Carbohydrate-rich foods are the ones that impact our blood sugar. They are an important source of energy for our cells, so they do not need to be avoided but rather eaten in certain quantities so that you stay within your target blood sugar range.

Although all carbohydrates affect blood sugar, some may cause a higher spike than others. New research has linked four categories of plant-based foods, considered ‘low glycemic index foods,’ that have a lower effect on blood sugar in diabetic individuals.

What are low glycemic index foods?

A tool that has been helpful in managing blood sugar levels is called the glycemic index (GI). Where a food falls within the GI depends on its nutrient composition, how it’s cooked, ripeness, and any processing it’s gone through.

Foods that are higher in refined carbs and sugar quickly digest and, therefore, reach our bloodstream quicker than carbohydrate foods that contain higher amounts of protein or fiber. Carbohydrate foods are the only ones that are assigned a GI since foods without carbs like nuts, seeds, meats, spices, and oils do not raise blood sugar levels.

According to Harvard Health, foods are ranked on a scale from 0 to 100 with pure sugar being 100. The lower the number on the GI scale, the slower blood sugar rises after consuming that food. Carbohydrate-containing foods fall under the following classifications when it comes to GI foods:

• High: ≥70
• Moderate: 56-69
• Low: ≤55

What is glycemic load?

While the GI compares foods that contain the same amount of carbohydrates to how they raise blood sugar levels, the glycemic load (GL) of foods was also developed since some foods have higher quality and quantity of carbohydrates per serving. The GL can be calculated using the following formula:

• GL food = (GI Food x amount (g) of available carbohydrate food per serving)/100

Take watermelon for example. When it comes to GI, watermelon falls at a 76 which is comparable to a donut. When you take into consideration the number of carbohydrates, watermelon contains 11 grams which would bring its GL to an 8 while donuts have a GL of 17.

The GL classifications include:

• High: ≥20
• Moderate: 11-19
• Low: ≤10

Low glycemic diets for diabetes

A new study published in BMJ in August of 2021 found that following a low glycemic diet when you are diabetic can show improvements in blood sugar levels, cholesterol, weight, and other risk factors.

The study included 1,617 participants who either have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, are middle-aged, overweight or obese, and have moderately controlled diabetes from drugs or insulin. The results took place from 27 different randomized controlled trials that were published up until May of 2021.

The results from these studies showed that when low glycemic index dietary habits were followed, participants had small but meaningful reductions in blood sugar (HbA1c) compared to those that followed higher glycemic index diets. The low glycemic diets also improved fasting glucose (blood sugar after a period of not eating), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL aka “bad” cholesterol), body weight, and C-reactive protein (a chemical that can trigger inflammation).

Following a low glycemic index eating pattern is a great treatment addition along with drug and insulin therapy to treat diabetes and achieve target glucose levels.

Like all studies, the researchers state that there may be some limitations that affected their results. However, the findings show “low GI/GL dietary patterns are considered an acceptable and safe dietary strategy that can produce small meaningful reductions in the primary target for glycemic control in diabetes, HbA1c, fasting glucose, and other established cardiometabolic risk factors.” They also conclude that, “our synthesis supports existing recommendations for the use of low GI/GL dietary patterns in the management of diabetes.”

Low glycemic index plant-based foods

That latest research classified low glycemic index foods into four different categories. Here are some specific examples of foods that fall in these categories and have lower GI levels.

Low glycemic vegetables

• Broccoli: 10 – 15
• Cabbage: 0 – 10
• Lettuce: 10 – 15
• Onions: 10 – 15

Low glycemic fruits

• Apples: 34 – 38
• Oranges: 40 – 46
• Dates: 38 – 46
• Bananas: 48 – 54

Low glycemic legumes and pulses

• Chickpeas: 19 – 37
• Kidney beans: 20 – 28
• Lentils: 27 – 37
• Soybeans: 15 – 17

Low glycemic whole grains

• Sweet corn: 47 – 57
• Whole wheat spaghetti: 47 – 51
• Barley: 26 – 30
• Multigrain bread: 51 – 55

The health benefits of a low glycemic diet

Beyond its ability to improve blood sugar levels, following a low glycemic index diet can come with other health benefits.

One 2014 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that participants who followed a low glycemic index and energy-restricted diet with moderate carb intake had more weight loss than those that followed a high-GI and low-fat diet. Weight loss with diabetes can help to improve insulin resistance and even glycemic outcomes.

Following a low glycemic index diet could improve cholesterol levels as well. A 2013 study published in Family Practice found that individuals following a low-GI diet had improved total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels. This result even occurred over a short time frame of 5 to 12 weeks.

Bottom Line: Using the glycemic index can help those with diabetes keep blood sugar levels regulated.

Other research also shows following a low glycemic index diet could benefit weight loss and cholesterol levels.

The post The Best Low Glycemic Index Foods to Keep Blood Sugar Levels Stable appeared first on The Beet.

In honor of National Diabetes Awareness Month, we asked a nutritionist who understands the need for snacks that help keep blood sugar low and weight gain at bay, to recommend her best snacks for healthy living. We need major satisfaction with minor damage to our efforts to stay healthy, fit and not gain weight. Here are her 5 best snacks to munch on when stuck working from home.

“For anyone trying to keep their weight down or who is dealing with diabetes or pre-diabetes, the best snack combination is one that is higher in fiber, lean protein and or healthy fat,” says Toby Smithson, MS, RDN, Diabetes Lifestyle Expert,  “These combinations will help reduce the chance of spiking blood sugar levels. Portion size matters, so watch the portions and continue to monitor your blood sugar levels before the snack and two hours after to see how that snack affects your blood sugar.”

The 5 Best Snacks to Eat Healthy, Keep Blood Sugar Low, and Feel Satisfied

1.  “Caramel” Apple: We can easily prepare our own diabetes-friendly version of an old-time favorite the caramel apple by replacing the high carbohydrate caramel with almond butter. Slice an apple into wedges and spread crunchy almond butter on one side.

Nutrition benefit: Swapping out caramel for almond butter lowers the number of carbohydrates and increases the fiber in your snack. Studies have shown that almonds do not spike blood glucose levels and keep us feeling full and satisfied.

2. Flavored Popcorn: Place ¼ cup popcorn kernels in a medium bowl; cover bowl with a microwavable plate and microwave on high setting for 2 ½ -3 minutes. Carefully remove the hot bowl of popcorn and sprinkle with a combination of spices. For sweet flavors use ground cinnamon and a teaspoon of low-calorie sweetener; for a pizza flavor, sprinkle popcorn with oregano, garlic, and basil; for a spicy flavor use chili powder and cumin.

Nutrition Benefit:  Popcorn is a whole grain, which also contains fiber. The fiber in whole grains has been shown to improve blood sugar, weight, and cholesterol as part of diabetes management.

3. Almonds, Raw or Salted: Almonds alone make for a great diabetes-friendly snack. No recipe required for these plant-based nutrition-packed snacks.

Nutrition Benefit: Ounce for ounce, almonds are the tree nut with the most fiber (4g) and offer 6 grams of plant protein in every healthy handful. Nuts have been shown to improve hemoglobin A1C (your 3-month average blood sugar range) results when they are used as a replacement of carbohydrate-containing foods.

4. Sweet and Savory Combo: Combine 17 frozen grapes and 23 almonds in a bowl for a quick sweet and savory portion-controlled snack.

Nutrition Benefit: Almonds contain fiber, protein, and healthy monounsaturated fat. This nutrient makeup has the potential to keep you satisfied and even give you steady blood sugar for the next meal.

5. Roasted Spicy Chickpeas: rinse and dry canned chickpeas, lay on a cookie sheet, drizzle one teaspoon of olive oil on top, and add spices to taste (suggested: 1/4 teaspoon turmeric, 1/4 teaspoon cumin, 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes),

Nutrition Benefit: High in fiber and plant protein offering improved blood sugar and reduced risk of cardiovascular disease.

Toby Smithson is a Diabetes Lifestyle Expert, founder of DiabetesEveryDay.com, and co-author of Diabetes Meal Planning and Nutrition for Dummies.

The post The 5 Best Snacks That Help Keep Blood Sugar Under Control and Diet on Track appeared first on The Beet.

