The number of people in the United States with diabetes doubled between 1990 and 2005, reports the Diabetes Association of Greater Cleveland. Keeping blood sugar within a healthy range can significantly reduce your risk of diabetic complications, such as end-stage renal disease, vision loss and stroke. Diabetics are also at heightened risk of low potassium, Diabetes Self-Management states. If you are diabetic and have low potassium levels, follow the advise given to you by your health-care team. Additionally, consider a diet that fights both of these conditions.
Paleo Diet
Eating like our cavemen ancestors is a powerful weapon for fighting diabetes, reports David C. Klonoff of the Mills-Peninsula Health Services. A Paleo diet aims to mirror the dietary habits of ancient hunter-gatherer societies. It restricts or forbids eating modern-day fare like bread, dairy, processed foods and fried food. Paleo dieters eat an abundance of fresh fruits, veggies and meat. Research published in the July 2009 issue of "Cardiovascular Diabetology" found that the Paleo diet outperformed the standard diabetic diet, and that Paleo dieters ate more fresh fruit, veggies, and total potassium than the other group.
DASH Diet
The DASH diet was originally designed to combat high blood pressure. However, this diet has successfully treated diabetes and heart disease as well, MayoClinic.com reports. In addition to limiting sodium intake, the DASH diet emphasizes foods like whole grains, potassium-rich veggies, fruits and low-fat dairy. Potassium-rich vegetables to include in your DASH diet include bamboo shoots, beets, celery and spinach.
Vegan Diet
Vegans do not consume any food that comes from an animal. In addition to eschewing meat, the vegan diet also restricts eggs, dairy and baked goods made from them. Vegan dieters obtain the majority of their protein from plant foods like soy, beans and legumes. Type 2 diabetics who adopt a vegan diet may eventually find themselves free of the disease over time, reports Andrew Nicholson of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. He cites several studies that found a low-fat vegan diet dramatically improved type 2 diabetes symptoms and reduced or eliminated the need for medication. Vegan diets tend to be very rich in potassium because they include foods like soybeans, yams, almonds and bananas.
References
- DAGC: Diabetes Statistics - United States
- Diabetes Self-Management: The Power of Potassium
- PubMed Central: Beneficial effects of a Paleolithic diet on cardiovascular risk factors in type 2 diabetes: a randomized cross-over pilot study
- Mayo Clinic: DASH Diet
- PCRM: Diabetes: Can a Vegan Diet Reverse Diabetes?
- PubMed Central: The Beneficial Effects of a Paleolithic Diet on Type 2 Diabetes and Other Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease
