What seafood is beneficial for diabetes? Can diabetics eat seafood? Discover the surprising role of seafood in a diabetes diet and how it can help manage blood sugar, reduce inflammation, and improve heart health.

The Role of Seafood in a Diabetes Diet

Eating a well-balanced, nutrient-rich diet is essential for managing diabetes, both Type I and Type II. One food group that stands out as particularly beneficial for those with diabetes is seafood. Seafood offers a range of essential nutrients and health benefits that can help diabetics regulate blood sugar, reduce inflammation, and maintain cardiovascular health.

Understanding Diabetes and Its Impact

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), diabetes is a chronic condition that affects how the body turns food into energy. When a person has diabetes, their body either doesn’t produce enough insulin or is unable to effectively use the insulin it does produce. This leads to high levels of blood sugar, which can cause serious health complications if left unmanaged.

Diabetes is a leading cause of disability and death in the United States, putting those with the condition at a higher risk of heart disease, vision loss, and kidney disease. However, with proper management through lifestyle changes, including a healthy diet, exercise, and prescribed medications, individuals with diabetes can lead full and active lives.

The Benefits of Seafood for Diabetes

Seafood, particularly fatty fish like salmon, tuna, and mackerel, are rich in omega-3 fatty acids. These healthy fats have been shown to offer a range of benefits for those with diabetes:

Improved Insulin Sensitivity

Omega-3 fatty acids can help increase the body’s sensitivity to insulin, making it more effective at regulating blood sugar levels. This can lead to better glucose control and a reduced risk of insulin resistance.

Reduced Inflammation

Inflammation is a common issue for those with diabetes, as high blood sugar levels can contribute to the inflammatory response. Omega-3s have potent anti-inflammatory properties, which can help reduce the risk of inflammation-related complications, such as heart disease and nerve damage.

Improved Heart Health

Diabetes significantly increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. The American Heart Association has found that omega-3 fatty acids can reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke by up to 40%. Seafood’s low-fat, high-protein profile also makes it a heart-healthy choice for those with diabetes.

Choosing the Right Seafood for Diabetes

Not all seafood is created equal when it comes to diabetes management. The American Heart Association recommends eating at least two servings of fatty fish, such as salmon, mackerel, or tuna, per week. These fish are particularly high in omega-3s and provide the greatest health benefits for those with diabetes.

Other seafood options that are also beneficial for diabetes include shrimp, tilapia, and cod. These lean, low-calorie proteins can be easily incorporated into a diabetes-friendly diet. It’s important to avoid breaded or fried seafood, as the added fats and carbohydrates can negatively impact blood sugar levels.

Incorporating Seafood into a Diabetes-Friendly Diet

Integrating seafood into a diabetes-friendly diet is easier than you might think. Here are some tips for making seafood a regular part of your meal planning:

• Aim for at least two servings of fatty fish per week, such as salmon, tuna, or mackerel.
• Experiment with different seafood preparations, such as baking, grilling, or sautéing, to keep your meals varied and interesting.
• Use seafood as a protein source in salads, stir-fries, or as the main dish, paired with non-starchy vegetables and whole grains.
• Keep frozen or canned seafood on hand for quick and easy meal options.
• Seek out recipes and resources that showcase the versatility of seafood in a diabetes-friendly diet.

The Bottom Line

Seafood is a valuable addition to a diabetes-friendly diet, offering a range of essential nutrients and health benefits that can help manage blood sugar, reduce inflammation, and improve cardiovascular health. By incorporating more seafood into your meals, you can take an important step towards better diabetes management and overall well-being.

What Seafood Is Beneficial for Diabetes?

Eating a variety of nutritious foods is essential for all humans to thrive. People with diabetes, both Type I and II, need to be extra vigilant about what they eat and how much of each type of food they consume on a daily basis. Balancing blood sugars and maintaining good cardiovascular health are two of the main reasons healthcare specialists recommend seafood as a great choice for diabetics. 

What Is Diabetes? 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes diabetes as a chronic health condition that impacts how the body turns food into energy. 

