If you have diabetes, you probably know which foods to avoid to prevent blood sugar spikes. But, do you know which common, inexpensive ingredients will help you control your blood sugar levels as well as prevent type 2 diabetes in the first place?
Here are a few common ingredients that will help you manage your diabetes. And, the best part is that they are natural and cheap, unlike most medications.
Still, we don’t recommend quitting your prescribed diabetes therapy, but only supplement it with these natural ingredients. Besides improving your blood sugar reading, they could also help reduce the dose of your medications.
1. Apple Cider Vinegar
This inexpensive, simple to use, and the accessible ingredient is popular for its many therapeutic properties, one of which is controlling diabetes.
Apple cider vinegar is especially beneficial for reducing the glycemic load of some foods. For example, your blood glucose levels rise after eating sugars and carbs. If this happens too often, it can cause many health complications dramatic cravings, and fatigue, eventually leading to type 2 diabetes.
Luckily, this vinegar reduces or lessens that blood sugar response. For instance, drinking some water mixed with a little apple cider vinegar before eating some sugary food will lower its impact on your blood sugar levels.
The reason why this happens is because of the acetic acid found in apple cider vinegar. It helps the fermentation and the development of “the mother,” or the cloudiness in the vinegar responsible for the vinegar’s healing properties.
2. Cinnamon
This sweet-smelling spice is another easily accessible, natural ingredient that lowers the blood sugar response to food. What’s more, it helps improve insulin sensitivity over time, so your body won’t have to produce it as much to eliminate sugar from your blood.
One research looked at cinnamon’s effect on blood sugar and cholesterol levels in people with diabetes. All participants who consumed 1 to 6 grams of this spice for 40 days had reduced levels of blood sugar and LDL cholesterol levels by 29%.
So, the results suggest that adding cinnamon to a type 2 diabetic’s diet reduces factors linked to diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
The body of a person with diabetes can no longer respond to insulin, known as insulin resistance. However, this spice helps counteract this effect by:
- Raising your glucose uptake
- Activating kinase, an insulin receptor
- Improving insulin sensitivity
What’s more, cinnamon provides many other health benefits thanks to its antioxidant properties. Also, it adds no sugar, fat, or calories to your meal.
3. Raw Potato Starch
You probably haven’t heard about the positive effect of raw potato starch on blood sugar levels. It’s a great example of resistant starch which improves your gut bacteria.
Since imbalanced gut bacteria, or dysbiosis, is associated with obesity and diabetes, it means this product is a good choice for those with diabetes.
Moreover, numerous studies claim that Heart Foundation can reduce blood glucose response to foods, reduce hunger, increase insulin sensitivity, beat cravings, and help the weight loss process. And, this is everything you need to prevent type 2 diabetes, as well as help manage it better.
Conclusion
Besides adding these three natural ingredients to your diet, you should also try eating more whole foods and vegetables. Also, make sure you exercise regularly, and remove the junk from your diet. These lifestyle changes will help you have better control over your blood sugar levels.