Back in August, we reported on a study out of the University of Bergen in Norway, that found that plant-based diets help you metabolize glucose, lose weight (particularly for people who are overweight), and prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes. Now, we’re back with more encouraging news for implementing a plant-based diet as an affordable, effective way to ward off type 2 diabetes.

A plant-based diet is recommended for those with pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes

In a recent review published in Practical Diabetology titled “The Affordability of a Plant-Based Eating Pattern for Diabetes”, the paper’s author, nutritionist Meghan Jardine, MS, MBA, RDN, LD, CDCES, Associate Director of Diabetes Nutrition Education, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, recommends that anyone at high-risk go plant-based and that doctors and nutritionists should make it clear that there are affordable options when ditching meat and dairy.

“Plant-based eating has become more popular as a healthy eating pattern for the prevention and treatment of diabetes,” Jardine writes. “Both observational and interventional studies have reported that plant-based diets reduce diabetes risk as well as improve diabetes outcomes,” she later states, referencing this 2016 comprehensive review on the use of a plant-based diet for management of type 2 diabetes.

Worth mentioning: When it comes to eating a plant-based for diabetes management or prevention, it’s important to consider carbohydrates. It’s heavily processed, refined carbohydrates—like white bread and chips—you want to avoid. As Jardine points out, “A healthy, affordable, plant-based diet is high in [carbohydrates]. Patients with diabetes are often told to avoid foods high in carbohydrate, as these foods have the greatest effect on postprandial glucose levels.” She also notes that studies, such as this 2017 study from the Journal of Geriatric Cardiology, show “that a high intake of carbohydrates, such as whole grains and cereal fibers, are associated with a reduction in diabetes risk, whereas refined carbohydrates increase risk.” (For more on healthy carb options, check out our guide to whole grains here.)

A plant-based diet is actually cost-effective, contrary to what people think

While vegan eating may have the rap as a costly lifestyle, as Jardine argues and research supports, eating a healthy, plant-based diet can actually be quite wallet-friendly, and even save you money compared to other dietary regimes with animal products. Some healthy, affordable plant-based options the piece suggests include apples, bananas, oranges, broccoli, spinach, carrots, whole wheat bread, rolled or steel-cut oats, quinoa, black beans, pinto beans, and peanut butter, to name a few.

Buying foods when they’re in season and purchasing items like fruits, vegetables, legumes, and grains in bulk can also go a long way in reducing spending. Ditto for shopping the frozen aisle for fruits and vegetables—just make sure there is no added salt, sugar, or other icky ingredients—and loading up on vegan pantry items when they are on sale. (If you’re looking for more ways to save, check out 7 Ways to Save Money on Your Vegan Grocery List, According to Nutritionists.)

Bottom line: Plant-Based diets are beneficial for prediabetes and diabetes

“Eating a high-quality, plant-based pattern can be affordable and palatable and may offer specific benefits in preventing and treating diabetes, including quality of life and psychological health,” offers Jardine. “Frequent consumption of animal products has been associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, certain types of cancer and overall mortality.” A diet that’s good for our health and good for our wallets? We’ll take it. Spread the word, and spread the overnight oats recipes, dear readers.

The post Experts: Best Way to Prevent Diabetes Is With an Affordable, Plant-Based Diet appeared first on The Beet.

On the Mastering Diabetes plan, foods that are considered “Green Light” foods include whole plant-based foods: Fruits, starchy and non-starchy vegetables (potatoes, squash, corn as well as cucumbers, broccoli, and more) legumes, whole grains, leafy greens, herbs and spices, and mushrooms and other vegetables are all on the table. What’s not: Fat, in any substantial measurement. Red Light foods on this plan are animal products and processed foods along with oil, which is considered as processed and devoid of nutrients as table sugar.

The “Yellow Light” foods, to be eaten in small amounts: Avocados, nuts, seeds, olives, coconut, mostly because they contain healthy fat, but on this diet, the key is to eat more carbs than fat. The Mastering Diabetes Method is predicated on the idea that: “Carbohydrate-rich foods are easy to metabolize when your total fat intake is kept low,” (especially saturated fat). So unless you are willing to give up most oil and fat, this isn’t the diet for you.

