Need help managing your Diabetes?
You’re not alone. According to an article from Envolve Health in 2018: “…fewer than 50 percent of patients adhere to treatment therapies, contributing to more than 75,000 diabetes deaths per year.” (Envolve Health, 2018-03-06) The good news is: incorporating beets into your diet can help you manage your diabetes! Let’s look at 5 of the ways they help!
1. Beets are high in Fiber
Although beets are one of the sweeter vegetables, their high fiber content helps to slow the absorption of sugars so your blood sugars don’t spike. In addition to this, fiber helps to make you feel full longer so you won’t be tempted to grab that candy bar!
2. They contain an antioxidant that lowers your blood sugar
Alpha-Lipoic acid is amazing! It helps to reduce your blood sugars, reduces inflammation, and reduces oxidative stress in the body. Basically, if your blood sugar is balanced, the cells are happy so eating foods that keep your blood sugars stable will help your body to heal itself.
3. Beets are high in Nitrates which increases blood flow
Having better blood flow is especially important to those with advanced diabetes. Diabetic Neuropathy is the numbness, tingling, and burning sensation in the extremities, and having better blood flow improves those symptoms. Nitrates are chemicals in beets and get broken down into nitric oxide which is a vasodilator. (Sorry. My 15 years in the medical field sneak into my blog sometimes!) A vasodilator means it relaxes the blood vessels allowing better blood flow. Now, don’t you feel smarter? 🙂
4. Beets are low on the glycemic index
The glycemic index is a scale from 0-100 assigning a number to foods that show how high it raises your blood sugar two hours after eating. Beets are very low on the glycemic index, at 8.3. Anything below 10 is considered low glycemic. In comparison, maple syrup has an index of 54! A high blood sugar means more inflammation in your body so do your best to keep it level.
5. Beets are high in Potassium
Beets are high in potassium which helps with regulating your metabolism. A balanced metabolism makes it easier to lose and keep off weight which helps with managing diabetes. Excess sugar is stored as fat and fat likes to hang out (no pun intended) in your waistline. I’m preaching to the choir, folks! I struggled with gestational diabetes twice and was considered pre-diabetic and going whole food plant-based has changed my life! Read here to learn more on WHY I made the change!
Conclusion: Eat BEETS!
You could find many articles listing the benefits of beets but 5 is all the time I have for today! I love to cut them up like fries and then roast them in the oven! Another delicious way to eat more beets is to make Beet Soup! I guess I need to make a post on that recipe now, too haha! Thank you so much for learning more about beets with me and please, let me know in the comments if you’ve tried beets before, if you like them, and if you struggle with diabetes. Let’s help each other! I’ll see you in the kitchen!