Is it hard to really understand how to keep your blood sugar
levels in check?
Do you worry about what you eat or do that might make them
worse?
When your body doesn't make enough insulin or can't use insulin
well, your blood sugar level goes up.
This scary result is called hyperglycemia.
If you don't treat hyperglycemia, it can hurt your body in
the long run in very bad ways.
Your organs, blood vessels, or nerves could be hurt, and you
could lose your sight or even have a heart attack or stroke.
Chronic hyperglycemia can lead to any or all of these scary
health problems.
So, it's very important to know how to control your blood
sugar levels in a specific way!
So, we're going to show you four easy steps to help you beat
diabetes.
Find out how to lower your blood sugar, improve the health
of your organs, and lower your risk of inflammatory diseases caused by
diabetes.
Now, let's get right to the point.
Diabetes can be beaten in four easy steps.
Step 1: Eat good protein and fiber.
You probably already know that protein can give you more
energy and fiber can help you go to the bathroom.
But did you know that both protein and fiber can help lower
your blood sugar after a meal?
They can also help with long-term glucose levels when you are not
eating.
Fiber is a kind of carbohydrate that your body can't break
down.
Instead, your body gets rid of it.
But in the process, it can do a lot of good.
There are two kinds of fiber.
Soluble fiber can be broken down in the water.
As this type of fiber goes through your digestive system, it
binds to particles of cholesterol.
So, when soluble fiber leaves your body, it lowers both
total cholesterol and bad LDL cholesterol levels, lowering your risk of heart
disease.
Also, eating soluble fiber can make you feel fuller faster,
which can help you lose weight, and it can also lower your blood sugar.
Some foods that are high in soluble fiber are oats, beans,
apples, carrots, citrus fruits, and barley.
Fiber that doesn't dissolve in water doesn't dissolve.
Instead, it helps your digestive system by giving your
stools more bulk. This keeps you from getting constipation, hemorrhoids, and
accidents.
And, just like soluble fiber, insoluble fiber can help you
feel full quickly. This will keep you from eating too much and can help you
lose weight.
Studies have even shown that eating insoluble fiber can make
it less likely that you will get type 2 diabetes.
Nuts, cauliflower, wheat bran, potatoes, whole wheat flour,
and green beans are all good sources of insoluble fiber.
In general, one of the best things about fiber is that it
slows down digestion.
This means that it will help your body control how much
glucose goes into your bloodstream. This will keep your blood sugar from going
up too high.
So, both soluble and insoluble fiber is very good for your
health, especially if you have diabetes and are trying to control it.
But you might be wondering what protein.
You can't live without this basic building block of life.
But you don't have to worry if you are a vegetarian or a
vegan.
Protein isn't just in meat; it can also be found in some
plant-based foods.
Protein-rich foods include meats, beans, tofu, nuts, seeds,
eggs, cheese, and even milk.
Even if you only eat a high-protein diet for five weeks,
studies show that your blood sugar levels will drop by a lot.
So how does protein provide anti-diabetes benefits?
Protein can slow down digestion in the same way that fiber
can, which can help you avoid a sugar spike after a mule.
Studies have shown that if you eat a protein-rich food right
before a carbohydrate-rich food, your blood sugar levels after the meal will be
lower than if you just ate the carb-heavy food by itself.
Protein also makes you feel fuller more quickly, just like
fiber does.
That means it can help you feel full quickly and keep you
from eating too much of other, less healthy foods.
Several studies have found that eating more protein can
increase insulin production, which helps keep glucose levels after a meal under
control.
So, what else can you do besides cooking to help you beat
diabetes?
Step 2: Go for walks
after meals
Did you know that going for a 20- to 30-minute walk after a
meal can help lower blood sugar?
In fact, physical activity is one of the quickest ways to
lower glucose levels, especially if you do it within three hours of eating.
Even walking slowly will make your heart beat faster and make
it harder to breathe.
This makes your muscles contract, and when your muscles
move, your body has no choice but to use insulin.
Since glucose is the main source of energy for your muscle
cells, your pancreas will make insulin, which will bind to glucose molecules.
The glucose is then sent to your muscle cells by insulin
instead of being stored as fat.
Over time, these things can make your muscle cells less
clogged up with intra-myocellular fat and make them more sensitive to insulin.
In other words, exercise, especially right after a meal,
makes the body more sensitive to insulin.
This means that if you walk every day after dinner, it can
help lower your long-term fasting glucose levels and help you control your
blood sugar right after a meal.
But be careful with more intense, anaerobic activities like
weightlifting or sprinting, which can actually make your body make more stress
hormones.
This could then cause glucose levels to go up.
But if you keep it slow and take a short, pleasant walk, you
can keep your blood sugar from rising after a meal.
It can also help your heart stay healthy, lower your LDL
cholesterol, help you lose weight, reduce stress, and improve your mood.