Essentially the authors are saying: Pick a lane. Keto and Paleo diets with their high-animal-fat intake, are eventually heart unhealthy since they lead to the risk of cardiovascular disease longterm. Plus they are hard to sustain, and when you add back carbs it leads to regaining weight. The alternate lane: A plant-based diet that fills you up on high fiber foods that are higher in carbs but that are healthy foods, and that you can stay on for life and not gain back the weight, while you maintain a heart-healthy approach (devoid of animal fat).

These experts are living proof the diet works to manage diabetes and blood sugar

Khambatta and Barbaro were each diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at a young age, which sent them on a path to learn everything they could about eating healthy, and that eventually brought them to this approach of following a diet low in fat. They now teach others not just how to manage insulin needs but also how to lose weight and keep it off The two goals (manage diabetes and keep off the weight) are linked since if you can eat a whole-food plant-based diet low in oil and fat, you can lose weight and lower your insulin needs by keeping your blood sugar steady. In coaching others to adopt this low-fat, high carb diet, they have been able to show in real life that it works for anyone, not just those grappling with pre-diabetes or type 1 or type 2 diabetes or related metabolic conditions.

Their book–which has the full title, Mastering Diabetes: The Revolutionary Method to Reverse Insulin Resistance Permanently in type 1, Type 2.5, Type 2, Prediabetes and Gestational Diabetes–explains that a diet that is higher in carbs than fat and protein can work to keep insulin in check since fat essentially clogs up the liver and bloodstream, sticks around too long, and makes it harder for your body to metabolize carbs when you do eat them.

Fat is the enemy in this scenario because excess fat prevents insulin from doing its job

High-fat diets are terrible for you long term, the authors argue, but they also don’t work, other than at the very beginning, since eventually you are bound to add back in carbs to your diet. Conversely, on the Mastering Diabetes plan, your body will learn to burn high-density carbs (fruit and vegetables) and stay fuller longer and prevent spikes in blood sugar or insulin.

The way they see it, the keto dieters have it wrong. While it’s true that keto diets work to help the dieter lose a lot of weight initially, it also sets the person up for failure in the long-term: “You can lose weight on a high-fat diet, but eventually all that fat clogs your liver and bloodstream with fatty lipids and adds so many fatty acids to your system that once you do start to bring carbs back in, your body can’t metabolize them, and you end up gaining more weight than if you had never dieted at all,” Khambatta explains. He uses the metaphor of an overstuffed garage: Once it’s too full (in this case because you are full of fatty foods), you can’t fit another thing in (even if it’s a healthy carb or lean protein) and suddenly the garage door stops working and won’t shut properly. In this metaphor, the garage door is insulin and when that goes on the fritz, you are heading toward diabetes. The key is to not let the garage get stuffed with fat.

As unscientific as that image is, it helps us to understand the role of insulin, which is able to respond to any food you add to your body: fat, protein, or carbs. If insulin stops working to organize the nutrients into their needed places in the body, the whole system begins to fail.

On this diet, you eat 70 percent carbs and the rest is fat and protein

Any “low-fat, high-carb” approach to weight control is heretical to keto and paleo dieters and innovative to those of us who love carbs, even they must be eaten in the form of vegetables, fruit, and whole grains. But before you shake your head and think: That can’t be right! Carbs are the enemy! Hear these experts out. The key, they say, is that you have to eat less fat (a lot less) than carbs in your diet. The perfect ratio is 70 percent carbs, 15 percent fat, and 15 percent protein. Here is the way they explain it, and since they are the experts, it’s best if they debunk the myths about fat and keto, paleo, and all nature of low-carb, high-protein-and -fat diets. It all starts with insulin and how your body responds to the food that you eat.

The Beet: I always thought insulin responded to the carbs you eat, buy sweeping extra calories into storage in the form of fat. Is that not true?

Dr. K: Many people don’t understand insulin. They say it’s a “bad” hormone or a fat-storage hormone or that it makes you fat. People think insulin makes you store fat, so if you can drive insulin levels down, you’ll be thinner and healthier. Insulin is not bad. It’s necessary. The absence of it is incompatible with life. If you can’t generate insulin, you die.

