Diabetes is a metabolic disorder and its treatment involves managing blood sugar levels. Diabetics may eat a wide variety of salads that provide essential nutrients and do not increase blood sugar levels. The American Diabetic Association says you should make healthy choices each time you eat, including fruits, vegetables and healthy fats. Some foods may help you to reduce the risk of complications from diabetes, which include heart disease and stroke.
Fruit Salad
Fruit salads are refreshing and nutritious. Fresh, raw fruits are rich sources of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fructose, a type of sugar your body converts to energy. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends you eat a colorful variety of fruits every day. As a diabetic, it is important you choose fruits that have a low glycemic index, since this score indicates that sugar from the fruit will be absorbed slowly into your bloodstream and prevent high blood sugar, rapid secretion of insulin and metabolic complications from diabetes. Foods with a glycemic index score below 50 are considered to be low glycemic. Low glycemic fruits you may add to your fruit salads include grapefruit, peaches, apples, pears and oranges. You may choose from a variety of types of apples that include Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Rome and Granny Smith and pears, such as Bartlett, Anjou and Bosc.
Vegetable Salad
Vegetable salads are nutritious meals, appetizers and side dishes diabetics can include in the daily diet. Fresh raw vegetables, such as green leafy vegetables, carrots, celery, cucumbers and tomatoes contain vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.Harvard School of Public Health recommends you eat plenty of vegetables every day, and that vegetables may reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer and loss of vision. Add low glycemic nuts and legumes, such as lentils, peanuts, almonds and cashews, to your salad for protein and healthy fat. People who eat raw vegetable salads tend to have higher dietary intakes of vitamins C and E and folic acid and carotenoids compared with people who do not eat salads, according to research by Joseph Su published in the "Journal of the American Dietetic Association" in 2006. Furthermore, each serving of salad consumed is associated with a 165 percent higher likelihood to meet the recommended Dietary Allowance for vitamin C in women and 119 percent greater likelihood in men.
Fish Salad
Fish salad made from cold-water, fatty fish, such as salmon, halibut, mackerel, tuna or sardines, is a delicious and nutritious meal that may provide you with protein, vitamin B-12, minerals and healthy fats that include omega-3 fatty acids, such as eicosapentaenoic acid and hexaenoic acid. Research by B. McEwen, published in "Diabetes Educator" in 2010, found that diets higher in fish and omega-3 fatty acids may reduce cardiovascular risk in diabetes, and that fish and omega-3 fatty acids may be included into a diabetes management program.
References
- National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse: Diabetes
- American Diabetes Association: What Can I Eat
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases: Diabetes, Heart Disease, and Stroke
- USDA: National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: How Many Fruits and Vegetables Do You Need?
