Best Quick Snacks for Diabetics: Chips and Salsa, Fruit, and More

Snacking often gets a bad rap. But if you are managing type 2 diabetes, including healthy snacks in your diet can be a great way to keep blood sugar levels in a healthy range and energy levels high. They can also be a great weight loss tool.

Now, with the risks of the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, it’s more important than ever to take care of yourself. Indeed, people with diabetes are among the groups at a higher risk for complications from COVID-19, notes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The good news is that proper blood sugar management can help reduce those risks.

Snacking may seem like it would play a small part in this, but when planned wisely, it really can be a boon to your health. “Sometimes people think of snacks as an unhealthy thing, but [they] can be quite the opposite,” says Kelly Kennedy, RD, staff nutritionist at Everyday Health. “Snacks provide another opportunity for nutrition, and with a small amount of carbohydrates (15 grams or less), [they] can help keep blood sugar levels steady throughout the day,” Kennedy adds.  Eating a healthy snack can also help keep hunger at bay until your next meal, which can ultimately prevent overeating and support any weight loss goals you may have.

RELATED: 5 Diabetes Weight Loss Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

If you’re managing diabetes, though, an important thing to keep in mind when snacking is your carb count. Carbohydrates are the nutrient in foods that are broken down into glucose, and they can have a significant impact on blood sugar levels, Kennedy says.

It’s important to consider quantity and quality when it comes to carbs. Bingeing on carbohydrates or having too many simple carbohydrates at once can cause spikes in blood sugar, which in turn can increase the risk of diabetes complications like diabetic neuropathy, diabetic retinopathy, heart disease, and stroke.

But, Kennedy points out, “This doesn’t mean that you need to avoid carbohydrates completely.” Instead, eat a healthy amount of good carbohydrates — such as those from fruits and vegetables, fat-free or low-fat dairy, and whole grains — including while snacking.

RELATED: How to Tell the Difference Between a Good Carb and a Bad Carb

Consider the other macronutrients of your snack, too. “Combining protein and healthy fats with complex carbohydrates is a great way to give your snacks staying power,” says Erin Palinski-Wade, RD, CDCES, author of 2-Day Diabetes Diet, who is based in Hamburg, New Jersey. Nuts, nut butters, Greek yogurt, and low-fat cheeses, which are featured in several of the snacks below, offer both protein and fat for satisfaction and blood sugar control.

When it comes to lowering your risk for diabetes complications, maintaining a healthy weight and controlling blood sugar go hand in hand. After all, being overweight can contribute to insulin resistance, the hallmark of type 2 diabetes, according to the Obesity Action Coalition.

“People are often amazed at the changes they see with even a little weight loss,” Kennedy says. Indeed, losing at least 5 to 7 percent of body weight can lead to improved insulin sensitivity and even help prevent prediabetes from progressing to full-blown type 2 diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

But how you choose to lose weight matters. Remember that a healthy diet that promotes gradual weight loss of 1 to 2 pounds per week is best, says the Mayo Clinic.

Unsure of which snacks are best for weight loss, improving blood sugar control, and boosting energy? Admittedly healthy choices can be challenging if you’re unprepared or have only processed, packaged snacks that contain high levels of sugar, salt, and fat on hand.

RELATED: How Exercise Boosts Mood and Energy

To help steer you in the right direction, here are 20 smart snacks for diabetes to help you meet your health goals.

Additional reporting by Barbara Kean; Deborah L. Blood, RD, CDE; and Debbie Strong.

Prediabetes Diet | Meal Plan, Food to Eat & Avoid

Learn to follow the Glycemic Index

The Glycemic Index helps you pick foods that will not cause dramatic changes in blood sugar

The Glycemic Index is a number that tells you how fast or how slow your body converts carbohydrates into blood sugar.   The scale ranges from 1 to 100; for a prediabetes diet, the lower the number, the better:

• 55 or less = Low (good)
• 56 – 69 = Medium
• 70 or higher = High (“bad”)

Research suggests that focusing on foods with low-glycemic index carbohydrates and high fiber may protect against diabetes and cardiovascular disease.  Specifically, another study found that increased fiber may improve glucose control within the cardiovascular system.  You can use food labels to estimate the Glycemic Index value of a particular food.  There are also efforts to add a “low GI” symbol to packaged foods.

Glycemic Index labeling is also supported by various scholarly publications.  There are a few things to keep in mind, however.  The Glycemic Index value for a specific food can vary depending on:

As we have mentioned elsewhere, portion size is nearly as important as the specific food you eat.  Within the GI framework, this is called Glycemic Load.  Whereas the index indicates how quickly glucose enters the blood stream, Glycemic Load tells you how much glucose per serving could be introduced into your system.

 

Glycemic Index vs. Glycemic Load

For example, watermelon has a high Glycemic Index value (80), but a Glycemic Load of only 5 because the food has relatively little carbohydrates.  You can calculate a food’s glycemic load by multiplying the per-serving carbohydrate level by the glycemic index and dividing by 100.  Above 20 is high, 11 to 19 is moderate, and 10 and below is considered low.

Ultimately, when building a meal plan to better regulate your blood sugar, it is important to be mindful of all three key metrics:

• The total carbohydrates in your food
• The speed with which a food will increase your blood glucose: glycemic index
• The ultimate level to which your blood glucose could rise: glycemic load

This is just a start for your prediabetes diet.  See our full list of glycemic index foods.

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Eating at This Time of Day Lowers Your Risk of Type 2 Diabetes, Study Says

If you’re a late riser or you regularly eat your first meal of the day in the late morning (or skip it altogether), you may want to reconsider your breakfast-eating habits. A new study suggests that eating breakfast on the early side may reduce your risk for developing type 2 diabetes and other disorders of metabolism. The practice could even help you avoid a related diabetes risk factor: being overweight.

Study results show that people who eat earlier breakfasts have lower blood sugar and less insulin resistance

The study presented recently at the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting analyzed dietary data and fasting glucose and insulin from a nationally representative survey and tests of 10,575 adults.

The researchers from Northwestern University and the University of Illinois, Chicago, found that people who ate breakfast earlier than 8:30 a.m. had lower blood sugar levels and less insulin resistance than people who ate their first meal later in the day.

Elevated blood glucose and resistance to the hormone insulin, which helps regulate blood sugar, are two markers of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. (Related: Warning Signs You May be Developing Diabetes.)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 34 million Americans have type 2 diabetes and 88 million have prediabetes. Of the latter, 84% don’t know they have the syndrome that puts you at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.