“The goal is not to go from secreting a large amount to as little as possible but to maintain a normal amount of insulin that helps your cells get the nutrients that they need to function properly. That being said, insulin is manufactured by the beta cells in your pancreas in response to glucose in your blood. But it’s also stimulated by protein and fat and carbohydrate, the difference is that eating carbs elicit the largest response. By that rationale, it’s easy to believe that if you eat fewer carbs than you do fat and protein, you’ll create less insulin. But fat actually sticks around longer, which means your cells can’t take in carbs on top of fat.

“Think of it this way: Insulin comes to the door and says: ‘Hey muscles and liver, do you want this fuel?’ And if they need fuel (you just worked out, or you haven’t eaten in a while) they say, ‘Sure thanks, I can use that.’ Or if the cells are full already they may instead say, ‘We are not listening to you now. Go away.’ At which point insulin has to shunt the extra fuel off to be stored. This is obviously a simplification, but Ideally, what you want to happen is, if insulin knocks on the door, both the muscles and the liver say ‘Yes, I need that.’ This happens when they are not too busy or overwhelmed by having eaten fat. So when carbs in the form of glucose enter the tissue it’s either burned for energy or stored as glycogen.

“But again, insulin also promotes amino acid uptake and fatty acid uptake from the blood. So it also says, ‘I’m sensing amino acids (from protein), want that?’ Or it says, “Here are fatty acids, want that?’ So the cells can basically choose what they want to pick up. Aminos don’t get stored. They end up being converted into rebuilding tissue in a complex process. But fatty acids can either get burned or stored for energy. Either they get burned immediately or they get stored for later. There’s no big difference between the way your cells burn fat or carbs. They can use both, but the more they burn fat the less they burn glucose, so it’s one or the other, essentially.

The Beet: Is this why, after going keto, when you add carbs you regain the weight?

Dr. K: The low-carb world likes to say that insulin promotes fat storage, which is true, but it’s not the main reason insulin exists. There is an interplay between glucose and fatty acid. So when you’re eating a low-carb diet high in fat and protein, the insulin goes down, but the problem is that when you do that the reliance on fatty acids for fuel–in blood and muscle–there is a direct negative effect. The more fatty acids get into tissues the less they can burn glucose.

“When you eat a diet high in fat–such as keto or paleo–during the short term you are lowering insulin, but it makes you glucose intolerant. And it makes you insulin insensitive. So if you are trying to get carbs and glucose out of the blood and then you go and eat a banana (which has carbs) it can’t get into your muscles, and cells, as readily because the fat is blocking those glucose cells.

The Beet: So fat clogs up the cells and leads to long term chronic diseases as well?

Dr. K: “High-fat diets increase insulin resistance. And when insulin is less effective, that is the central condition for chronic disease, like chronic kidney disease, chronic liver disease, more you become susceptible to dementia and it also increases your risk for atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease, as well as high blood pressure. And it also makes you more susceptible to diabetes.

“You can see an increased risk for markers in the blood that are associated with heart disease in as little as three to four weeks because LDL concentrations go up quickly. But it can take years for heart disease to happen. You can see the warning signs on a high-fat diet, whether later heart disease actually manifests, we don’t know yet. But the weight loss you get from keto in the short term is potentially irrelevant in the long term.

The Beet: So keto weight loss doesn’t equal healthy long-term weight loss.

Dr. K. Keto is a rapid weight loss tool. You lose a tremendous amount of weight in the short term, like up to 17 pounds in the first month. So people get enticed because initially their blood sugar and A1C are lower and all their markers are lower. But five years in the future –or even less than that– you see their insulin levels go up and their kidney function is compromised.  Mastering Diabetes has the same benefit but without all the unhealthy side effects. By mastering a healthy eating approach, you get the weight loss by not the insulin resistance.

“Insulin resistance affects everyone who is struggling to lose weight or experiences brain fog, low energy, ED, PCOS or pre-diabetes. Basically insulin resistance is a self-defense mechanism that cells create when there is excess fuel inside of them. So if you are eating a high-fat diet, if there is an excess amount of fatty acids in the cells, they create a way to block more fuel from coming n. Think of this as a garage with too much stuff in it, the door starts not working well, and you literally can’t add more stuff. Insulin resistance is a stress signal from the liver and muscles and cells that there’s too much fuel. Then the cells can literally burst. This happens in extreme cases of obesity. But long before that happens, you’re living in this inflammation state for some time, as your cells become more dysfunctional over time.

