If you have type 2 diabetes, you know the importance of carbohydrate counting for blood sugar control. However, it’s not just the number of carbohydrates in a particular food that determines how that food will affect your blood sugar levels.
While all carbohydrate-rich foods turn into sugar in our bodies, a food’s fiber, protein, and fat content all tap into that food’s effect on blood sugar levels.
Experts have given some advice to keep your blood sugar levels in balance. You pay off if you change your approach to six key foods that tend to raise blood sugar levels.
REFINED CARBOHYDRATES
You can keep your blood sugar balanced by avoiding bread, rice, pasta, noodles, couscous, bulgur, oats, barley and breakfast cereals made from white flour. Refined carbohydrate sources are not digested by the body, meaning most of their fiber has been removed during processing, so they affect gut health and can slow digestion.
SUGAR DRINKS
In addition to containing large amounts of sugar, beverages such as soda, sweetened iced tea and even fruit juice contain almost no protein, fat or fiber. It also makes you hungry very quickly. Sugary calorie drinks cause blood sugar to rise quickly.
FAST FOOD
Hamburgers, pizza and fries are actually sugar bombs. Not to mention the trans fat and sodium it contains. Whether you have sugar or not, you should definitely stay away from these foods for your health.
DRY FRUITS
Since you have heard many times before how healthy dried fruits are, this information may seem a little dubious to you now. However, when it comes to blood sugar, excessively consumed dried fruits also fall into the potential risk category. The fruit is rich in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber that are great for your health and type 2 diabetes management.
If you are going to eat fruit, you should make sure that it is fresh and unprocessed. Even if you manage to find dried fruits that do not contain added sugar, know that they will greatly increase your blood sugar. For example, a whole fresh apricot has just over 3 grams of sugar, while a slice of dried apricot has this much sugar.
STARCH VEGETABLES
Starchy vegetables such as potatoes are also on the list of foods that people with type 2 diabetes should avoid. Along with potatoes, peas and corn also fall into this category.
ALTERNATIVE MILKS
Vegetable milks, also called alternative milks, popular drinks of recent years, may be beneficial, but their sugar content is very high. The highest in sugar is rice milk, followed by others. If you want to consume beneficial plant milk, your choice can be unsweetened soy milk.
