Eating whole grains helps cut diabetes risk, says new study: Know what to include in your diet

As a diabetic, there are many foods that you need to avoid while certain other foods help you bring your blood sugar levels down.

By: Jahnavi Sarma | | Updated: June 3, 2020 1:18 pm

Tags: Diabetes management healthy diet for diabetes

Eating whole grains is associated with various benefits, including a lower risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure.

Diabetes is a disease where your body is either not able to use the insulin hormone effectively or your pancreas do not produce enough of this hormone. It is a metabolic disease that causes your blood sugar levels to rise above normal levels. Diabetes is today a global problem and millions of people suffer from this disease. Other than taking medications, you can also deal with this condition with lifestyle modifications and dietary changes. As a diabetic, there are many foods that you need to avoid while certain other foods help you bring your blood sugar levels down. Also Read - Swollen foot is a common complication of diabetes: Know how to deal with it naturally

According to a new study, eating more of high-quality carbohydrates, especially from whole grains, lower the risk for type 2 diabetes. Researchers from Harvard University in the US looked at whether this effect is different for high-quality carbohydrates and low-quality carbohydrates, which include refined grains, sugary foods and potatoes. Also Read - New smart patch to help you manage diabetes better

About the study

For the purpose of the study, researchers analysed data from three studies that followed health professionals in the US over time. These included 69,949 women from the Nurses’ Health Study, 90,239 women from the Nurses’ Health Study 2 and 40,539 men from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. Collectively, the studies represented over four million years of follow-up, during which almost 12,000 cases of type 2 diabetes cases were documented. Also Read - Planning to party? Diet tips for diabetes on Christmas

The findings of this study

During the course of the study, researchers saw a lower risk of type 2 diabetes when high-quality carbohydrates replaced calories from saturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats, animal protein and vegetable protein.

They also found that replacing low-quality carbohydrates with saturated fats, but not with other nutrients, was associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes.

They say that these results highlight the importance of distinguishing between carbohydrates from high- and low- quality sources when examining diabetes risk.

Researchers are hopeful that conducting similar studies in people with various socio-economic backgrounds, ethnicities and age will provide insight into how applicable these findings are for other groups.

High-quality carbs that you can add to your diet

As a diabetic, you must know that all carbs are not bad for you. There are some carbs that will benefit you. Here, we list some high-quality carbs that you can easily incorporate into your diet.

Fruits: Fruits contain carbohydrates. But along with this, there are many fiber-rich fruits that can help you maintain your blood sugar levels. They also come with disease-fighting antioxidants and essential vitamins. Berries are especially good. So have a lot of strawberries, raspberries and blueberries.

Vegetables: These are loaded with healthy-carbs and fibre. So, eat a lot of leafy greens, broccoli and bell peppers. In fact, make sure that half your plate is filled with vegetables.

Whole-Grain: Another source of healthy carbs and fibre, whole grains are a must in any diabetic diet. Have more of barley, quinoa, whole-grain couscous, whole-wheat pasta and brown rice. Avoid refined carbs like white rice and pasta.

Published : June 3, 2020 1:09 pm | Updated:June 3, 2020 1:18 pm

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