If you are diabetic, avoid this food to control blood sugar level in body

 

If you are diabetic, avoid this food to control blood sugar level in body

If you are diabetic, avoid this food to control blood sugar level in body 

 

Can diabetes really be reversed? Research is showing that diabetes sufferers can go a long way toward controlling their symptoms, lowering their blood sugar, and reversing the course of their disease with healthy lifestyle changes.

 So what foods control blood sugar, and what foods make diabetes worse? Here are five foods you should always avoid if you want to reverse diabetes.

1. Fruit juice

Unfortunately, fruit juice has been marketed as a "healthy food" fruit that you can drink! However, it is not so simple. If you eat to reverse type 2 diabetes, you should eat only fresh fruit in moderation only because of its sugar content. While fresh fruit contains many nutrients - such as fiber - it has been stripped of most beneficial elements of whole fruit.

 

Fiber is essential because it's filling and can help regulate how quickly your body needs to react to carbohydrates and sugars. Fruit juice contains all of the sugar in fruit, without the fiber, so you consume much more than you should before feeling satisfied. What’s more, a small glass of juice can have the sugar of four or five servings of whole fruit. Even the so-called 100% juice, with no sweetening material added, is still loaded with sugar. With nothing slowing down absorption, all of this sugar hits the bloodstream right away. From the diabetic point of view, fruit juice is no less dangerous than sugar-filled soft drinks.

Instead of drinking juice, curb your sweet tooth with a piece of whole fruit, so you’re getting all the nutrients of fruit along with the sweet taste. Or, infuse water with fresh fruit and herbs for a refreshing drink that’s blood-sugar friendly.

 

2. Superior carbohydrates

To reverse diabetes, you don’t have to completely give up carbs. The key is to get plenty of the good stuff along with your carbs: fiber, protein, and a dash of good fats.

 

The problem with refined carbohydrates – including conventional pasta and pastries, to name a few – is that they’ve been stripped of all their fiber and most of their protein. Fiber is critical to regulating your digestive system, and protein gives your body long-lasting energy that carbohydrates don’t. If you're eating only refined carbohydrates (with a glycemic index similar to sweets), you need to eat more to feel full. Refined starches also lack the slow-burn energy that protein has, so you’re hungry again in no time.

 

To control your blood sugar and reverse the progression of your diabetes, skip those high-carb white starches. Instead, try wild rice, or healthier grains like quinoa or millet. Even better, choose hearty vegetables and dark, leafy greens for a higher nutritional punch and more regulated blood sugar levels. 

 

3. Wheat bread (even whole wheat!)

You probably know by now that white bread is a no-no for anyone who wants to reverse their diabetes. What you might not know is that whole wheat bread is generally not much better for diabetics than white bread. In fact, whole wheat bread has the same glycemic index that bread made with white flour does, which means it’s not any safer from a diabetic standpoint. In addition, the “whole wheat” bread sold in supermarkets is often full of sneaky sweeteners and preservatives. If that's not convincing enough, almost all the wheat that’s grown in the US is now genetically modified. Yikes!

 

So ditch the wheat bread, whether it’s plain white or “whole” wheat. However, you can still enjoy bread sparingly if it's made with only good-for-you ingredients. Sprouted grain breads are full of protein and vital nutrients, and can be made with a variety of grains. Or, try one of our recipes for grain-free bread, which use coconut flour and almond flour for a tasty loaf that’s full of nutrients.

 

Isabel's Favorite "White" Bread

Bread

Ingredients

⅔ Cup coconut flour

¾ cup almond flour

10 Tbsp grass-fed butter

8 eggs

1 Tbsp raw honey

1 ½ tsp apple cider vinegar

¾ tsp sea salt

¾ tsp baking soda, pure

 

Directions

·        Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a low heat. Turn off the heat and let it cool slightly. Then add honey and vinegar. Break eggs in a medium bowl. Add salt, baking soda, almond flour and butter mixture.

·         Mix with the hand blender or the hand blender.

 

·        Measure the coconut flour. You will need to sift if you are not using an immersion mixer. Using a mixer immersion or hand mixer, mix the coconut flour with other ingredients well. You don't need to worry about over-mixing this recipe because there is no gluten in it.

 

·        Pour the mixture into a loaf pan covered with butter well. I used a 9x5 skillet. Bake at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 50-60 minutes. This will happen when centered (you can touch it lightly, or check to see if your toothpick is clean).

 

·        Let it cool for 15-20 minutes, then use a spoon or knife to roam around the edges. Turn the tray and transfer the bread to a cooling rack. Quite cool. Wrap tightly with a plastic wrap. Store in the refrigerator or freezer. I like cutting it into somewhat thin slices with a Rada bread knife, placing parchment paper between the slices, and storing it in the freezer.

 

4. Sweetened breakfast foods

 

Read the labels on many typical “breakfast” foods, and you’ll see they’re more dessert than breakfast. From sugar-frosted cereals to heavily sweetened yogurt, most Americans are consuming more and more sugar in the morning, with devastating effects. For diabetics, these foods can be even more harmful.

 

Along with all this sugar, many breakfast cereals and packaged breakfast pastries are loaded with white flour, soy, and canola oil. Instead of fueling you for a productive day, these foods will spike your blood sugar and leave you sluggish and foggy.

For diabetics who want to reverse their symptoms, a healthy breakfast packed with fiber and protein can help you control cravings and sustain your energy level for the whole day. But most packaged foods in the breakfast aisle are full of just what diabetics don’t need: sugar, white flour, and trans fats.

 

A good rule for picking the right breakfast is to avoid anything packaged. Instead, opt for organic eggs, homemade oatmeal with whole fruit, or pure, unsweetened, whole-fat Greek yogurt. And don’t forget about the sugar that’s hiding in your morning coffee. Skip the fancy café drinks; they’re full of harmful conventional milk, refined sugar, and sweetened syrups. Instead, have some green tea with lemon, and flavor your coffee with coconut milk and pure, green-leaf stevia.

 

  5- Many “healthy” alternatives to cane sugar, like agave or artificial sweeteners

As the damaging effects of refined sugar become more widely known, and more Americans suffer from diabetes, there’s been a massive push to develop new “healthy” sugar alternatives. But are they really better than regular sugar, or just hype?

 

Artificial sweeteners like aspartame or saccharin have become billion-dollar industries, now that more Americans want to cut the empty calories of sugar from their diets. If you’re trying to reverse diabetes, however, these artificial sweeteners can do more harm than good. For one thing, you’ll never curb your sugar cravings with these super-sweet chemicals; instead, you’ll always be craving more. Artificial sweeteners can damage your liver, and have been shown to make people feel hungrier, which makes you more likely to overeat.

Sadly, some sugar alternatives, like agave, aren’t much better. While agave has been marketed as “healthy” and “natural,” in fact, it’s mostly just chemically-refined fructose.