Most people with diabetes have or have ever had this question: What foods can diabetics not eat? What foods are good for blood sugar?
When we gradually understand diabetes, we know that diabetics have no food that must not be eaten, and there is no food that can lower blood sugar, but in daily life, there are still some foods that have a relatively small impact on blood sugar, and are rich in nutrients, which also have certain help in preventing complications.
Today we will take a look at these nutritious foods and see if you have eaten enough?
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Iron-rich foods
Diet control sugar control is the basis for managing diabetes, many diabetics are too strict in controlling the diet, such as vegan, eating too little, etc., may lead to lack of iron.
It has been reported that iron deficiency can greatly affect hemoglobin synthesis, resulting in hypoxia in pancreatic tissue, which in turn causes blood glucose levels to rise significantly. [1] Iron deficiency can also lead to iron deficiency anemia.
How to eat iron supplementation?
Iron-rich foods include: all kinds of red meat (lean pork, beef, mutton), animal liver (pork liver, chicken liver), animal blood products (chicken blood, pig blood, duck blood), shellfish seafood: clams, river mussels, and some green leafy vegetables: spinach, artemisia annua, etc. However, plant iron is not easily absorbed, and it needs to be eaten with animal products to promote the absorption of iron, such as spinach pig blood soup.
Foods rich in lutein
Retinopathy is a common microvascular complication in people with diabetes. Lutein can effectively inhibit the oxidative stress damage caused by chronic high sugar, interrupt a variety of inflammatory immune responses caused by oxidative stress, and can alleviate the apoptosis of endothelial cells, reduce the damage of high blood sugar to fundus blood vessels, etc., thereby protecting the function of the retina. [2] In the prevention and treatment of diabetic eye disease, it is usually necessary to pay attention to supplementing some foods rich in lutein.
How to eat lutein?
To prevent lutein deficiency, most people can achieve the effect through daily food supplements. Leafy greens, egg yolks and some orange and yellow fruits and vegetables are rich in lutein.
Lutein is fat-soluble, and egg yolks contain ingredients such as lecithin, so the lutein in eggs may be more easily absorbed than other sources of lutein. For diabetics with normal lipids, it is okay to eat an egg yolk every day, but if there is dyslipidemia, it is recommended to eat an egg yolk every other day!
In addition, to protect the eyes, usually pay attention to eye hygiene, avoid reading books or looking at electronic devices for a long time, remember not to look at the mobile phone in a dark environment, of course, you must control blood sugar, blood pressure!
Calcium-rich foods
Surveys have shown that about half of diabetics face osteoporosis. Especially elderly sugar friends, once osteoporosis complications occur, it is easy to have back pain, cramps in the hands and feet, lameness, and may fracture in severe cases. Osteoporosis is closely related to calcium deficiency.
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How to eat calcium supplements?
Milk is a good source of calcium supplementation, it is recommended that adult diabetics per day 250 ~ 300ml of milk, pay attention to the choice of pure milk or fresh milk, or sugar-free milk powder. Other vegetables are also rich in calcium, common ones are Chinese cabbage, rape, cabbage, spinach, cabbage and so on.
In addition to calcium supplementation to supplement vitamin D to promote calcium absorption, food vitamin D content is not much, generally present in deep-sea fish, we can choose to take vitamin D supplements every day.
Dietary fiber-rich foods
Dietary fiber can increase satiety, help control appetite, and has a low glycemic index, which has obvious help in delaying postprandial blood sugar. In addition, dietary fiber has a certain degree of help in improving constipation and improving blood lipids.
How to eat dietary fiber?
In addition to some of our common vegetables such as: Chinese cabbage, celery, leeks, etc., there are also many dietary fiber contents in miscellaneous grains and beans, such as buckwheat, red beans, brown rice, kidney beans and so on. But in fact, the dietary fiber content of tender beans is more abundant: such as young fava beans, young peas, beans and so on.
Every day, we can cook mixed grain rice with mixed grains, beans and rice. When eating young beans as vegetables, we must also pay attention to reducing the amount of staple foods, compared to general vegetables, young beans have more carbohydrate content.
These types of nutrients have certain benefits for diabetics, if there is no deficiency, daily recommended dietary supplements, often eat related foods. However, if it is already lacking, it is recommended to supplement some nutritional supplements or medication under the guidance of a doctor. While controlling blood sugar, pay attention to nutritional balance!
References
[ZHANG Bu-ai, LIU Liang-qiong.Relationship between whole blood trace elements and blood glucose in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.Comprehensive Medical Forum[J],2020,12(23):204-206.
Wang Liyuan, Effect and mechanism of lutein on diabetic retinopathy. Geography of Foreign Medicine[J],2015,12(36):311-313.
Content review: Practicing pharmacist Tang Yajuan