Type 2 diabetes, also called non-insulin dependent diabetes, is a chronic disease characterized by resistance of your skeletal muscle cells to insulin, a hormone that transfers sugar from your blood to the cells throughout your body. As a result, your blood sugar levels increase and may stay elevated for long periods of time and cause complications such as cardiovascular disease. Consult your doctor about your health and managing diabetes with a healthy diet.
Consume Low Glycemic Foods
Consuming low glycemic foods can help you manage your blood sugar. Low glycemic foods contain sugar that your body slowly digests and absorbs into your blood. The lower the glycemic index, a measurement of how quickly sugar from food enters your blood, the less your blood sugar and insulin levels increase. Low glycemic foods include grapefruit, peaches, peanuts, barley, bulgur, whole grain pumpernickel and whole wheat spaghetti. Avoid high glycemic foods because these foods, such as white bread, white rice and baked potato, rapidly increase your blood sugar and insulin levels and can cause short-term complications, including coma and death, and long-term complications such as cardiovascular and kidney diseases.
Eat a Low Calorie Diet
Obesity is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Gaining weight, particularly increasing your waistline, increases insulin resistance and risk of complications that include cardiovascular disease and blindness. Reducing your calories and eating foods that are low to moderate in calories can help you lose weight and maintain a healthy weight, especially if you increase your physical activity. Try cutting back on your portion sizes and skip second portions completely.
Consume Healthy Fats and Avoid Unhealthy Ones
Consume healthy fats and avoid eating unhealthy fats to reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease. Healthy fats, such as monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, may reduce your blood levels of LDL cholesterol, the bad cholesterol. Foods with healthy fats include olive oil, avocados, almonds, cashews, peanut butter and sesame seeds. Unhealthy fats, such as saturated fat and trans fat, may increase your risk of cardiovascular disease. These fats cause plaque, clog your arteries, block oxygenated blood from reaching your heart and may cause a heart attack. Foods with saturated fat include red meat, poultry and dairy. Foods with trans fat includes processed foods, such as margarine, breads, cookies and salad dressings.
Add Cinnamon To Your Diet
Cinnamon is a flavorful spice with powerful properties that can help you manage type 2 diabetes and prevent complications from cardiovascular disease. Research by scientists at Agricultural University in Peshawar, Pakistan and published in "Diabetes Care" in 2003 noted that cinnamon reduces levels of blood sugar, cholesterol and fat. The research concludes that people with type 2 diabetes who include cinnamon in their diets will reduce risk factors associated with diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
References
- National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse: Diabetes
- Harvard Medical School: Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load for 100+ Foods
- University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Center for Integrative Medicine: Glycemic Index
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases: Insulin Resistance and Pre-Diabetes
- MayoClinic.com: Insulin and Weight Gain: Keep the Pounds Off
