Food to lower blood sugar without dieting
Healthy food to lower blood sugar is the best way to prevent diabetes without dieting. I have talked to several people that feel overwhelmed and depressed at first when they wear a continuous glucose monitor because they constantly see their high glucose levels. They feel that's it's just too much sacrifice all at once to give up their eating lifestyle.
I get that. But instead of dieting, I want to help you replace certain foods and start a new way of planning, shopping and cooking. After awhile, it's easy and satisfying. It really isn't that difficult to make healthy changes.
When you start monitoring you blood glucose levels, you will find a lot of unhealthy, problematic foods you are eating.
It's not supposed to make you feel guilty. It's just a tool to help you live a longer, better life. It will help you make small changes that make all the difference.
This is part of taking control of your health so you can enjoy good energy levels for years to come.
Replace unhealthy carbs with healthy food to lower blood sugar levels. Here's some healthy replacements.
Brown rice is a good substitute for white rice. Rice is generally high on the glycemic index, but some types are better than others. I have found that brown rice doesn't spike my glucose levels as high as white.
Regular pasta and spaghetti will usually spike my glucose levels. I have found that wheat or whole grain pasta keeps me out of the high range. The taste and consistency is almost the same.
I'm from Idaho and we had potatoes for every meal, even breakfast. Potatoes will spike glucose levels and should be reduced to a minimum.
Sweet potatoes and yams seem to be a better option. They can be cooked the same way and they are much healthier.
White bread and processed flour will spike glucose levels. Wheat and whole grain breads do much better and have a lot of fiber.
It's a small change, but it can make a big difference in glucose levels.
Zucchini can replace pasta for salads and lasagna and so many other uses. I didn't like zucchini as a kid because my mom grew them in her garden until they were massive and tough to eat.
The younger ones are perfect for so many dishes and substitutions though.
You can spiralize zucchini for noodles or make flat strips for lasagna. It's surprisingly yummy and very healthy.
I think one of our favorite kitchen gadgets is a spiralizer. We make fun dishes from many different vegetables.
I love the spaghetti made from zucchini.
Eat all you want of these foods
There are certain foods for which you can eat in great abundance. Foods high in fiber, but low in carbohydrates.
These are foods like broccoli, green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce or basically non starchy vegetables.
Eat these foods in moderation
These are starchy carbs that should be eaten in moderation. It seems that these foods are usually a big improvement in what people have normally eaten to degrade to the point of diabetes or prediabetes so it's a step in the right direction even though a diabetic diet would want to minimalize these. These foods include strawberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, apples, brown rice, wheat bread, corn, green peas, beans and lentils.
Try to avoid these foods
These foods are really yummy, but they are very bad for cardiovascular and diabetic disease patients. They are highly processed carbs, and foods with added sugar. Sugary drinks and snack cakes.
Processed things like white bread, chips and high sodium foods and sugary breakfast cereals.
These seem to be the easiest foods to fix or buy and that becomes a big part of the problem. You can make some subtle changes to your shopping list and cooking methods to correct this.
Food to lower blood sugar
Stir Fry
There are so many really yummy alternatives to eating high carb foods. When you plan a meal, you want to use things that you can eat a lot of that won't spike your glucose to the moon. Stir fry is an excellent option as long as you don't add a sugar glaze. You may also want to eat it with rice and if so, I would suggest brown rice. You can also eat it with zucchini noodles for a very low carb alternative.
Grilled chicken and veggies
Chicken is a good choice as well as other meats as long as it doesn't have a sweet glaze. Grilling chicken is probably better than frying for the heart healthy aspects. If you can get used to pairing meat with healthy vegetables instead of potatoes, you will be better off.
Grilled beef and asparagus
Beef is a good choice because you can serve it in many ways and with so many things. Vegetables like asparagus are high in fiber and you can eat all you want. If you marinate the beef, try to use something without sugar. Also, no barbecue sauce. Grilling is preferable over frying because of excessive fat in grease.
Whole grain or vegetable spaghetti
Spaghetti has a few different options for the noodles. You can try whole grain noodles or you can try spiralized zucchini noodles. There are also several types of vegetable-based noodles. The spaghetti sauce should be low in sugar, but most of them are. You can have it with meatballs too. This is a family favorite of mine.
Tuna pasta salad
I enjoy many types of salads like this. This is a tuna and pasta salad made of all grain pasta with green and black olives, tomatoes and spinach. It can be tossed together and sprinkled with Italian salad dressing. The pasta can also be vegetable pasta or zucchini spirals.
Tomato, cucumber and feta salad
This tomato, cucumber, olive, red onion and feta salad is really delicious and healthy. You can pour a red wine vinegar and basil dressing or use Italian salad dressing to add more taste. This is more of a Mediterranean diet salad. These kinds of foods are great at helping you live longer and healthier. Plus they are very satisfying.