Meal timing, not duration, is key

Other studies have suggested that a popular dieting strategy called time-restricted eating, which allows a person to eat as much as they want but during a shorter “eating window” or duration, improves metabolic health. This study, however, found that insulin resistance actually increased with shorter eating intervals while blood glucose numbers didn’t swing significantly no matter the length of the eating window.

In other words, you may be better off taking your time eating your meals rather than trying to cram them all into a short timeframe. And certainly, eat early! The study found that eating the first meal after 8:30 a. m. was associated with both high blood sugar and greater insulin resistance.

So, put the eggs and bacon on early, or set your alarm for 6 a.m. and try one of these delicious High-Protein Breakfasts That Aren’t Eggs.

For more healthy eating news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read this next:

Eating a Late Breakfast May Increase the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

• Eating before 8:30 am was linked to lower blood sugar and insulin resistance in a new study. 
• This supports previous evidence that breakfast is beneficial for metabolic health. 
• A well-rounded breakfast includes protein, healthy fats, and fiber from unprocessed whole foods.

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The early bird not only gets the worm, but also gets better blood sugar levels too, new research suggests.

Eating in the early morning hours is associated with lower insulin resistance and lower risk of type 2

diabetes

, according to a study to be presented at ENDO 2021, a virtual conference from The Endocrine Society held March 20-23. 

These findings were part of a study on fasting, but researchers found there were benefits to an early breakfast even if you aren’t fasting. 

“We found people who started eating earlier in the day had lower blood sugar levels and less insulin resistance, regardless of whether they restricted their food intake to less than 10 hours a day,” Dr. Marriam Ali, lead researcher of the study from Northwestern University in Chicago, said in a press release.

Intermittent fasting may worsen metabolism, but breakfast could help

Ali and her team analyzed data from 10,575 adult Americans from a national survey on health and nutrition to see if they could find patterns between meal timing and levels of blood sugar and insulin.  

They found that intermittent fasting, or eating during a limited window of 10 hours or less each day, was linked to higher insulin resistance. That means people who fasted were less responsive to insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar. Insulin resistance is a risk factor for developing

type 2 diabetes

. These findings contrast with previous research showing fasting might improve insulin sensitivity and blood sugar control. 

However, people had lower levels of insulin resistance if they had their first meal before 8:30 am, regardless of whether they fasted or not. 

And while fasting didn’t seem to matter for blood sugar levels, an early breakfast did. People who ate before 8:30 am had lower blood sugar levels, too, suggesting the morning meal had more metabolic benefits overall.  

“These findings suggest that timing is more strongly associated with metabolic measures than duration and support early eating strategies,” Ali said in the press release.

A good breakfast supports a healthy weight and stable energy, evidence suggests

Breakfast isn’t necessarily the most important meal of the day, but it can make it easier to keep your energy stable throughout the day, according to Bonnie Taub-Dix, registered dietitian and nutritionist and author of Read It Before You Eat It — Taking You from Label to Table.

She previously told Insider that she’s a fan of breakfast and recommends that people start their day with a combination of protein, healthy fats, and fiber from unprocessed whole foods. Some examples include yogurt with fruit and nuts, or eggs with vegetables and whole-wheat toast. 

Studies suggest that a good breakfast can help you maintain a healthy weight and perform better in school, work, or at the gym. 

The biggest mistake people make, according to Taub-Dix, is trying to skimp on the morning meal by relying just on coffee (which can disrupt blood sugar) or convenient, processed foods like donuts.  

“So many people grab a muffin or a pastry but it doesn’t really satisfy you,” Taub Dix said. “You might find yourself with your head on your desk by noon.”

Bad Idea for People With Type 2 Diabetes

With commentary by Daniela Jakubowicz, MD, professor, Diabetes Unit, E. Wolfson Medical Center, Tel Aviv University and Tel Aviv Medical Center.

Breakfast, often called the most important meal of the day, may be especially crucial if you have type 2 diabetes, new research suggests.

“It is quite remarkable that, in our study in type 2 diabetes individuals, the omission of breakfast was associated with a significant increase in all-day blood sugar spikes,” says Daniela Jakubowicz, M.D., a professor in the diabetes unit at the E. Wolfson Medical Center, Tel Aviv University and Tel Aviv Medical Center.

Skipping breakfast increased blood sugar levels after both lunch and dinner, she found. In the study, she evaluated 22 patients with type 2 diabetes who had been diagnosed about 8 years earlier. Their average age was about 57. Ten managed their condition with diet, and the other 12 controlled their blood sugar by both diet and metformin. Their average body mass index or BMI was 28, considered overweight but not obese.

Evaluations were done on two different days. On one, the men and women ate lunch and dinner at specific times. On another day, they ate all three meals, again at specific times. The meals were the same—milk, tuna, bread and a chocolate breakfast bar. The researchers measured blood sugar levels after meals.

The rise in blood sugar levels was surprising, Dr. Jakubowicz says. The study is published in October in Diabetes Care and was published earlier online. “We found that participants experienced extraordinary glucose peaks of 268 mg/dl after lunch and 298 mg/dl after dinner on days they skipped breakfast,” she says, “versus only 192 mg/dl, and 215 mg/dl after eating an identical lunch and dinner on days they ate breakfast.” They measured after meals up to 3 hours after starting to eat. (According to the American Diabetes Association, those practicing tight control of their disease should aim for a blood sugar of less than 180 mg/dl 1-2 hours after eating.)

Put another way, on a day when the men and women skipped breakfast, lunchtime blood sugar levels were 37 percent higher then on the day they ate breakfast and they were 27 percent higher at dinner time.

“This means that reducing the amount of starch and sugars in lunch and dinner [in attempts to better control blood sugar] will have no effect on reducing elevated glucose levels if diabetic individuals also skip breakfast,” she says.

Her bottom line? Even if you don’t overeat at lunch and dinner after skipping breakfast, skipping the first meal of the day can cause ”major damage to the beta cell function.”

While many researchers have studied the value of breakfast, this new study is valuable because if focused on those with diabetes, says Minisha Sood, MD, director of inpatient diabetes at Lenox Hill Hospital, New York. She reviewed the findings. The new study also looks at the entire day and the effect of skipping breakfast, which gives a more realistic view of the impact, Dr. Sood says.

