Defy Diabetes … Foods to Choose and Foods to Lose

Everyone knows to eat your green leafy vegetables, avoid fried foods, and basically follow a Mediterranean food plan. But there are some surprising details about certain foods and drinks that can help improve insulin sensitivity, so you can give your body the best chance it has to defy diabetes.

Tea For Type 2

A great deal of research has demonstrated that drinking plain green tea may make our cells more sensitive to insulin. Black tea has shown positive effects as well, although green tea is the clear winner. Increasing insulin sensitivity is especially crucial for type 2 diabetics as their cells can become resistant to the work that insulin performs.  Increasing this sensitivity helps the cells metabolize sugar more effectively, which can help keep blood sugar levels within a normal range.

Put Out The Fire

Inflammation is closely linked to the development of type 2 diabetes. If that inflammation goes on for a long time in your body, you get chronic inflammation. This is strongly associated with insulin resistance and obesity itself.

Foods the Feed The Fire:

• High Sugar Confections
• Fried Foods
• Sugar-sweetened beverages
• red and processed meat (hot dogs, sausage)
• Margarine, and foods with hydrogenated oils

Foods the Fight The Fire:

• tomatoes
• olive oil
• green leafy vegetables, such as spinach, kale, and collards
• nuts like almonds and walnuts
• fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, tuna, and sardines
• fruits such as strawberries, blueberries, cherries, and oranges

Do Desserts. Just Do Them Right.

In order to control sugar consumption, often diabetics will feel like they have to avoid desserts altogether. This is just not true. They will need to avoid simple sugars, but there are many wonderful options that are low in sugar and do not require a lot of effort.

• Homemade hot chocolate (use more cocoa, less sugar)
• Heated milk flavored with vanilla and/or cinnamon with a tiny bit of sweetener
• Dark chocolate with some nuts or nut (or seed) butter.
• Fresh fruit with a dollop of natural whipped or clotted cream
• Baked apples sprinkled with toasted walnuts, a tiny bit of brown sugar, and cinnamon
• Baked peaches or pears topped with melted dark chocolate.

The bottom line is that some foods can tilt your physiology in a healthy direction, while other tilt it in an unhealthy direction. Know which is which is critical to sustaining a healthy glucose balance and defying diabetes in your life.