The Beet: Wow, this sounds grim. So too much fatty food and you get inflammation?

Dr. K: Right. When you eat a high-fat diet, not only can your cells not metabolize carbs over time, but the blood vessels in the organs and the brain become less malleable. The liver accumulates fat and that predisposes you to have “fatty liver.” As a result of that your C-reactive protein goes up and the incidence of hypothyroid goes up. It’s an increased inflammation response in the body. And this is not something you can feel. Chronic inflammation is not like a stubbed toe. You can’t feel it, but your cells in your adipose tissue (the fat cells) can burst and spill fluids into the tissue around them, and then your immune system gets involved and has to send macrophages to clean up the cell debris. This means a fatty diet is tied to being immune-compromised.

“But it’s not just in people experiencing obesity. Someone who appears to be fit goes to the gym and looks great–even they can live with chronic inflammation and they don’t see it because it’s in blood vessels and organs, liver and even the brain, from eating a high-fat diet.”

The Beet: You figured out you had diabetes at college when you were exceedingly thirsty. Why does that happen?

Dr. K; One of the telltale signs of living with diabetes is increased thirst. When the amount of glucose in your blood goes up, elevated way beyond where it’s supposed to be, your brain is trying to get that glucose out of your blood. So your brain tells your body: Drink water! The idea is to dilute the glucose, so it goes down. It’s a way of peeing it out. Everyone thinks the first thing to do, diet-wise is to lower your sugar intake. But the key is you have to lower your fat intake.

“Carbs are not all created equal. It depends on what type of high-carb foods you take in. If you try to eat a lot of fruits like bananas and papaya or whole grains like quinoa, etc. then you are eating healthy carbs that burn slowly and steadily. But if you eat all the fruits that are high in carbs and you add foods that are high in fat, that’s where it becomes a problem.

The Beet: So you can eat carbs, as long as you don’t also eat fat or douse them in oil?

Robby Barbaro: Eating carbs is only a problem if your fat intake is higher than your carb intake. The perfect ratio is 70 percent carbs, 15 protein, and 15 fat. Instead of trying to hit that target ratio, it’s so much easier if you focus on what we call Green Light foods, which are whole fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and herbs and spices. Then, if you become aware of which foods are high in fat, which are Red Light Foods, you stay away from those. Yellow Light foods are healthy fats like nuts, which you eat conservatively. Almonds are healthy but we suggest eating 5 or 6 almonds, not two handfuls. But once you learn the foods to stay away from, everything else becomes a matter of, “Eat until satisfied.”

The Beet: This sounds simple. What feedback have you had from people on the plan?

RB: They are surprised by how little they need to limit the foods they are used to eating. We are telling people not to eat more than 30 grams of fat a day.  And if they exceed that amount, they are going to struggle if they eat more carb foods.

The phrase, “healthy fat” means eating those fats like avocado and nuts in severe moderation. They’re healthy fat in the sense that they’re better than animal fat. But really we should say healthier fat

“When you truly limit your fat intake to a severely small amount, the results are amazing. You see a large weight loss very very quickly. The people we work with have seen that the number of carbs they eat goes up five times the amount they are used to eating, while their insulin sensitivity goes down and the amount of insulin they need to take is often cut in half.

The Beet: What do you eat in a day, typically?

RB: Fresh figs and arugula for breakfast. A salad with papaya, strawberries, arugula, scallions, passion fruit, and tomatoes for lunch. Snack is wild blueberries and papaya, scallions and arugula. And dinner is Asian pears, carrots, papaya, tomatoes, romaine lettuce, garlic, bell pepper, sundried tomatoes and lemon juice.  What’s crazy is how satisfied you feel. You feel satisfied between meals.

Dr. K: For Breakfast: Two Plantains and about half of papaya. Lunch is a big smoothie bowl, with bananas and mango, and any other kind of fruit, plus raisins and more papaya. People stay away from fruit but it contains natural carbs, not sugar. My snack is usually something like garbanzo beans and vegetables. Dinner: Lots of vegetables, perhaps some steamed cabbage with more garbanzo beans and carrots, tomatoes, steamed cauliflower and broccoli with quinoa and onions

The Beet: This all sounds very draconian. What about a treat?