She tells those with type 2 diabetes to eat breakfast and make it ”a balanced meal consisting of a reasonable ratio of lean protein, carbs and fat.”  For instance? Try an egg white frittata sautéed in extra virgin olive oil with vegetables and a slice of multigrain toast, she says.

The new study findings may seem to conflict with other recent research finding that a fasting mimicking diet or FMD may slow aging and reduce the risk of chronic diseases, including diabetes. In one study, those who followed the FMD reduced their fasting blood sugar by more than 11 percent.

However, the fasting diet is not suggested for those on diabetes medications or on insulin. And that knocks out many people with type 2 diabetes, Dr. Sood says. “The vast majority are on medications,” she said. “Probably 80 percent [are]. “

Bottom line, according to the author of the new research? “In light of our study, we highly recommend that those with type 2 diabetes not skip breakfast,” Dr. Jakubowicz says, ”because it causes major damage to the beta cell function and leads to high sugar levels, even if they don’t overeat at lunch and dinner.”

Last updated on 12/05/2017

Endoscopic Surgery Shows Promise in Lowering Glucose Levels

Managing Pre-Diabetes and Preventing Diabetes

Pre-diabetes is a serious medical condition that puts you at a higher risk for developing type 2 diabetes. Pre-diabetes is also very treatable, and if you have it, there is a good chance you can prevent or delay type 2 diabetes by making changes in your diet and increasing your level of physical activity.

Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes occurs when your body does not produce or use enough insulin to be able to turn glucose into energy. Glucose is the sugar and starch that comes from the food you eat, which fuels your body.

Insulin is a hormone that carries glucose from your blood into your cells. Without enough insulin, sugar builds up in your blood and can cause serious health problems.

Pre-Diabetes

Pre-diabetes is when your fasting blood glucose (blood sugar) level is above normal. To test for pre-diabetes, your doctor will take a sample of your blood after you have fasted overnight:

Normal fasting glucose: 60 to 99 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl)

Pre-diabetes (impaired fasting glucose): 100 to 125 mg/dl

Diabetes: 126 mg/dl or higher on 2 occasions

Healthy Tips for Preventing Type 2 Diabetes

If you have pre-diabetes, you should talk to your doctor about developing a lifestyle plan to reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes. The American Diabetes Association recommends increased physical activity and, if you are overweight, losing 5-10 percent of your body weight. Your doctor may also want you to take medication if you have a family history of diabetes, you are obese, or have other cardiovascular risk factors (high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, or a history of heart disease).

Below are tips to help you keep pre-diabetes from progressing to Type 2 diabetes:

Exercise Every Day

Since muscles use glucose for energy, activities like walking, bicycling, and gardening help to lower the sugar in your blood.  Aim for 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise on all or most days of the week. Even 10 minutes at a time can be beneficial with a goal of 150 minutes per week.

Lose Weight If You Are Overweight

Extra body fat contributes to insulin resistance, which makes it more difficult for insulin to lower blood sugar levels, and increases the likelihood of pre-diabetes. Your doctor will likely tell you to look for areas in which you can cut your calorie intake by 250 to 500 hundred calories per day, such as:

• Eating smaller portion sizes
• Reducing the intake of foods such as cookies, desserts, bread, pasta, tortillas, rice, crackers, pretzels, and chips
• Choosing water in place of sodas, fruit juices, lemonade, smoothies, sweetened coffee and tea drinks, and alcohol
• Substituting lowfat and no-fat dairy products for whole fat ones
• Eating lean cuts of meat and fish, and removing skin from poultry

Choose Your Carbs Carefully

Be careful about the kinds of carbohydrates you eat and spread them evenly throughout the day.  Remember, it is important to control your portions and not overeat!

Healthier choices:

Whole grains (whole wheat bread, brown rice, whole grain pasta, quinoa, whole oats, bulgur), beans, lentils, fruits, and non-starchy vegetables (spinach, carrots, broccoli, green beans).

Minimize intake of:

White bread, white rice, pasta, pastries, potatoes, sugared soda, highly processed foods (cakes, cookies, chips, and candy). Remember, the more processed a food is, the less fiber, vitamins, and minerals it has — leaving behind mostly starch.

Avoid:

Pastries, sugared soda, highly processed foods (cakes, cookies, chips, and candy)!  These foods are mostly empty calories with no nutritional value which can add extra calories to your diet.

Move Toward Healthy Carbs

• Don’t over do it on carbohydrates at one meal or snack. Combine a carbohydrate with lean protein and unsaturated fat for a more satisfying meal.
• In place of fruit juice with toast and jam, eat a slice of whole grain bread with peanut butter or with an egg white omelet and have half a banana on the side.
• Choose high fiber, unrefined, whole grain carbohydrates (for example, whole wheat bread in place of white bread). You still must watch your portion sizes.
• Eat a heart-healthy diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol. Avoid all trans fats. Eat healthy, unsaturated fats instead (e.g. olive oil, canola oil, nuts, avocado, or fatty fish), but remember that all high-fat foods are dense in calories.

How to Reverse Prediabetes, According to a Woman Who Did It

The news arrived as my fiancé, Peter, and I were prepping a dinner of creamy pesto linguine and crunchy ciabatta bread, with pistachio gelato for dessert. My blood sugar was higher than normal, my nurse practitioner told me. She was nice about it, but warned me that I should make dietary changes—cut down on sweets and foods with a heavy carb load. Never had a dinner plate seemed so foreboding.

She told me my hemoglobin A1c test (one of the ways to test for diabetes) had revealed that my blood sugar was in the prediabetic range. The results shouldn’t have surprised me. I have a family history of diabetes—a great-grandmother lost her foot—so while part of me had been waiting for these results, most of me preferred to pretend I was immune. I grew up on deep-fried foods, and I don’t love cooking. I have a sweet tooth that could make a dentist cry. Plus, Peter is a fantastic cook who fries up the world’s best breakfast potatoes. And lately, between obligatory work and non-obligatory Instagram scrolling, I’d grown increasingly sedentary.

So I saw the call from my NP as the equivalent of a warning that I’d been speeding (instead of a ticket, or the loss of my license). When she told me to come back in a few months, I decided to go to the equivalent of driving school.

Why is diabetes so harmful?

The first thing I learned was the scary stuff: Untreated diabetes can result in stroke, kidney disease, and loss of vision along with at least eight different skin conditions, most of which involve itching. About half of diabetics will suffer from neuropathy, nerve damage that begins with tingling at the extremities and can progress to conditions that require amputation, as my great-grandmother came to know far too well.