Now, let's look at another powerful thing you can do to
fight diabetes by staying out of the kitchen.
Step 3: Use intermittent fasting.
Quite a few diets are based on what you eat.
But intermittent fasting is a way to eat that focuses on
when you eat or, more accurately, when you don't eat.
There are many ways to do intermittent fasting or I.F., but
three methods, in particular, have been getting a lot of attention lately.
The Eat Stop Eat I.F. Method calls for you to go without
food for 24 hours once or twice a week.
On the 5:2 I.F. diet, you can only eat 500 to 600 calories
for two days out of the week.
But the 16:8 I.F. Method is the most popular I.F. style and
the one most people think of when they think of fighting diabetes.
This change in lifestyle does not actually require you to
deal with fasting windows that seem hard.
It just means that you don't eat for 16 hours out of the day
and only eat during an 8-hour window.
So, many people have found long-term success by skipping
breakfast and eating dinner about 3 to 4 hours before going to bed.
When you eat, and even before you take your first bite, your
body releases insulin into your bloodstream to get ready to break down the
food.
Insulin resistance can get worse over time if insulin levels
are always high.
But if you don't eat for a while, your body won't have any
glucose to process, so there will be less insulin in your blood.
This can make your muscle cells more sensitive to insulin
over time.
But studies show that even fasting for a short time can help
people with type 2 diabetes better control their blood sugar.
In fact, a study from the US National Library of Medicine
showed that type 2 diabetics who did short-term I.F. routines lost weight and
had less insulin resistance.
The study showed that even people who didn't lose weight had
better control of their blood sugar.
And recent lab tests showed that when diabetic mice were put
on fasting schedules, their beta cells worked better, and their gut microbiota
was healthier overall. Both of these things can help keep blood sugar levels in
check.
Also, the National Center for Biotechnology Information says
that some type 2 diabetics may be able to use insulin less or even stop using
it together if they do intermittent fasting.
Researchers have also found that I.F. protocols can lead to
other health benefits, such as lower blood pressure, less hunger, and less
oxidative stress.
But in the big picture, most of the different ways to do
intermittent fasting are still new and haven't been fully tested.
So, it's best to talk to your doctor about the pros and cons
of I.F. before you try it.
Well, now that we've shown you some important steps you can
take outside of your pantry, we're going back to the kitchen for The Final
Step!
Here it comes
Step 4: Get rid of the bad carbs.
What do "Bad Carbs" mean?
Well, they're definitely not good.
Carbohydrates are a type of macronutrient that is found
naturally in foods made from plants.
Most people think of these as good carbs. They are also
called Complex Carbohydrates.
Foods like oats, whole fruits, whole-grain bread, beans, and
other legumes, and cruciferous vegetables like kale, spinach, and broccoli are
all good sources of complex carbs.
Complex carbs are made up of chains of sugar molecules that
are long and complicated.
Usually, your body needs a lot of time to break down complex
carbohydrates into glucose and release it into your bloodstream.
Simple carbohydrates, on the other hand, only have one or
two sugar units and are broken down much more quickly in your body.
Simple carb foods are often thought to be bad because they
break down quickly, which can cause a blood sugar spike.
Simple carbs are often found in highly processed, sugary
junk foods like chips, crackers, candies, fast food, pasta, cereal, juice
drinks, and high-sugar soft drinks or energy drinks.
When you eat simple carbs, your body will have to release a
lot of insulin in a short amount of time to deal with a large amount of
glucose.
So it's no surprise that eating bad carbs can make you gain
weight, make your body less sensitive to insulin, give you heart disease, and
is a major cause of the diabetes epidemic today.
But we all still need to eat carbs at the end of the day.
They are, after all, the main source of energy for your
brain and muscles.
So, yes, it is time for you to switch from your usual tasty
but empty-calorie, simple-carb treats to natural foods with complex carbs that
are full of nutrients and help keep your blood sugar level.
For example, one cup of cooked brown rice has 52 grams of
carbs, but even white rice, which has more starch, only has 53 grams of carbs.
But brown rice has more fiber, magnesium, and other good
nutrients that help prevent diabetes and keep the heart healthy.
Because of this, eating white rice can cause a much bigger
and faster rise in blood sugar than eating the same amount of brown rice.
So instead of making a sandwich with white bread, why not
use 100% whole wheat slices?
Switch out your white flour spaghetti for organic pasta made
from beans.
Instead of chips, you could try seaweed sheets, kale chips,
or just a few baby carrots as a snack.
Even though some of these foods may not have much fewer carbs
overall, they will have more healthy nutrients and more fiber, which will help
you lose weight, improve your heart health, and better control your blood
sugar.
So, here are four easy steps to get you started on your
journey to fight diabetes.
Remember to replace bad carbs with complex carbs, see if the
I.F. method will work for you, walk for 30 minutes after each meal, and don't
forget to eat good sources of fiber and protein.
We hope you're having a good day and staying healthy.
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