What is the best thing to eat to prevent diabetes

In fact, there is no "best" single food that can directly prevent diabetes. Instead of pursuing various hypoglycemic miracle foods spread online, it is better to adjust the overall diet first, which will have a much greater effect on stabilizing blood sugar and reducing the risk of disease.

I have been in contact with Aunt Zhang who lives in an old community. She was diagnosed with impaired glucose tolerance and pre-diabetes two years ago. I was so frightened that I searched a bunch of "sugar-lowering food lists" on the Internet. I ate bitter gourd cold for more than three months. She suffered from gastric reflux and could not even eat. I went to check her blood sugar and it did not drop at all. Later, I adjusted my diet according to the nutrition guidance class in the community. I didn't eat anything fancy. I just replaced half of the white rice in each meal and mixed it with brown rice and red beans. I added half a spoonful of sugar when cooking. I drank light tea or warm water when I was thirsty. I completely avoided bottled sweet drinks. I added a fist-sized apple every afternoon when I was hungry. I went for a review after half a year and found that my sugar tolerance had returned to the normal range.

Why is it useless to eat bitter melon alone? There has been ongoing controversy in the academic world about hypoglycemic foods such as bitter melon and okra. Small-scale laboratory studies have indeed found that the polysaccharides and saponins they contain can regulate blood sugar to a certain extent. However, if we eat one or two hundred grams in a daily meal, the intake of active ingredients is not even a fraction of the experimental dosage. It cannot achieve the preventive effect at all. Eating too much will damage the spleen and stomach like Aunt Zhang.

For daily prevention, you really don’t need to deliberately look for expensive ingredients. Just keep two little things in mind when cooking. For example, when cooking rice, grab a handful of oats and quinoa and mix them in, which can lower the glycemic index. When eating, first take two chopsticks of green leafy vegetables, then eat two bites of protein such as fish and eggs, and finally eat the staple food. Blood sugar will not spike suddenly, and it is not easy to overeat.

Oh, by the way, there is also the question of "can you eat fruit?" that everyone often debates. Some people believe that fructose in fruits will affect insulin sensitivity, and it is safe to completely quit. There are also large-sample cohort studies in recent years that show that eating less than 200g of low-glycemic (low GI) fruits per day, such as apples, blueberries, and strawberries, can supplement dietary fiber and antioxidants, and is good for regulating blood sugar. In fact, there is no need to go to extremes. Don’t dig in and eat half an ice watermelon at a time. Eat a fist-sized amount each time and eat it between meals. It will basically not increase the burden on blood sugar.

To put it bluntly, there are no special "best foods" needed to prevent diabetes. Avoid refined sugars such as milk tea and cakes, eat a good mix of staple foods, and eat more fresh dark green vegetables. This is more reliable than any folk prescription.