contain more sugar than vegetables. So sometimes diabetics hesitate to eat fruits.
The best way to eat fruit is to eat it whole, natural and fresh. Eating whole fruits gets you all the fibre but fruit juice does not get you any fibre. So eating whole fruits is a good way to eat fruits.
Protein
Protein is very essential for muscle health and body tissue repair. Most people eat meat for protein. But meat does not give you any fibre.
Vegetarian sources of protein gives you fibre too. Plant based proteins such as spinach, beans, nuts and pulses etc. are good foods for diabetics.
Dairy
Dairy is a good food for diabetics if they consume in limited quantity. However, full fat diary products can make you gain weight. So if you want to lose weight, you must go for low fat variants of diary foods.
Diabetics can consume low fat forms 0f diary products like milk, yogurt and cheese. By avoiding full fat diary products, diabetics can protect themselves from obesity and other diabetes complications.
Fats
Fats, Oils are not good for diabetics. However it is not possible to completely avoid them.
Good foods for diabetics include vegetable fats such as nuts, seeds or avocados.
Drinks
Drinks that have added sugar are not good for diabetics. All types of soda have added sugar so they a re not good for diabetics. The best drink for diabetics is water. Thus, You can replace soda and juice with water in every meal to get healthier.
Alternatively you can go for fresh fruit juice or fresh vegetable juice too.
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