Then I looked into why certain (delicious) foods are a problem: The human body breaks down carbohydrates, including beans, corn, and oats as well as my friends pasta and sugar—into glucose, which enters the bloodstream. The pancreas creates the hormone insulin, which escorts glucose to the heart, brain, muscles, and tissues, where it’s burned as fuel. But for me, along with 88 million other American adults on the prediabetes-to-diabetes spectrum, the pancreas can’t keep up, and it doesn’t produce enough insulin. As a result, unchaperoned glucose is free to wreak havoc in the bloodstream.

My prediabetes diagnosis meant my blood sugar levels were higher than average, but weren’t yet in the diabetic range. “For the most part, prediabetes and diabetes are preventable and even reversible,” says Marilyn Tan, M.D., chief of the Stanford Endocrine Clinic. Long-term studies have shown how effective diet and exercise changes are, says Rita R. Kalyani, M.D., a diabetes specialist at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a former chair of the American Diabetes Association’s clinical guidelines committee.

There’s a catch, though: The standard lifestyle advice doesn’t work for everyone. In her 20s, Dr. Tan was surprised to find that she herself was prediabetic despite walking 20,000 steps a day and watching her carbohydrate intake. Apparently her family history was too much to overcome. “Sometimes, despite their best efforts, people can’t fully reverse abnormal numbers,” Dr. Tan says. Could I reverse mine?

❗Don’t put off a test. During COVID-19, it’s more important than ever for those with a family history of diabetes or risk factors for it to get tested and treated. As an underlying condition, diabetes increases the risk of hospitalization and death for those who get the virus. Ask your doctor about options.

The first step: a new grocery list

Changing eating patterns is critical for reversing the progression of diabetes, but “there’s not a one-size-fits-all diet,” Dr. Kalyani says.

Friends who had successfully managed a prediabetes diagnosis raved about high-fat, low-carbohydrate diets, and a study published this year seems to back up such anecdotal evidence: It found that this way of eating was associated with reduced blood sugar levels and greater weight loss. I stripped almost all carbohydrates from my diet—a sugar addict going cold turkey (literally). I was tired, thirsty, and agitated. But to my genuine amazement, after four days, the cravings ceased. I looked at my teen son’s peanut-butter-and-extra-jelly sandwich and did not want one (or two) for myself.

Other patients succeed with a fat- and protein-heavy keto or Atkins diet, Dr. Tan says, or sometimes intermittent fasting or a vegan diet. Celeste Thomas, M.D., a diabetes specialist and an assistant professor at the University of Chicago, likes the Mediterranean diet, which includes generous portions of fruits and vegetables, beans, and olive oil along with moderate portions of fish, chicken, and cheese.

Delicious and diabetic-friendly: cheesy “grits” (actually ground lupin beans) with eggs, greens, and avocado

Lora Shinn

What the data says about diet for prediabetes

One of the reasons a variety of diets can work is that blood sugar responses to different foods may vary by individual, Dr. Tan says, so she recommends that people test how their blood sugar reacts to specific foods. Like a dutiful student embarking on a science experiment, I got a prescription for a continuous glucose monitor. You wear it on your arm for 14 days, and it connects with an iPhone app that frequently retrieves blood sugar data and stores it.

The results were fascinating. A favorite snack of mine—air-popped popcorn—didn’t do much to my blood sugar. (Hooray for this experiment!) But my blood sugar went sky-high when I ate a handful of corn chips or a cup of Peter’s breakfast potatoes. (Wait, I hate this experiment!) Two tablespoons of honey-flavored natural yogurt were as bad for my blood sugar as a scoop of ice cream. Small amounts of whole grains such as farro provoked a lesser response than white rice. Good news, though I said a silent, sad farewell to white rice. These differences could be explained by the glycemic index (GI), an imprecise yet helpful tool for managing blood sugar. Higher-GI foods have a greater and faster impact on blood sugar. Popcorn is lower on the index, while potatoes are high. The index isn’t perfect—it doesn’t account for individual differences based on portion size or ways a food might be cooked. But overall, I discovered that my blood sugar spiked when I ate high-GI foods.

When you eat also matters

The data also revealed that I was hitting the fridge pretty hard in the evening. At night, the body breaks down sugar stored in the liver and energy stored in fat cells, Dr. Thomas explains. Adding more fuel in the form of crackers and cheese was overloading my body’s overnight blood sugar management system. Dr. Thomas suggests taking an 11- or 12-hour break from food at night to give the body a chance to do its work and catch up.

Easy Keto in 30 Minutes: More than 100 Ketogenic Recipes from Around the World

I gained about five pounds over the course of my 14-day “Let’s eat all the foods!” experiment and saw how sugar made my blood sugar shoot up and then crash. I was weirdly relieved when the experiment concluded. Afterward, my dinner plate generally consisted of organic meat and seasonal vegetables and fruit (I call my diet “Lazy Keto”). Peter and I adore Easy Keto in 30 Minutes by Urvashi Pitre (try the Chicken Biryani with Cauliflower Rice and Sichuan Pork with Bok Choy). In the morning, I love egg-topped ground- lupini-bean “grits” with kale smothered in garlic and olive oil.

Of course, it helps that Peter cooks a lot of these meals, and that being allowed one “cheat meal” a week lets me eat an enchilada or a doughnut. However, these don’t taste as good as they used to, and the waves of fatigue I get afterward remind me why eating them is no longer an every-day choice.

How exercise can help reverse prediabetes

Seven months and 12 lost pounds later, I met with my nurse practitioner for the big reveal. After I related all I’d been doing but before I got my results, she told me I was missing a piece of the puzzle. Even if my test told me my blood sugar levels had returned to normal, I needed to add walking, yoga, or weight lifting to my daily routine.

Exercise has diabetes-management benefits beyond weight loss. In fact, even if weight loss hasn’t happened yet, “I tell my patients, ‘That’s OK, because your body composition is changing with exercise,’ ” Dr. Kalyani says.

As you lose fat and gain muscle, that muscle becomes more sensitive to insulin, which can better reduce blood glucose. Exercise can help manage blood glucose levels for up to 48 hours beyond the activity itself, says Jill Kanaley, Ph.D., a professor of nutrition and exercise physiology at the University of Missouri who has conducted multiple studies with people who have prediabetes and diabetes. Exercising at least every other day provides ongoing benefits, but the benefits disappear after one goes 48 to 72 hours without exercise.

