Recent research indicates that a cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal with two spoons of cheese effectively stabilises blood sugar levels and reduces the risk of developing diabetes. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that more than 200 million people worldwide suffer from diabetes, related to eating habits, obesity, lack of exercise and other factors.
Diabetics are exposed to drug therapy and mental stress throughout their lives, so prevention is more effective than treatment. Below are five examples of foods to help prevent diabetes.
1. Green Vegetables
It has been found that taking two tablespoons of green vegetables daily such as spinach, broccoli and Chinese cabbage can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes by 14%. If you eat three spoons, the risk drops by 30%. Nutritionists believe that green vegetables contain rich magnesium, which helps to effectively prevent diabetes.
2. Cheeses
An American study shows that eating two tablespoons of cheese daily can reduce the risk of diabetes by 20%. The scholar said that calcium in cheese can improve the capacity of insulin metabolism, but people should avoid adding sugar to cheese.
3. Walnuts
People who are in the pre-diabetes phase (the blood sugar index between normal and diabetic levels) should have mixed nuts in their daily diet because nuts have a positive effect on the processing of blood sugar and insulin. According to a test in the USA, people who consume 28grams of walnuts twice a week, over a period of 8 weeks show a 24% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes than other people.
4. Grains
The nutritional value of fibre in grains can lower blood sugar levels. It can be seen that the daily consumption of three types of grains (wholewheat bread, oatmeal, and brown/unpolished rice) can reduce the risk of diabetes. Because isoflavone (a kind of plant compound) in grains play a part in reducing glucose in the blood.
5. Coffee
New research shows that coffee contains compounds that help produce insulin efficiently. Drinking more than 4 cups of coffee a day can slow down the degeneration of some harmful proteins that can keep diabetes away.
To a certain extent, all of the above-mentioned foods can prevent diabetes if you take or drink them in adequate amounts. However, some people may not be used to drinking coffee or are allergic to caffeine. It is not necessary to drink additional coffee in order to prevent diabetes as it can lead to stress reactions such as accelerating heartbeats and hand tremors. In fact, obesity is the most crucial factor that triggers diabetes, so people should not only follow a balanced diet but also do some exercise to burn the excessive calories. Moreover, exercise helps burn glycogen, a form of glucose, which after the exercise is replenished with glucose from the blood, again supplying the vital substance for physical activities.