Herbs, Grains, Nuts and Seeds Each Offer Different Benefits For Those With Diabetes

we want probably you know this is a really optional uh for depending on your caloric needs but for most people two or more servings of whole grains and stores and or starchy vegetables and these are the foods that you adjust based on your energy needs so once you’ve got you’ve consumed the 10 servings or more of veggies and fruits and three serving of of of legumes and and you’re you’re one serving or two of nuts and seeds and all of those things then you add in these more energy dense foods to make up for uh or to to to get to where you need to be in terms of your your caloric needs

whole grains we know can lower diabetes risk particularly relative to refined grains there was a 2018 study that reported for every half ounce serving of whole grains diabetes risk was reduced by eleven percent for men and seven percent uh for women

and what about potatoes well there was a 2016 meta-analysis of five studies showing no association or decreased risk with potato intake two studies that showed increased risk but three out of three studies showing french fries increased risk no big surprise there so the practical pointers here we want people to be selecting colorful starchy vegetables prepared without added fat selecting the lower gi options and selecting mostly intact whole grains because all whole grains are not created equal a granola bar does not equal a bowl of old-fashioned oatmeal and a box of kamut flakes does not equal a kamut berry salad

the the reality is even once you’ve eliminated all refined grains you’re not eating any white flour white rice or any of the products made with with that stuff you’re just eating whole grains you know stone ground whole wheat whatever there is still a hierarchy within that group of whole grains and at the top of the hierarchy the best of the best are intact whole grains pretty much as they’re picked off the plant without you know you’re not adding anything that damages health you’re not taking away anything that is of benefit to health and and and so you’re eating you know you’re eating them as as they are with everything there and make if you want to make them even one step better sprout them and watch the vitamin c increase and the and the anti-nutrients decrease and and and things you know get more absorbable and so forth so that’s something you can do

next would be cut whole grains all you’ve done is cut them like steel cut oats for example in bulgur then would be the rolled whole grains like rolled oats and then the shredded whole grains like shredded wheat and then the ground whole grains like whole wheat flour products and then the flaked whole grains like flaked cereals and at the bottom of the barrel you’ve got puffed whole grains like brown rice cakes or puffed brown rice so these are still whole grains but they’re puffed so why are we you know saying they’re getting worse and worse well as you go down this list you’re increasing the surface area of the grain and making it more absorbable it is more quickly absorbed and so you’re increasing the glycemic impact but also you’re reducing the nutritional value because the amount of processing required is increased okay so you’re exposing that grain to air and light and all of those things and so you want to stay if you have diabetes fairly close to the top of that list with more of the intact grains so unprocessed intact sprouted grains or plain starchy vegetables like yams minimally processed would be cut or rolled or shredded grains or frozen or mashed starchy vegetables moderately processed would be like flaked or puffed whole grains or whole grain flour products starchy vegetables with added fat and salt and you want to completely avoid highly processed whole grains like refined grains or whole grain snack foods with added fat sugar and salt

nuts and seeds one serving a day or more for some people if you can afford more calories but this is where a lot of your essential fatty acids reside now nuts we we don’t have a lot of studies on seeds but there’s a study on that showing that when fully adjusted diabetes risk was cut in half for those consuming four more servings of nuts a week compared to those concerns consuming less than one

practical pointers and we do have studies on seeds as well especially chia and flax seeds showing some reduction as well one of the very interesting thing about nuts and seeds is they all offer something a little different and so i think it’s important to have variety so for example chia flax and hemp seeds and walnuts are our key sources of omega-3s almonds and sunflower seeds are the highest in vitamin e almonds chia seeds poppy and sesame seeds are loaded with calcium iron is highest in cashews and seeds and you get the idea so as you go down the list even hazelnuts are highest in manganese and and brazil nuts and selenium and so forth so having the variety is really uh wonderful but you need to keep portions moderate because nuts have about six to 800 calories per cup and so you don’t want to be eating them by the bowl full what i do is i keep a nice bowl of of um nuts in the shell on on my kitchen counter and so if i want nuts i have a walnut you know i have one or two at most and so that to me it helps you limit your intake when you’re eating them from the shell and i also one of the things i do is i keep a mix of seeds chia flax hemp pumpkin in a container together with chopped brazil nuts and that goes on my breakfast bowl so i get that variety and i get the selenium thrown in there as well i keep it in a mason jar in the freezer so again you’re wanting unprocessed or minimally processed choices nuts or seeds in the shell raw or shelled nuts or seeds soaked or sprouted nuts or seeds minimally processed like dry roasted moderately processed would be those with a little bit of added oil or salt not seed butters with added salt for example and highly processed are the nuts and seeds they’re coated in sugar or chocolate so we need to avoid those

and herbs and spices are the one group that people forget about and we should not because they have more phytochemicals and antioxidant programmed than any other food they’re just loaded so you want to be having including them at every meal if you can and we have a number of studies showing that herbs and spices help fight diabetes and particularly things like like cumin and and turmeric and and ginger and garlic so a lot of evidence there and the practical pointers are just to incorporate them at every meal even breakfast you can put allspice you can put cinnamon if you’re doing a you know i sometimes do a little indian lentil dish for breakfast and then you can put turmeric and cumin and all of those things in but add them at every meal you can drink uh spice or herb infused teas add fresh herbs to salads there are lots of ways of getting them