How much exercise do you really need?

Clinical guidelines from the American Diabetes Association suggest exercising for at least 30 minutes a day, five days a week. If you have a strong family history of type 2 diabetes, it might be best to take it up a notch to 45 to 60 minutes a day, says JoAnn E. Manson, M.D., chief of the preventive medicine division at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School. Studies also show that interrupting extended periods of sitting is beneficial, so your daily exercise minutes could include getting up at least once an hour to walk around.

The problem: I’d never liked exercise. It made my knees and feet hurt, and to be totally honest, I got whiny. I was not alone: Some participants in Kanaley’s studies at first insisted that they couldn’t do it and that they could never walk fast, she says, but after two weeks or so, they got over the hump. “The biggest surprise they experience is that they really want to walk now,” she says. This was true for me. I started looking forward to my walks. I tried to move every 45 minutes to get in a few steps and got antsy when I didn’t. I even started lifting weights—and it felt good.

What happens when you succeed in reversing prediabetes?

I did it! My test results showed that my blood sugar was no longer in the pre­diabetic range. I wanted to celebrate with a pint of ice cream, but that was not how this worked. Once you’re in the prediabetes car, you don’t get out. You can reverse it for a while or for the long term, but you’re still in the car. My pancreas will always be compromised.

Sometimes I wish I could take a pill to make all this go away. Studies are being conducted on whether vitamins or other supplements can improve glucose levels, but as Dr. Manson says, “If you hope to pop a magic pill, it’s just not there.” But those lifestyle modifications, she says, are “like an elixir of health.” No longer being prediabetic is a strange kind of liberation. I can’t go back to the lifestyle I had before, but I don’t want to as much as I thought I would. It’s crystal clear how my choices can lead to a better, longer, and healthier life. Naturally, I have a lot of plans for it—including having a (small) slice of my 80th-birthday cake.

About 10% of adults live with diabetes, but serious health disparities exist. Hispanic/Latinx adults are more than twice as likely as others to be hospitalized for end-stage kidney disease, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Native American and Black adults are twice as likely as whites to die from diabetes. The damage is compounded by inequitable access to health care and discrimination from physicians, whether their bias is unconscious or conscious, research shows. Find support through the National Diabetes Prevention Program, run via local YMCAs and other partnerships.

This article originally appeared in the November 2020 issue of Prevention. Go here to join Prevention Premium (our best value, all-access plan), subscribe to the magazine, or get digital-only access.

Lora Shinn
Lora combines a background in library science and journalism to write for general-audience magazines, newspapers and online media, along with custom publications, nonprofits and business clients. 

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Info Field »Zinc and Diabetes

21 February 2020 21 February 2020

A trace mineral alone cannot completely cure diabetes. However, studies have shown that zinc replacement therapy is necessary for diabetics, as it plays an important role in the treatment of the disease. Thanks to it, blood glucose levels are improved, immunity is strengthened, and the risk of occurrence and development of complications is reduced. In addition, the additional intake of zinc can significantly save medications.

Diabetes mellitus is a hereditary disease. It is a chronic metabolic disorder caused by total or partial insulin deficiency. The disease, if not given proper attention to it, is fraught with multiple complications. It was they who allowed scientists to identify the connection between the condition of a diabetic and the content of zinc in his body. Zinc deficiency causes stunted growth and sexual development in adolescent diabetics, and may also cause increased susceptibility to infections and slow wound healing in adult patients.

Zinc status

In most diabetics, zinc is excreted by the kidneys in an enhanced mode. We are talking about double and even triple volume, relative to the norm. These data have been confirmed by various studies carried out by foreign scientists back in the 80s and 90s. This observation applies to both type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes. In addition, experts have identified a relationship between zinc loss and glucose excretion, as well as urine volume.The high content of a trace element in it was associated with the detection of protein in urine. All this significantly aggravated the course of diabetes and increased the risk of complications. Therefore, the following conclusion was made: an increase in zinc intake can significantly alleviate the course of the disease.

What is the danger of zinc deficiency?

The lack of a trace element aggravates the course of peptic ulcer disease on the lower leg in diabetics, since it prevents the rapid healing of wounds. In addition, zinc deficiency can result in diabetic leg tumors or osteomyelitis.Since zinc is an antioxidant, it helps fight cell mutation and tumor growth. According to some reports, a large amount of carbohydrates in food can also serve as a cause of zinc deficiency.

For expectant mothers suffering from diabetes mellitus, zinc supplementation is also very important. An increased rate of malformations in children is associated with the lack of a trace element in their body. While zinc therapy during pregnancy has a beneficial effect on the growth of the embryo and is able to prevent damage in intrauterine alcohol syndrome.

Zinc therapy

Supplemental zinc intake not only has a beneficial effect on the course of diabetes mellitus, but also allows you to reduce the intake of medications. According to a 1986 study, elderly patients who received 80 mg of zincorotate per day were able to reduce the required dosage of insulin. The experiment involved 64 type 2 diabetics. Their zinc therapy lasted 6 weeks. According to the results, 61 patients had decreased fasting blood sugar levels.

Similar results were reached three years later. Then the experiment lasted only 3 weeks, but the blood glucose levels dropped significantly. The study participants were type 1 diabetics.

Zinc is mainly stored in the pancreas, liver and muscle tissue. And if the daily dose of a trace element for a healthy adult man is 11 mg and 8 mg for a woman, then in the case of diabetics, these figures increase to 15 mg per day.It is possible to provide the body with zinc both with the help of dietary supplements and food products rich in trace elements. First of all, this is animal protein, seafood and algae. In addition, pumpkin seeds, lentils, peas, wheat bran, mushrooms, cheese and eggs are also high in zinc. However, it should be remembered that the rate of zinc absorption in diabetics is much lower than in healthy people. Therefore, before increasing its intake, you should pass the necessary tests and consult with your doctor.

Scientists have found a replacement for diabetes injections: gene editing

These and many other questions are answered by an expert, head. Department of Prediction and Innovation of Diabetes of the Federal State Budgetary Institution “National Medical Research Center of Endocrinology” of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, President of the Russian Diabetes Association, Dr. med. Alexander MAYOROV.

