Top Super Foods For Diabetes And Weight Loss - Diabetes Diet

Best Foods To Management Diabetes and Weight Loss

Contrary to general misconception, a diabetic can eat any food including nuts as long as it is taken in moderation and balanced with healthy choices.

In this part of our three parts series, the "Best Foods For Diabetics", we will focus on various nuts and other foods such as fish, oatmeal, yogurt, and tea etc. that are considered highly beneficial for people with diabetes and as with the first and second parts, we will list down functions and properties of nuts and other food items.

Please do check out the first and second parts of the series for a list of beneficial vegetables and fruits.

Below are a few nuts that are considered greatly useful for people with diabetes and diabetes related conditions:

NUTS

A nut is a fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, which is generally edible. In a general context, however, a wide variety of dried seeds are called nuts, but in a botanical context, there is an additional requirement that the shell does not open to release the seed (indehiscent).

Functions and properties include:

• Protein
• Rich in Fiber
• Vitamin E
• Flavonoids
• Mono Unsaturated Fat
• Lowers LDL Cholesterol

FLAXSEEDS

Flaxseeds occur in two basic varieties: brown and yellow or golden (also known as golden linseeds). Most types have similar nutritional characteristics and equal numbers of short-chain omega-3 fatty acids.

Functions and properties include:

• Offers similar benefits as Omega-3 found in fish
• Lowers triglycerides
• Reduces inflammation
• Decreases the risk of heart disease
• Prevent and control high blood pressure
• High in soluble and insoluble fibre
• Antioxidant
• Prorects bone health
• Reduces prostate cancer growth
• Helps ovulation
• Protects post-menopausal women from heart disease
• May provide protection against Type 2 diabetes
• Reduces hot flushes by 60%
• Lowers the risk of dry-eye syndrome

BEANS

Bean is a common name for large seeds of several genera of the flowering plant family Fabaceae (also known as Leguminosae) which are used for human or animal food.

Functions and properties include:

• High in fibre
• Folate
• Iron
• Magnesium
• Potassium
• Lowers risk of heart attacks
• Provides energy while stabilizing blood sugar
• Iron for energy
• Protein Power

OATMEAL

Oatmeal is made of oat groats (i.e. grains) that have either been ground, crushed, steel-cut, or rolled. Ground oats are also called "white oats". Steel-cut oats are known as "coarse oatmeal" or "Irish oatmeal" or "pinhead oats". The term "oatmeal" is also used in the U.S. and parts of Canada to mean oat porridge.

Functions and properties include:

• Soluble Fibre
• Lowers cholesterol
• Improves blood pressure
• Stabilizes blood glucose
• Slows digestion
• Antioxidant
• Vitamin B
• Vitamin E 
• Magnesium
• Potassium

FISH

Fish are an important resource for humans worldwide, especially as food. Commercial and subsistence fishers hunt fish in wild fisheries (see fishing) or farm them in ponds or in cages in the ocean (see aquaculture). They are also caught by recreational fishers, kept as pets, raised by fishkeepers, and exhibited in public aquaria.

Functions and properties include:

• Omega-3
• Can lower triglycerides
• Reduces inflammation
• Better cell function
• Improves communication between cells and brain
• Lowers blood pressure
• Reduces risk of blood clots
• Cardiovascular protection
• Decreases risk of depression
• Decreases risk of hostility in the young
• Decreases risk of cognitive decline in the elderly
• Joint protection
• Decrease of eye-related problems

YOGURT

Yogurt, yoghurt, or yoghourt (/ˈjoʊɡərt/ or /ˈjɒɡət/; from Turkish: yoğurt; other spellings listed below) is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk.

Functions and properties include:

• Calcium
• Promotes healthy bones, teeth, muscle and blood vessel function
• Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)
• Protein
• Zinc
• Aids immune function
• Helps wound healing
• Helps digestive system
• Improves cholesterol
• Improves Immunity

TEA

Tea is an aromatic beverage commonly prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis, an evergreen shrub native to Asia. After water, it is the most widely consumed drink in the world.

Functions and properties include:

• Antioxidant
• Flavonoids
• Prevents chronic illness such as cancer and heart disease
• White Tea = highest antioxidants found than in
  Green tea followed by Black tea

THE FRUITS

Fruits are loaded with vitamins, minerals, and fiber and should be part of everyone's daily diet but for people with diabetes, the selection of right fruit is always difficult.

In this part of our three parts series, the "Best Foods For Diabetics", we will focus on various fruits that are considered highly beneficial for people with diabetes and as with the first part, we will list down functions and properties of every fruit.