The food that we eat is broken down by the digestive system into sugar that gets released into the blood system. As the body’s level of blood sugar goes up, it signals to the pancreas to release insulin into the body to use as energy.  

According to the CDC, “If you have diabetes, your body either doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t use the insulin it makes as well as it should. When there isn’t enough insulin or cells stop responding to insulin (insulin resistance), too much blood sugar stays in your bloodstream. Over time, that can cause serious health problems, such as heart disease, vision loss, and kidney disease.” 

While there is not a cure yet for diabetes, there are certain lifestyle changes that can help regulate those blood sugars including: regular exercise, eating healthy foods, losing weight, and maintaining prescribed diabetes medicines. 

How Seafood Can Help

As we mentioned above, diabetic patients are at risk for heart disease, insulin resistance, and body inflammation that may also negatively impact the heart. 

The fatty acids (you know, those omega-3 fatty acids we are always talking about) can reduce insulin resistance and the heart risks associated with eating fatty meats and proteins.  

The American Heart Association (AHA)  published research showing that omega-3 fatty acids can reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke by 40%.

But Which Seafood is Best? 

The AHA recommends eating 2 servings of fish per week, where 1 serving equals 3.5 ounces of cooked fish, or about ¾ cup of flaked fish. Furthermore, they emphasize eating fatty fish like Shrimp, Salmon, and Tilapia, because these choices are especially high in omega-3 fatty acids. 

Salmon is a top source of omega-3, the healthiest fat that reduces inflammation in blood cells and helps manage your cholesterol level, according to the Diabetic Sock Club. 

For those looking for a mild flavor and low calories, Tilapia may be a perfect choice. These high-protein fish are easy to find either frozen or fresh. 

Shrimp is also a great choice for those looking to fit fish in several times a week but not as the main course. Shrimp can be an excellent appetizer or as a protein on top of a salad.  

Need meal ideas? Check out our blog as well as our extensive product offering on our site. 

What Role Does Seafood Play in a Diabetes Diet? – Clear Springs Foods

Have you or someone you love been diagnosed with diabetes or prediabetes? Diabetes affects more than 10% of the population. That number continues to climb making education and prevention of diabetes so important. November is National Diabetes Month, an excellent opportunity to learn more.

Diabetes is one of the leading causes of disability and death in the United States. Type 2 diabetes can be a preventable disease with proper diet and exercise. Diabetes does not have to be a debilitating disease. Those diagnosed with diabetes or prediabetes can live happy, full lives with some lifestyle changes.

One of those lifestyle changes is increasing your intake of seafood and fish to two to three times a week. This is a recommendation supported by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans as well as The American Diabetic Association. Given only about one in 10 Americans report eating seafood regularly, we could all use some education on why we should be eating more seafood and fish.

So just how do seafood and fish help a person with diabetes?

Let’s check out the facts:

• Seafood and fish are natural sources of Omega-3s, naturally low in fat and may help reduce heart attack risk. Omega-3s can improve the effectiveness of insulin and reduce many side effects of diabetes. A person with diabetes has a higher than average risk of heart attack or stroke. In fact, you are twice as likely to suffer from a heart attack or stroke if you have diabetes. This means people with diabetes must take extra care of their arteries by eating the right foods. Seafood and fish are naturally low in harmful fats, such as trans fats and saturated fats-the fats that clog up our arteries and block blood flow to our heart and brain. Omega-3s have also been shown to improve HDL cholesterol levels-the type of cholesterol that helps remove the bad cholesterol.
• Seafood and Fish are naturally lower in carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are an essential part of our diet and break down into glucose to be utilized for energy. When a person has diabetes, their body is unable to use the glucose, or “sugar,” we get from foods we eat. This often means a person must significantly reduce the number of carbohydrates in their diet. Seafood and fish contain hardly any carbohydrates, leaving room on the plate for carbohydrates from other food groups. The exception here is any seafood or fish recipe that has a breading, which would contribute carbohydrate to the dish.
• Seafood and Fish are an excellent source of protein. Protein helps the body to grow new tissue, therefore helping to build muscle and repair damage to the body. Protein can also be broken down by the body into glucose and used for energy. A person with diabetes can help stabilize their blood glucose levels by eating protein as part of a healthy meal. The protein helps slow down carbohydrate absorption, so glucose spikes are minimized.