Dr. K. We say: Go for it. Do whatever you want. We used to be more dogmatic and say you have to do this all the way. But that doesn’t work for people, and they need to do what they are going to anyway. A little bit of alcohol is totally fine. Usually, we recommend less than four drinks a week. If you give yourself an allowance like a treat or a drink of alcohol, you stick with it. And if you stick with it, you lower your insulin a lot… Anywhere from 10 percent at a minimum to upwards of 60 percent. Doctors send patients to us. But this works for anyone who wants to lose weight and keep it off.

The post To Lose Weight and Keep it Off, This Diet Says Pick a Lane: High Carbs, Low Fat appeared first on The Beet.

“A plant-based diet has been suggested as an effective lifestyle change that may reduce the degree of obesity and improve outcomes related to glucose metabolism,” the study found. “This systematic review aimed to evaluate the effect of a plant-based diet on outcomes related to glucose metabolism.”

The study aimed to evaluate the effect of a plant-based diet on outcomes related to glucose metabolism which effects weight, body fat, BMI and risk for metabolic disorders and diabetes.

The authors compared plant-based diets to an omnivorous diet and reviewed nine trials on subjects who were identified as overweight, or obese, had type 2 diabetes or cardiovascular disease. Five studies reported that the plant-based intervention significantly improved markers of glycemic control and four of the trials revealed a “significant improvement”  in the intervention group given a plant-based diet, compared to the control group. The remaining four studies did not observe a significant effect.

The findings suggest that a shift to a plant-based diet has favorable effects on glycemic control in individuals diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus and/or obesity. Overall, no clear conclusions regarding the effects of different plant-based diets can be drawn based on the current findings alone.

This is only the most recent study to show that a plant-based diet has beneficial effects on weight, diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Another recent study found that eating more plant-based foods, even just one more serving of fruits and vegetables a day, had a beneficial effect on your risk of becoming overweight or getting diabetes. And still another recent review found that those who ate the most meat in their diets raised their risk of diabetes by 33 percent. Still another study from last February showed that a strict whole food plant-based diet can reverse symptoms of diabetes.

Eating plant-based can lead to optimal health and weight. For the easiest way to lose weight on a plant-based diet, try The Beet’s own VegStart Diet, which provides 14 days of meals, snacks and expert tips to stay on track to lose the healthy way.

The post Study: Go Plant-Based to Lose Weight, Lower Blood Sugar & Avoid Diabetes appeared first on The Beet.

The research measured vitamin C and carotenoids in the blood of 22,000 people in eight European countries over 16 years and reported on the incidence of type 2 diabetes among those who ate the most fruits and vegetables, a medium amount, and the least amount. Vitamin C and carotenoids are reliable markers for fruit and vegetable consumption, and by measuring plasma there is a much higher chance of accuracy in the research than self-reporting where participants often relay inaccurate information about their own eating and exercise habits.

The study, published in The British Medical Journal, found that there was an inverse relationship between people who ate the most vegetables and fruits and cases of type 2 diabetes, and those who ate the fewest plant-based foods had the highest rates of type 2 diabetes, also called “adult-onset” because it is not genetic in nature but is brought on by lifestyle factors such as dietary choices. The most surprising thing about the study,  was that the “middle” group proved that even a modest amount of additional fruits and vegetables, measured at about 2.3 ounces a day– or one serving– had a diminished risk of diabetes of about o30 percent. So you don’t have to go fully plant-based to see health benefits. Just adding more vegetables and fruits to your plate is enough to see positive results.

The study has wide-ranging implications for the “five a day” recommendation of servings of fruits and vegetables currently touted as healthiest. In looking at the blood plasma markers it’s clear that nearly 69 percent of people in England and 85 percent of people in European countries don’t achieve that goal. In the most recent survey available, Americans fare worse: Only about 1 in ten people achieve the recommended daily 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, according to a CDC poll from 2017. According to the CDC’s data, just 12.2% of adults eat the recommended amount of fruit, and 9.3% eat the recommended amount of vegetables. On average, Americans eat fruit once a day, and vegetables 1.7 times a day.