Please do check out the first part of the series for a list of beneficial vegetables and the third part for different nuts and other food items.

Below are a few fruits that are considered greatly useful for people with diabetes and diabetes related conditions:

APPLES

Apple is one of the most popular and favorite fruits among the people who believe in the concept of "health is wealth". Often it is the first choice of health and fitness conscious people. Apples contain rich phyto-nutrients that, in the true sense, indispensable for optimal health. 

Functions and properties include:

• 1 Small Apple = 77 cal & 21g carbs
• Rich in Fiber
• Good source of Vitamin C
• Full of Antioxidants
• Preventing Ashtma attacks
• Preventing Constipation
• Fighting bad breath
• Reducing risk of diabetes
• Eat without peeling
• Skins are most nutritious part

WATERMELON

A watermelon is a type of edible fruit. They are 92% water. About six percent of a watermelon is sugar. This makes them very sweet. There are many different types of watermelon.

Functions and properties include:

• High in Vitamin C
• Vitamin A and B8
• Protects against cancer
• High in Beta Carotene
• Lowers Blood Pressure
• Improves insulin sensitivity

CANTALOUPE

Cantaloupe (also cantelope, cantaloup, muskmelon (India and the United States), mushmelon, rockmelon, sweet melon, Persian melon, or spanspek (South Africa)) refers to a variety of Cucumis melo, a species in the family Cucurbitaceae.

Functions and properties include:

• High in Potassium
• Antioxidant
• Beta Carotene
• Fibre
• Vitamin C
• Folate
• Niacin
• May decrease risk of heart disease
• Promotes lungs health
• Lowers risk of age-related macular degeneration

HONEYDEW

Honeydew, also known as honeymelon, is a cultivar group of the muskmelon, Cucumis melo Inodorus group, which includes crenshaw, casaba, Persian, winter, and other mixed melons.


Functions and properties include:

• High in Vitamin C
• Source of Potassium
• Improves / Maintains Blood Pressure

STRAWBERRIES

A strawberry is a plant that grows fruit that people eat. The fruit of a strawberry is red when ripe, and has edible seeds on the outside. Many strawberries are grown on strawberry farms and the farmers often have hives of bees that live on thefarm to pollinate the strawberries.
Functions and properties include:

• 1 cup = 60 cal. & 15 g carbs.
• Full of Vitamin C
• 1 Serving gives 100% daily Vitamin C requirement
• Fiber
• Contains Potassium
• Lowers Blood Pressure
• Slow Digestion
• Maintains blood sugar levels

BLUEBERRIES

A blueberry is a berry, a very small fruit. It grows in a type of tree called a shrub. Many types of blueberries grow in North America and eastern Asia. Blueberries are more common between May and October.

Functions and properties include:

• Great Antioxidant
• Dietary Fibre
• Vitamin C
• Flavonoids
• Immune boosting system
• Fighting inflammation
• Lowers cholesterol
• Improves glucose control
• Improves insulin sensitivity
• Lowers risk of heart disease

CRANBERRIES

A cranberry is a fruit. It grows on evergreen dwarf shrubs. Cranberries are in the genus Vaccinium, and its subgenus Oxycoccus. In some classification methods, they are regarded as a genus in their own right.

Functions and properties include:

• Disease-fighting antioxidant 
• Vitamin C
• Prevents urinary tract infections
• Protects against breast, lung and prostate cancer
• Protects against heart disease
• Anti-inflammatory
• Lowers cold & flu frequency
• Decreases risk of periodontal disease

RASPBERRIES

A raspberry is an aggregate fruit, meaning it has many parts joined together. It is similar to a blackberry, but the fruit is hollow on the inside. There are many different species of raspberry plants, but only a few of them have fruit that are sold in stores.

Functions and properties include:

• Fibre
• High in Vitamin C
• Antioxidant for bone and skin health
• Anti-Cancer activity
• Heart Disease prevention
• Protection against Muscular degeneration

RED GRAPEFRUIT

Grapefruit is a citrus fruit grown in sub-tropical places. It is bigger than an orange and is often more sour, but many types of grapefruit have other flavors.

Functions and properties include:

• Rich in Vitamin C
• Lowers LDL Cholesterol
• Lowers Triglycerides
• High in Antioxidant activity
• Reduces risk of prostate cancer
• Reduces risk of kidney stones
• Protects against colon cancer
• Boosts liver enzymes
• Repairs DNA
• Inhibits tumor formation