Planning meals helps diabetics control blood sugar and prevent complications. Organic foods provide significantly greater levels of anti-oxidant phytochemicals, vitamin C, magnesium, phosphorous and iron than nonorganic varieties of the same foods. These greater concentrations of nutrients can benefit anyone, but they may be especially important if you're diabetic, because diet -- eating healthy foods at planned times throughout the day -- is the cornerstone of managing your condition.
Breakfast
A healthy breakfast for diabetics may include soy yogurt with nuts and fruits. Soy is a low-glycemic food that contains a complete protein of essential amino acids and healthy fats. Nuts, such as walnuts and almonds, contain healthy fats that can lower your risk of cardiovascular disease and complications. Fruits, such as apples, contain vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and soluble fiber, an indigestible substance that slows the absorption of sugar into your blood and helps you prevent spikes in blood sugar. Organic apples contain a higher concentration of anti-oxidants than nonorganic apples. Research at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia and published in 2010 in the "Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture" reports that organically grown apples have a higher concentration of anti-oxidants, including flavanols, phenolics, hydroxycinnamic acids, quercetins and dihydrochalcones, than apples from integrated cultivation.
Lunch
For lunch, enjoy a large salad of organic vegetables and sprouts with sardines. Your salad can include organically grown green and red-leaf lettuces, tomatoes, cucumbers, celery, carrots and bell pepper. Add an array of various types of organically grown sprouts such as alfalfa sprouts, sunflower sprouts, buckwheat lettuce sprouts, azuki bean sprouts, mung bean sprouts, radish sprouts and broccoli sprouts. Research at Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in Tehran found that broccoli sprout powder increased blood levels of anti-oxidants and had favorable effects on oxidative stress associated with cardiovascular disease in type 2 diabetics. The study was published in 2011 in the "European Journal of Clinical Nutrition." Sardines have high concentrations of omega-3 fatty acids, which can improve your blood cholesterol and lower your risk of cardiovascular disease.
Dinner
Start your dinner with a cup of tomato or vegetable soup followed by an organic soy burger on a whole-wheat bun with lettuce and onions and sides of green beans and carrot salad with cranberries. Organic soy does not use genetically modified ingredients, so you can avoid any potential risks associated with eating genetically modified soy, such as changes in cells and reproductive organs. Soy has isoflavones, a type of anti-oxidant that may reduce your levels of total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol, the bad cholesterol, according to research at the National Institute of Health and Nutrition in Tokyo and published in April 2007 in the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition."
Snacks
Organic peanuts are a healthy snack food. Peanuts are a low-glycemic food with healthy fats. Eat them unsalted alone or with tree nuts and fruits.
References
- "Alternative Medicine Review"; Organic Foods Contain Higher Levels of Certain Nutrients, Lower Levels of Pesticides, and May Provide Health Benefits for the Consumer; Walter Crinnion; Apr 2010
- "Diabetes"; Association of Organochlorine Pesticides with Peripheral Neuropathy in Patients with Diabetes or Impaired Fasting Glucose; Duk-Hee Lee, et al.; Nov 2008
- American Diabetes Association; Fat and Diabetes; 2010
- University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Center for Integrative Medicine; Glycemic Index; 2010
- "Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture"; The Influence of Organic/Integrated Production on the Content of Phenolic Compounds in Apple Leaves and Fruits in Four Different Varieties over a 2-Year Period; Maja Mikulic Petkovsek, et al.; Nov 2010
- "European Journal of Clinical Nutrition"; Broccoli Sprouts Reduce Oxidative Stress in Type 2 Diabetes: A Randomized Double-Blind Clinical Trial; Z. Bahadoran, et al.; May 11 2011