The study indicates that the dietary guidelines might be more effectively written to encourage people to eat: “Just one more serving of plant-based food a day”  since that extra 2.3 ounces appears to benefit the majority of those who achieved modest intake. This is especially true in respect to “low carb” diets such as keto diets, which require people to reduce carbs to go into ketosis and burn fat as fuel. The study recommends increasing fruit and vegetable intake, even though these are complex carbohydrates, for health purposes.

The European Fruit and Vegetable Study Recommends One More Serving a Day:

“Various dietary guidelines have recommended increasing fruit and vegetable intake as an important component of a healthy diet. However, evidence derived from a food frequency questionnaire for the specific role of fruit and vegetables and their subtypes in the prevention of type 2 diabetes has previously been weak and inconsistent. The potential overall benefits of fruits and vegetables have also been questioned within certain popular dietary regimens that favour low carbohydrate intake, including advice to limit the consumption of many fruits and vegetables,” meaning keto diets.

“Although five portions a day of fruit and vegetables have been recommended for decades, in 2014-15, 69% of UK adults ate fewer than this number, and this proportion is even higher in European (EU) adults (86%). The low population level concordance with the “five a day” recommendation provides an incentive to quantify the benefits of making small changes in consumption of fruits and vegetables even below the threshold of the widely recommended guideline level, as suggested by our findings from the dose-response relationship of the biomarkers with fruit and vegetable intake presented in [the chart above].”

A Diet of Fruits, Vegetables and Whole Grains is Best to Avoid Type 2 Diabetes

To convince anyone still wavering about what to put on their plate–salad, greens, whole grains versus over-processed or animal-based foods-–a second study from the US looked at even more people over a longer period and found that whole grains such as oatmeal, whole grains, brown rice, and even whole grain bread or non-sugary cereal also lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes. This study looked at whole-grain intake among 158,000 women and 36,000 men. and found that participants in the highest category for total whole grain consumption had a 29% lower rate of type 2 diabetes compared with those who ate the least amount of whole grains.

That study found: “Higher consumption of total whole grains and several commonly eaten whole-grain foods, including whole-grain breakfast cereal, oatmeal, dark bread, brown rice, added bran, and wheat germ, was significantly associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. These findings provide further support for the current recommendations of increasing whole grain consumption as part of a healthy diet for the prevention of type 2 diabetes.”

The study also concludes that there are several similar findings in the research, so although this was a review of data, the conclusions are in keeping with previous studies: “The inverse association between higher whole grain consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes has been found in previous studies. A meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies showed that total whole-grain consumption was associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. Moreover, this meta-analysis showed that a higher intake of several whole-grain foods, including whole-grain bread, whole-grain breakfast cereals, wheat bran, and brown rice, were associated with a similar risk reduction in type 2 diabetes.”

Type 2 Diabetes Affected Nearly 1 in 10 Americans, or 34 Million People

According to the CDC, more than 34 million Americans have diabetes (or nearly 1 in 10), and approximately 90 to 95 percent of them have type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes most often develops in adults 45 and older, but more and more teens and young adults are developing it.

Type 2 diabetes is a failure of the body’s ability to produce enough insulin to process sugar in the blood, so the fact that a diet high in fiber, from vegetables and fruit, and with slow-burning complex carbohydrates such as oatmeal and quinoa, means that the body can furn off the fuel from food at a steady pace and not have to release insulin spikes that signal the body to remove the excess blood sugar and store it as fat. In the simplest terms, food that burns as steady fuel, combined with exercise, maintaining a healthy weight and not overeating, is a way for insulin levels to remain constant, low and healthy. When you eat processed foods, high in sugar, fat, preservatives, sodium and chemicals your body can’t metabolize the onslaught of added sugars and fats fast enough, creating insulin resistance and eventually insulin failure. The result over time is type 2 diabetes.

Keeping inflammation low and concentrating on a diet of vegetables, fruits, whole grains and healthy fat from plant-based sources (olives, nuts, avocados) is the best way to stay healthy, avoid type 2 diabetes and maintain a steady weight over decades.

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