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11 Foods To Avoid With Diabetes - Health - Nairaland

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11 Foods To Avoid With Diabetes by totalhealth: 12:56pm On Jan 24, 2018
Diabetes is a chronic disease that has reached epidemic proportions among adults and children worldwide. Uncontrolled diabetes has many serious consequences, including heart disease, kidney disease, blindness and other complications. Prediabetes has also been linked to these conditions. Importantly, eating the wrong foods can raise your blood sugar and insulin levels and promote inflammation, which may increase your risk of disease.

Listed below are the 11 foods that people with diabetes or prediabetes should avoid.

The Danger of Carb Intake for People With Diabetes

Carbs, protein and fat are the macronutrients that provide your body with energy.
Of these three, carbs have the greatest effect on your blood sugar by far. This is because they are broken down into sugar, or glucose, and absorbed into your bloodstream. Carbs include starches, sugar and fiber. However, fiber isn't digested and absorbed by your body in the same way other carbs are, so it doesn't raise your blood sugar.
When people with diabetes consume too many carbs at a time, their blood sugar levels can rise to dangerously high levels.
Over time, high levels can damage your body's nerves and blood vessels, which may set the stage for heart disease, kidney disease and other serious health conditions.

Maintaining a low carb intake can help prevent blood sugar spikes and greatly reduce the risk of diabetes complications.

Therefore, it's important to avoid the 11 foods listed below.

1. Sugar-Sweetened Beverages
Sugary beverages are the worst drink choice for someone with diabetes as they are loaded with high fructose content which has been linked to insulin resistance and an increased risk of obesity, fatty liver and other diseases. Sodas and sweet drinks are high in carbs, which increase blood sugar.

To help control blood sugar levels and prevent disease risk, consume water, club soda or unsweetened iced tea instead of sugary beverages.

2. Trans Fats
Industrial trans fats are extremely unhealthy. They are created by adding hydrogen to unsaturated fatty acids in order to make them more stable. Trans fats are found in margarines, peanut butter, spreads, creamers and frozen dinners. In addition, food manufacturers often add them to crackers, muffins and other baked goods to help extend shelf life. Trans fats have been linked to inflammation, insulin resistance, increased belly fat and heart disease.

3. White Bread, Pasta and Rice
White bread, rice and pasta are high-carb, processed foods..
Eating bread, bagels and other refined-flour foods has been shown to significantly increase blood sugar levels in people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. In one study, gluten-free pastas were also shown to raise blood sugar, with rice-based types having the greatest effect. White bread, pasta and rice are high in carbs yet low in fiber. This combination can result in high blood sugar levels.

Alternatively, choosing high-fiber, whole foods may help reduce blood sugar response.

4. Fruit-Flavored Yoghurt
Plain yoghurt can be a good option for people with diabetes. However, fruit-flavored varieties are a very different story. Flavored yogurts are typically made from non-fat or low-fat milk and loaded with carbs and sugar. Many people consider frozen yoghurt to be a healthy alternative to ice cream. However, it can contain just as much or even more sugar than ice cream. Fruit-flavored yogurts are usually low in fat but high in sugar, which can lead to higher blood sugar and insulin levels.

Plain, whole-milk yogurt is a better choice for diabetes control and overall health.

5. Sweetened Breakfast Cereals
Eating cereal is one of the worst ways to start your day if you have diabetes.
Despite the health claims on their boxes, most cereals are highly processed and contain far more carbs than many people realize. In addition, they provide very little protein, a nutrient that can help you feel full and satisfied while keeping your blood sugar levels stable during the day.

To keep blood sugar and hunger under control, skip the cereal and choose a protein-based low-carb breakfast instead.

6. Flavored Coffee Drinks
Coffee has been linked to several health benefits, including a reduced risk of diabetes. However, flavored coffee drinks should be viewed as a liquid dessert, rather than a healthy beverage.
Studies have shown your brain doesn't process liquid and solid foods similarly. When you drink calories, you don't compensate by eating less later, potentially leading to weight gain.

To keep your blood sugar under control and prevent weight gain, choose plain coffee with a tablespoon of heavy cream or half and half.

7. Honey, Agave Nectar and Maple Syrup
People with diabetes often try to minimize their intake of white table sugar, as well as treats like candy, cookies and pie. However, other forms of sugar can also cause blood sugar spikes. These include brown sugar and "natural" sugars like honey, agave nectar and maple syrup.
Although these sweeteners aren't highly processed, they contain at least as many carbs as white sugar. In fact, most contain even more.
Below are the carb counts of a one-tablespoon serving of popular sweeteners:
• White sugar: 12.6 grams
• Agave nectar: 16 grams
• Honey: 17 grams
• Maple syrup: 13 grams

Your best strategy is to avoid all forms of sugar and use natural low-carb sweeteners instead.
Summary: Honey, agave nectar and maple syrup are not as processed as white table sugar, but they may have similar effects on blood sugar, insulin and inflammatory markers.

8. Dried Fruit
Fruit is a great source of several important vitamins and minerals, including vitamin C and potassium.
When fruit is dried, the process results in a loss of water that leads to even higher concentrations of these nutrients. Unfortunately, its sugar content becomes more concentrated as well.
If you have diabetes, you don't have to give up fruit altogether. Dried fruits become more concentrated in sugar and may contain more than three times as many carbs as fresh fruits do. Avoid dried fruit and choose fruits low in sugar for optimal blood sugar control.

Sticking with low-sugar fruits like fresh berries or a small apple can provide health benefits while keeping your blood sugar in the target range.

9. Packaged Snack Foods
Crackers and other packaged foods aren't good snack choices.
They're typically made with refined flour and provide few nutrients, although they have plenty of fast-digesting carbs that can rapidly raise blood sugar. In fact, some of these foods may contain even more carbs than stated on their nutrition label. If you get hungry in between meals, it's better to eat nuts or a few low-carb vegetables with an ounce of cheese.

Packaged snacks are typically highly processed foods made from refined flour that can quickly raise your blood sugar levels.

10. Fruit Juice
Although fruit juice is often considered a healthy beverage, its effects on blood sugar are actually similar to those of sodas and other sugary drinks. This goes for unsweetened 100% fruit juice, as well as types that contain added sugar. In some cases, fruit juice is even higher in sugar and carbs than soda. Like sugar-sweetened beverages, fruit juice is loaded with fructose, the type of sugar that drives insulin resistance, obesity and heart disease.

A much better alternative is to enjoy water with a wedge of lemon, which provides less than 1 gram of carbs and is virtually calorie-free.

11. French Fries
French fries are a food to steer clear of, especially if you have diabetes.
Potatoes themselves are relatively high in carbs. One medium potato with the skin on contains 37 grams of carbs, 4 of which come from fiber.
However, once they've been peeled and fried in vegetable oil, potatoes may do more than spike your blood sugar.
Deep-frying foods has been shown to produce high amounts of toxic compounds like AGEs and aldehydes, which may promote inflammation and increase the risk of disease and cancer.

If you don't want to avoid potatoes altogether, eating a small amount of sweet potatoes is your best option.

The Way OUT
Staying away from unhealthy fats, liquid sugars, processed grains and other foods that contain refined carbs could be difficult to observe. In fact, knowing which foods to avoid when you have diabetes can sometimes seem tough. However, using a proven DIABETIC THERAPY PACKAGE is a unique remedy to tackle and counter DIABETES with many testimonials following. It can perfectly control and manage your diabetic conditions. It is a natural supplement combination that works excellently to control your blood sugar levels and greatly reduce the risk of diabetes complications.

Call or Text 08020671080 to order. Live healthy, enjoy life!

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