Diabetes can lead to cardiovascular lesions, causing complications such as thrombosis and heart failure. Experts suggest that diabetics should be screened regularly to prevent cardiovascular complications. Apart from screening, how else can one avoid diabetes in daily life?
Some believe that blood sugar can be controlled simply by avoiding grains and carbohydrates. While reducing carbohydrates does help with weight loss and blood sugar levels, some grains are beneficial.
According to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), grains are the basis for nourishing the human body. From a nutritional point of view, grains are an important source of carbohydrates and are one of the three major nutrients that supply energy to the cells. Whether it is monosaccharides, disaccharides, or polysaccharides, they all play key roles in the body.
Carbohydrates are needed for all things big and small within the human body. Be it for the most basic organizational structures of the body, such as cell membranes, cell walls, DNA, and RNA, or for bigger physiological activities such as maintaining the immune system, blood clotting, fertilization, growth, storing nutrients, and providing energy.
Therefore, it is not advisable to skip grains such as rice completely for fear of gaining weight or having high blood sugar. The key is a well-balanced diet supplemented with plenty of exercise.
8 Foods to Help Lower Blood Sugar
The following foods, recommended in TCM, and properly administered into your daily diet, can help you lower blood sugar.The herbs in the preparations below can be found at Asian food markets.
Millet or yam congee
Eating congee, a type of porridge, can lower blood sugar, whether it is millet or yam congee. Boil the millet congee until a layer of millet oil appears on top. These sticky millet oils while in the stomach can help the stomach wall absorb carbohydrates.Yam can also lower blood sugar. A friend of mine who is a physician advised some elderly patients to add some yam to their daily diet. After a period, it was found that their blood sugar levels decreased.
Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) decoction
Another good food for reducing blood sugar levels is the bitter gourd. To prepare, peel a bitter gourd, cut it into sections, and cook with Four Herbs Soup (angelica root, Sichuan lovage rhizome, processed rehmannia root, white peony root). Although the taste is bitter, it can lower blood sugar. I have patients who drink this for a period, and their blood sugar drops. You can drink it every 2 or 3 days, and then test your blood sugar to see the results.Sishen Soup
Sishen Soup is a very mild medicinal combination. The ingredients include yam, Euryale ferox seeds, lotus seeds, and Tuckahoe. Some people like to add a bit of barley. Among the ingredients, yam has the effect of lowering blood sugar.Nuts
Eating nuts can stabilize blood sugar levels in people with Type 2 diabetes. Almonds, pistachios, walnuts, hazelnuts, and cashews are all good. They can be eaten as snacks, or they can be ground into powder and put between whole wheat toast to make sandwiches. Soak in soy milk, and eat a handful every day.Radish
Radish is low in calories and rich in digestive enzymes. It can also strengthen the stomach, help maintain blood sugar balance, and have anti-cancer effects.A well-known health-preserving proverb says, “Eat radishes and drink hot tea, and the angry doctors will crawl all over the ground.” It strongly implies that eating radishes makes the body stronger such that doctors will become redundant.
Radish contains some substances that are part of the components in the synthesis and secretion of insulin and thus can stabilize blood sugar. With a large amount of soluble dietary fiber, radish can help delay the rise of blood sugar after meals. Rich in calcium, it can help improve osteoporosis in diabetic patients—dried, aged radish is even better in this respect. Regular consumption of radish can also assist in the treatment of kidney, heart, and blood pressure diseases.
Bean sprouts
Bean sprouts are low in calories and contain loads of dietary fiber and high-quality protein, which can effectively eliminate fat in the intestines and viscera, and can improve high blood sugar.Pumpkin
Pumpkin pulp contains a special substance that can promote insulin secretion, thereby lowering blood sugar. Pumpkin also contains trace elements such as cobalt, which is necessary for islet cells to synthesize insulin. Eating pumpkin in moderation can assist normal insulin secretion and lower blood sugar.In addition, pumpkin is rich in pectin, which can bind excess cholesterol in the body and is helpful for patients with arteriosclerosis.