Maintaining stable blood sugar levels isn’t just important for diabetics. It’s important for your overall health.
Nutritionists reveal the most important meal to include in your daily diet to help keep your blood sugar levels stable.
Maintaining stable blood sugar levels isn’t just important for diabetics, for weight management, and fitness, but also for your overall health.
Maintaining balanced blood sugar is important for preventing serious long-term health problems, such as heart disease, kidney disease, and vision loss.
When you have high blood sugar levels for a long time, it damages your blood vessels, organs, tissues, and nerves. When your blood vessels are damaged, blood doesn’t flow properly to your heart, brain, and other organs in your body. This can lead to strokes, heart attacks, blindness, nerve damage, and amputations, says Lena Beale, a registered dietitian and nutritionist for Piedmont Health.
What we eat has a direct impact on blood sugar – both positively and negatively.
According to nutritionists, this is the number 1 food for stable blood sugar levels.
The Humble Bean
One of the best snacks for steady blood sugar is beans.
If there’s one food that everyone should be eating regularly, it’s the humble bean.
Beans are an interesting food because they’re a combination of complex starch, protein, and fiber. They’re perfect for helping control blood sugar levels, but they’re also fantastic for reducing your risk of heart disease.
Not to mention, many studies show that including more beans in your diet supports longevity, notes Katherine Perez for Parade.
Research shows that beans are incredibly beneficial for people with diabetes.
A cup of beans or lentils every day, combined with a low-glycemic index diet, can help lower blood sugar levels and the risk of coronary artery disease in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Legumes help to reduce blood sugar responses and lower blood pressure, according to Harvard Health.
Long-term effect on blood sugar
Eating beans as a snack has health benefits that last into the next day, experts say.
Beans lower blood sugar levels not only during the meal, but even a few hours later or the next day, says Dr. Michael Greger.
Good carbs
Simple carbs tend to spike blood sugar, but beans, dried peas, and legumes don’t have the same effect.
These foods are plant-based protein superstars because they’re packed with fiber, folate, potassium, iron, and zinc.
There are different types of beans and different types of legumes like chickpeas, peas, and lentils that offer a range of nutrient-packed benefits.
These plant-based proteins contain carbs, but 1⁄2 cup also provides as much protein as 28.5 grams of meat without the saturated fat, says the American Diabetes Association.
Versatile and Delicious Food
There are so many ways to enjoy legumes, whether it’s hummus, roasted chickpea salad, lentil tacos, red beans and rice, and more.
Can you believe that beans can also be made into delicious desserts?
Black bean brownies, white bean blondies, and chocolate chip cookies are all options that can be made with cooked beans! Legume flours, such as chickpea flour, can be purchased at grocery stores, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommends.