“Don’t be afraid to switch to insulin”

– It is important to prevent complications in type 2 diabetes mellitus and switch to life-saving insulin in time, – warns Alexander Yuryevich.- But many patients “sit” on pills for a long time and bring themselves to exacerbations, when injections can no longer help. It is necessary to switch to insulin in time, not to wait for complications in the eyes (blindness may follow), on the legs (up to amputation of the limbs), on the kidneys, etc. There is no need to be afraid to switch to insulin: the quality of this drug today is heaven and earth in comparison with what it was before. It approaches the physiological one, which is produced in the body. It is only important that patients learn to correctly calculate doses with the help of doctors.And today, when there are means of self-monitoring of blood glucose levels, this is no longer a problem.

Specialists, as they say, know better. In any case, much has changed in the practice of treating diabetes over the past hundred years since the discovery of insulin. Smart gadgets have emerged, in particular insulin pumps, which are an alternative to multiple daily injections of insulin with an insulin pen. This allows not only to carry out the necessary therapy in this case, but also to monitor the glucose level.It’s still not the beginning of the last century, when insulin was considered a scientific experiment, but 2021, when this drug is generally considered successful and continues to save millions of people with diabetes on the planet.

Reference “MK”. Insulin was discovered by Canadian scientists Frederick Bunting and Charles Best in 1921. They isolated insulin from the cells of the islets of the pancreas, and the Canadian biochemist James Bertram Collip developed a method for its purification. Prior to this, the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus was a death sentence – in most patients this disease ended in death.And they did not immediately learn how to determine sugar in urine with the help of tests, the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus in men was helped by … flies. They flocked to sweet drops of urine when the man went to the toilet.

The discovery of insulin in 1921 was recognized as the greatest achievement of the 20th century, and Banting himself was awarded the Nobel Prize along with the Scottish physiologist John McLeod, who first suggested that diabetes may be caused by a malfunction of the pancreas. The first injection of insulin with the help of a purified extract obtained from the pancreas, Frederick Bunting gave in 1922 to a boy with diabetes mellitus.And this saved his life.

As a result, insulin, obtained from the pancreas of various animals, immediately entered clinical practice – with its help, millions of patients with diabetes were saved. Artificial insulin synthesis was obtained much later. The first was carried out only in the 1960s, and the first genetically engineered human insulin was obtained in 1978. For the production of such recombinant insulin, baker’s yeast and E. coli are used.

Before the advent of insulin, the life expectancy of diabetic patients was no more than 10 years.Such patients were doomed until the beginning of the XX century, although the “sugar disease” was known already in the III millennium BC.

Nowadays they do not die from “sugar disease”. But … the pandemic of the new virus has also made its “amendments” here …

Diabetics 10 times more likely to “catch” COVID-19

It would seem, what does insulin have to do with the treatment of COVID-19? It turns out to be the most direct.

– The new virus is especially dangerous for the life of people with diabetes, – says Alexander Mayorov.- Patients with high blood glucose levels are among the first at risk before any infection, and even more so before such an aggressive one as coronavirus. The explanation is simple: high blood glucose lowers immunity, and the diabetic becomes vulnerable to any infection. Therefore, patients with diabetes should definitely be vaccinated against it.

But … “People have completely lost their vigilance,” Doctor Mayorov was sincerely indignant at our conversation. “I could not even imagine that with the appearance of such a reliable domestic vaccine that protects our patients from premature death, I would have to convince them of its necessity to save their own lives.”

Our expert is even more outraged by the fact that many patients explain their refusal from immunization by the fact that doctors advised them so. Allegedly, if a person’s blood sugar is high, it is impossible and even dangerous to be vaccinated against covid. “This is sheer stupidity! – adds Mayorov. – Timely vaccination and revaccination against COVID-19 save patients with diabetes from death. By the way, the Russian Association of Endocrinologists also claims that “there are practically no specific contraindications for vaccination of patients with diabetes.”

This issue was recently discussed at the Council on Trusteeship in the Social Sphere under the Government of the Russian Federation. Where the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Tatyana Golikova emphasized that in patients with diabetes, COVID-19 infection occurs 10.3 times more often. Patients with diabetes have a more severe course of the disease, more frequent development of acute respiratory distress syndrome, respiratory failure, the need for mechanical ventilation and, unfortunately, higher mortality.As a concomitant disease, diabetes occurs in 27% of confirmed cases of covid and is most often prevalent in the group of patients with severe course, and is complicated by an increase in glycemia in 90% of cases.

It was also noted at the government level that patients with diabetes are at high risk of developing pneumonia.

But, as you know, word of mouth is more convincing for someone. And, alas, the mortality rate of patients with diabetes during the pandemic rose sharply (according to some sources, by 20%).One of the reasons is that many of these patients do not get vaccinated, they go to doctors late. And routine care has become less available. And expensive drugs of a new class for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus, which could reduce mortality from covid, are not yet available to many and only in wealthy regions. Although in Russia today clinical guidelines and standards for diabetes treatment have been developed and adopted, there is clearly a lack of modern effective drugs.

“We cannot promise a quick cure for diabetes.Bye “

Diabetes mellitus today ranks third in terms of the number of cases in Russia among non-infectious pathologies, endocrinologists say. While progress in treating these patients is clear, what’s next? The incidence is only growing. However, mainly due to type 2 diabetes mellitus. But, oddly enough, patients with type 1 diabetes have more hope for new technologies in therapy in the near future. As Alexander Mayorov explained, “people who are insulin dependent in the future can be transplanted with stem cells and converted into beta cells.A more global solution and, of course, in the more distant future – editing genes in order to even prevent this disease. ”

But patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, as he believes, “do not have to hope for global changes in approaches to the therapy of this disease, and even more so for its complete cure, since there are many causes of this type of diabetes. Of course, heredity affects. But a lot depends on the lifestyle of the person himself. It is important what and how he eats (obesity is one of the main risk factors for type 2 diabetes), whether he moves a lot (physical inactivity is a real scourge of our time), etc.etc., etc.

But there are also important problems that Dr. Mayorov spoke about.

– One of the most important conditions for the successful fight against diabetes in our country, I think, is the education of people with this pathology or those at risk. It is important to inform the public in advance about the risks of improper lifestyle. Until 2012, the Federal Target Program “Diabetes Mellitus” operated in Russia, within the framework of which, among other things, special “Diabetes Schools” functioned. But recently, due to insufficient funding within the framework of the compulsory medical insurance system, these schools have practically ceased to work.Ideal: they should be at the clinics. And they should have a staffing table, experienced nurses who will work on special structured programs on how to live with diabetes. Because an endocrinologist after an eight-hour reception of patients is unlikely to be able to endure this load.