Many of us turn our thoughts to the favorite fish, salmon, when it comes to increasing seafood and fish in our diet. But other fish we should place in our meal rotation are herring, sardines, mackerel, trout, and albacore tuna.

No matter if you are a person with diabetes or not, as a dietitian I encourage you to add seafood and fish to your weekly menu at least twice a week. Remember to choose fish that is broiled, baked or grilled to get the most benefit out of your seafood and fish dishes. This Trout and Asparagus Soufflé Omelet is a great place to start – flavorful, low in carbohydrates, and most importantly, good for you.

-April Bruns, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist.

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Can diabetics eat seafood: squid, shrimp

Contents

• 1 Can diabetics eat seafood?
• 2 What are the benefits of seafood?
• 3 Shrimp for Diabetes
  • 3. 1 Squid for Diabetes
  • 3.2 Healthy and Tasty Recipes
• 4 Rules for Selecting Fish
• 5 Precautions

Seafood such as low-fat varieties will be a tasty and healthy addition to the diet menu fish, crustaceans, squid, oysters, shrimp in diabetes. They will help to normalize metabolic processes, saturate the body with iodine and other useful vitamins and minerals. When choosing varieties of fish and seafood, it is important to remember high cholesterol levels, which are not recommended for type 2 diabetes.

Can diabetics eat seafood?

For people with diabetes, it is vital to adhere to a strict diet and is critical of the selection of products from which diet meals are prepared. Diabetic disease is a disorder of carbohydrate metabolism, so the menu should be dominated by foods with a low carbohydrate level. Proteins and fats predominate in the composition of most seafood, therefore these products can be a useful addition to the daily menu of a diabetic. When choosing fish species, preference should be given to low-fat varieties, crustaceans and other useful seafood. Foods such as shrimp, oysters, caviar and fish liver are high in cholesterol, so their consumption should be limited in type 2 diabetic disease.

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What is the use of seafood?

Fish can be an alternative source of protein for diabetics. The diet for diabetics includes the rejection of many types of meat due to fat content, and eggs due to high cholesterol. Seafood protein is involved in the construction of muscle tissue, the prevention of trophic processes and maintaining the desired level of immunity. Useful components of seafood:

• Vitamin complex A, B, D, E is able to replace the intake of artificial vitamins and support the immune system weakened by the disease.
• Omega 3 and omega 6 polyunsaturated fatty acids stimulate metabolic processes and regeneration mechanisms, promote weight loss and excess fat removal.
• Mineral complex – potassium, calcium, iodine, phosphorus, fluorine is involved in the vital processes of the body.

Seafood is rich in omega-3s. Back to the top

Shrimp for diabetes

Shrimp for diabetes can be eaten only in small portions, they contain the whole range of useful substances inherent in seafood. These crustaceans are quite quick to prepare and can be served as a separate dish or combined with vegetables and cereals, which are also a must on the patient’s menu. King prawns are considered the most popular, they are gray and not appetizing when raw, but after heat treatment they become attractive, of a pleasant color. Dishes with them can cheer up a person with a limited diet, which will also become an important psychological factor.

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Squid in diabetes

Squid is also indicated for use in diabetic disease. Consisting of 85% protein, with a little addition of healthy fats, this product is useful for losing weight. Squid proteins are easily digested and quickly saturate the body, charging with a large portion of energy. Along with other seafood, they saturate the body with iodine and other minerals and vitamins. The process of cooking squid takes 2-3 minutes (hold in boiling water), with a side dish of vegetables, it can be a healthy dinner for a patient on a diet.