But we do not lose hope: now we are developing our proposals for the adoption of the Federal Project “Fighting Diabetes Mellitus”. As you know, today there are federal programs to combat cancer and cardiovascular diseases.It would be logical to adopt the same program to combat diabetes. In Russia, this disease has already reached the third place after cardiac pathologies and cancer.

But it is not only this that worries an experienced endocrinologist. More attention should be paid to children with diabetes, he said. Apply at least to babies the most modern technical means that will save them from everyday painful finger pricks to determine the blood glucose level, and for parents will simplify the control over the blood glucose level of their children in real time.

In principle, it is time to talk about the convenience of therapy for all patients: the possibility of a flexible dosage regimen of insulin, the use of modern means of painless administration. One of the significant problems is the availability of innovations. If the treatment of diabetes with modern means is not carried out on time, this will lead to serious complications and will require financial costs many times higher than the costs of treating the disease itself.

Closing the curtain: medal – for living with diabetes

…Fortunately, medicine does not stand still in the field of diabetology. In particular, thanks to the use of modern insulin analogues, which are as close as possible to the physiological profile of action, people with this chronic disease can live an almost full and active life, says Alexander Mayorov. Worldwide, the Joslin Medal is awarded for 50, 75 and 80 years living with diabetes. There are such people in our country, on the initiative of the Russian Diabetes Association, more than 60 people have already been awarded the medal “For 50 Courageous Years with Diabetes”.

But one of the key questions – will scientists be able to “rewrite” the human genetic code? The prospect is tempting. And theoretically, according to advanced scientists, it is possible to remove the defective gene from the cells and “introduce” a healthy gene in its place. But when will it become possible in practice? And will it? Experts believe that it will be necessary to change the genetic code in all cells of the body, but it is necessary to make changes in only one target gene and not damage other, healthy genes. But these “obstacles” do not stop science.Research continues …

Hope is known to be the last to die.

90,000 What you can and cannot eat before donating blood for sugar

Often, the accuracy of the analysis depends on the person’s diet.
Photo: pixabay.com

In order not to have to faint after the “terrible” numbers and retake the analysis, you should properly prepare for its delivery.

A blood sugar test helps determine the concentration of glucose in the blood plasma. As a rule, it is prescribed for the diagnosis of a number of diseases and pathologies of internal organs. For analysis, blood can be taken from both a vein and a finger. The accuracy of the indicators does not depend on this. But due to improper nutrition on the eve of visiting the laboratory, the analysis result may turn out to be highly distorted.

Doctors recommend REFUSING the following foods and drinks before testing blood sugar:

• fatty and spicy foods;

• sweets, cakes and other sweet treats;

• packaged juices;

• sweet soda water;

• fast food.

All this, due to the high sugar content, can provoke a false result.

Remember: it is best to refuse food 8-10 hours before visiting the laboratory.

According to doctors, it is best to have a light and healthy meal on the eve of the analysis. It can be boiled or baked chicken or turkey, green vegetables, pearl barley, barley or other types of cereals. With not very sweet tea, you can eat dried fruits, or a little homemade jam from pears, apples or plums (provided that there is not a lot of sugar in it).You can also eat fruits: apples, pears, persimmons.

In addition, it is important to remember that if you are going to the laboratory in the morning, it is better to skip breakfast. You cannot drink tea and coffee. And even plain water without gases is better to drink no later than an hour before the appointed time.

90,000 Clinical Study Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Whey before Breakfast, Water before Breakfast – Clinical Research Register

Details

Consumption of milk and dairy products associated with a lower risk of dysfunctions.and cardiovascular disease (1). A population-based prospective study (CARDIA) showed that consumption of dairy products was inversely proportional to the prevalence of all components of insulin resistance syndrome (IRS) in overweight individuals (2). Whey makes up about 20% of all milk protein and casein makes up the rest. Whey protein is a source of bioactive components and branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) that may play an additional role in dietary and glucose metabolism, obesity, and diabetes (1,3,4).Whey protein appears to have insulinotropic properties and lower glucose levels in healthy adults. (6-9), as well as in individuals with type 2 diabetes (10,11). The magnitude of the postprandial decrease in blood glucose after protein ingestion is comparable to that observed with pharmaceutical interventions such as sulfonylurea (12) or nateglinide (13). These findings show the role of whey protein in the treatment of type 2 diabetes (10). Whey protein is thought to have insulinotropic / β-cell-stimulating and glucose-lowering effects.with the help of bioactive peptides formed during digestion in the gastrointestinal tract, BCAAs are initiated into β-lactoglobulin, the main protein of serum (14). These bioactive peptides stimulate the release of several gut hormones, especially incretins, glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), which enhance β-cell insulin secretion and are also associated with food intake control (9, 15-17 ). Plasma levels of GIP and GLP-1 are elevated. reported oral serum intake in patients with type 2 diabetes (10).The stimulatory effect of protein on GLP-1 is especially important as postprandial GLP-1 secretion has been shown to be reduced in type 2 diabetes (18). Protein-derived bioactive peptides can also serve as endogenous inhibitors of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) in the proximal intestine and prevent incretin (GIP and GLP-1) degradation (19, 20). Indeed, recently DPP-4 inhibitors have been discovered and identified in Whey Protein (21). All of these can lower blood glucose levels after a meal.The action of incretin is enhanced by ingestion of protein, possibly due to the degradation of incretin. through DPP-4 inhibition (19,20). This is important in light of several incretin-based ones. therapies such as continuous administration of GLP-1 (19), treatment with degradation resistant GLP-1R agonists (exendin-4) (15,23-25) and therapy with DPP-4 inhibitors (sitagliptin, liraglutide and other gliptins) (15 , 23-27), all of which contain lead to significantly improve glucose control and β-cell function in subjects with type 2 diabetes.Whey protein stimulates the secretion of GLP-1 and prevents its inactivation by DPP 4. Thus, by enhancing the secretion of GLP-1 and enhancing its action (15), whey protein may be a valuable agent for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

90,000 useful tips and advice from nutritionists

Sugar is found in almost all foods around us. However, this does not mean at all that you need to give up fruits and berries, eating exclusively fresh food.There should be harmony in everything. But what if your sugar cravings keep you buying cakes, cakes and chocolate over and over again? The answer is to change your eating habits.

The negative effect of sugar on the human body

The ability to get rid of extra centimeters in the waist is not at all the main reason why you should give up purchased sweets.

• High calorie foods. It affects not only weight, but also the entire work of the gastrointestinal tract.
• Development of type 2 diabetes mellitus. High sugar intake in people with insulin resistance is associated with this disease *.
• Purification of receptors. Soon after giving up a lot of sweets in your diet, you will be able to recognize the real taste of the food.
• Clean leather. Sweets provoke acne and other epidermal problems.
• Healthy teeth. Plaque on the teeth is, as a rule, sugar that has not had time to break down and provokes the appearance of caries.
• Energy boost. Sugar increases the production of dopamine, but this effect is short-lived, and followed by a breakdown.
• Thrush. Carbohydrate foods provoke an increase in the activity of fungi.

Why is it hard for us to give up sweets

If you can’t stop eating chocolate and other high sugar foods, this is not a weak character. In simple terms, the use of sweets releases neurotransmitters (dopamine and opioids), which stimulate the hormonal level to eat even more delicious.How to stop eating sweets? Find your own (of course, legal and safe) way to stimulate dopamine production.

Reasons for consuming a lot of sweets

• Unbalanced nutrition . When trying to lose weight, many people resort to diets or full-fledged hunger strikes, which are fraught with mandatory breakdowns.
• The habit of overeating. Some people eat while doing something, and do not think about food at all. A person simply does not notice that he is eating out of boredom, and not out of real hunger.
• Active brain activity . Mental work requires huge amounts of glucose. The easiest way to get it is from chocolate or other commercially available candy.
• Critical days and. During menstruation, the hormonal balance in women changes, which also contributes to an increase in cravings for sweets.
• Regular stress . The brain knows that a dose of chocolate is a quick way to get a lot of dopamine, which means that you can get rid of sadness, anxiety or nervous tension.

Healthy sweets

WHO recommends no more than 10% sugars of your daily calorie intake **. However, even in this case, preference should be given to natural sweets: honey, fruits and dried fruits, berries. It is recommended to replace milk chocolate with dark, high cocoa content. If it’s hard to refuse purchased sweets, you can replace the cakes with marshmallows. Of course, this is also not a dietary or low-calorie product, but it does not contain fat.But honey was and remains one of the main natural sweets. If you are not allergic to this product, almost all sugar can be successfully replaced with it (for example, consume up to 50 grams of honey per day). If you find it difficult to give up harmful sweets, you can take chromium preparations after consulting a specialist. For example, Herbalife Nutrition Yellow Tablets can help reduce sugar cravings.

Approved Product List

To customize your menu, choose what is right for you.Especially for this, we have compiled a table of some natural sweets with their calorie content and glycemic index – for those who monitor sugar levels.

Item	Caloric value (per 100 grams), kcal	Glycemic index
Honey	304	From 30 to 90, depending on the honey plant
Lemon	29	25
Cherry	50	22
Raspberries	52	thirty
Prunes	107	25
Strawberry	31	32
Persimmon	134	55
Banana	91	60
Mango	60	55

In addition, you can eat apples, oranges, cherries, kiwi, blueberries, as well as other berries and fruits.

Interesting: WHO recommends reducing the intake of free sugars, which are found not only in cakes, pastries and other store sweets, but also in fruit juice concentrates **.

Making a Power Schedule

To make it easier to give up unhealthy sweets during the day, it is recommended to eat foods with a high sugar content before three o’clock in the afternoon, and preferably for breakfast. This can be toast with butter and honey, fruit cereals, muesli, or any other favorite food.For a snack, you can eat a handful of dried fruit, a protein bar, natural yogurt with berries, or a banana. At night, you should drink a glass of kefir or make a green smoothie with celery and spinach based on it. As a result, the meal schedule may look something like this:

• 8:00 – breakfast;
• 12:00 – snack;
• 14:00 – lunch;
• 16:00 – snack;
• 18:00 – dinner.

If desired, an hour and a half before bedtime, you can have dinner a second time, only it should be light protein foods that are easy to digest.

How to give up sweets

The first and foremost rule is not to chop off the shoulder. You cannot give up all fast carbohydrates and foods high in sugar in one day: this is a serious stress for the body. The conscious rejection of sweets should be approached gradually:

1. Reduce portions. Gradually reduce the amount of sugar consumed per day, for example, drink tea not with two spoons, but with one. Change the milk chocolate to dark and limit yourself to a few slices rather than a whole bar.
2. More protein and vegetables in the diet. This will provide a long-lasting feeling of satiety, and also keep the body in good shape. By the way, mayonnaise in a salad is successfully replaced with low-fat sour cream or vegetable oil.
3. Give preference to slow carbohydrates. So the body will spend energy gradually. And, most importantly, blood sugar will not jump by 5-10 units at once.

Reducing sugar cravings through sports

In order to get rid of excess volumes and reduce the use of purchased sweets, you need to choose an integrated approach.If you lead a sedentary lifestyle, then all this in the end, most likely, will affect the figure. And obesity can provoke insulin resistance, which also awakens the desire to consume large amounts of sugars *. To avoid this, you need to move more. We are not even talking about gyms: a daily half-hour exercise and a walk will be enough. Just in order to start the process of fat burning, you will need to walk at least half an hour a day at an average pace, and do home workouts every day.Exercising also promotes the production of dopamine, so instead of a chocolate bar, you can just go for a run or do a few exercises (or even better, sign up for a dance).

Nutritional Recommendations

What other advice do experts give for lowering sugar levels in the diet?

• Say no to sweeteners. There is no evidence that they help with weight loss and increase appetite, so those who want to lose weight are most likely not suitable.
• Give up your favorite sweets. Do you prefer milk chocolate? Eliminate it from the diet or replace it with a dark one.
• Divide the portions into even smaller portions. The strip of chocolate can be cut into pieces. And even cut them in half. This will tell your brain that you have eaten a complete unit of chocolate.
• Take B vitamins. They help deal with stress, which, as we have found, is one of the reasons for sugar cravings. But remember that you need expert advice.
• More chrome. It is the deficiency of this trace element that most often causes cravings for sweets. In this case, you also need to talk to your doctor before use.
• Include lemon water in your diet. There is plenty of sugar in this product, while lemon helps fight obesity.

Soon after giving up on store-bought sweets, you will notice an obvious improvement in your own health.

Dietary supplement.NOT A DRUG

Links:

* Insulin resistance and ways of its correction in type 2 diabetes mellitus.