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Healthy and delicious recipes

Let’s look at a few recipes for simple, healthy and tasty dishes in the table:

90 067 Pre-treatment

Name of the dish	Ingredients	Cooking
Fish soup	1 .5 kg trout, 2 medium potatoes, 1 carrot, 50 g each of onion and dill, salt, black pepper, laurel	Peel potatoes and carrots, trim fins and abdominal fat, cut into medium pieces	Boil 1.5 teaspoons fish in seasoned water, add vegetables, cook until tender
Crab salad	400 g cooked crab meat, 2 grated lime or lemon zests, 1 ripe avocado, 1 bunch of parsley ears, 2 celery stalks, 1 bell pepper, salt, black and red pepper	Chop crabs, pepper, chop parsley and celery, cut avocado into wedges	Mix kaby with zest, separately combine pepper, celery, herbs and spices, mix all ingredients, top decorate avocado
Baked cod with vegetables	5 cod steaks, 5 carrots, 2 tomatoes, 1 onion, fat-free sour cream, spices to taste	Salt the steaks, grate the carrots, chop the onion, cut the tomatoes into slices 900 68	Brush the steak with sour cream, add tomatoes, then onions and carrots, brush everything with sour cream, bake in foil for 50 minutes
Stuffed squids	2 squids, 50 g each. onions, carrots and brown rice, 10 gr. greens, 20 ml. soy sauce, 2 tbsp. l. olive oil, salt, pepper	Clean the squids and boil for 3 minutes. in boiling water, boil rice, fry vegetables	Mix rice, soy sauce, vegetables, seasonings, and stuff squids, fry in a pan on both sides

it is better to choose low-fat fish.

Not all types of seafood can be equally useful for people with metabolic disorders. It is important to follow these rules when choosing fish:

• choose lean fish;
• the calorie content of the product must be low;
• do not eat salted fish;
• prefer sea fish to river fish;
• calculate the allowable portion.

People with type 2 diabetes tend to be obese or struggle with it. Therefore, oily fish can exacerbate the problem. When choosing fish, we must not forget that it can also cause sugar spikes, provided that it is chosen and cooked incorrectly. Almost all crustaceans have useful properties.

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Precautions

When using healthy marine products, one should not forget about caution. The usefulness of the product does not mean that you can lose a sense of proportion. A large amount of protein can cause an overload of the digestive system, a feeling of heaviness and poisoning. Fatty fish can provoke obesity and is not allowed in the diet. If the patient has an allergic reaction to seafood, they should be excluded from the diet.

Diabetes can develop after eating these foods

Photo: What foods increase the risk of getting diabetes (freepik)

Author:
Svitlana Mashchenko

It turns out that the risk of developing type 2 diabetes is associated with three foods that are commonly called “healthy”. However, scientists have found that this is not entirely true.

The Daily Express writes about it.

Type 2 diabetes is a chronic condition in which cells begin to resist the effects of insulin. Usually this disease is associated with an unhealthy lifestyle – sedentary, malnutrition, and the like. But it turns out that some products can provoke the risk of developing the disease, and we do not even suspect.

Which foods increase the risk of type 2 diabetes

A study published in the journal Diabetes Care found that seafood such as shrimp, crabs and mussels increase the risk of type 2 diabetes.

This effect was not seen in white and oily fish which may provide protection against diabetes.

The research team noted an approximately 25 percent lower risk of type 2 diabetes among men and women who reported eating one or more servings of white or oily fish each week.

However, they found that men and women who ate the same amount of shellfish – primarily shrimp, crab and mussels – had an approximately 36 percent increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Photo: Battered shrimp is not the healthiest food (pixabay)

Why this effect occurs

Some doctors say that the way clams are cooked is to blame. That is, frying in oil, sauces based on mayonnaise and the like. All this can lead to an increase in cholesterol consumption, and, as a result, the development of diabetes.

However, there may be another reason, since the named seafood itself has a high level of cholesterol.

“Shellfish, such as shrimp, are high in cholesterol. If you consume them excessively, your cholesterol levels can rise and directly affect your blood sugar levels,” the article says.

What is diabetes and its symptoms

Type 2 diabetes is a chronic condition in which the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or the insulin it produces is not taken up by the cells.

Many people have type 2 diabetes without realizing it. This is because the symptoms do not necessarily make you feel bad.