Juicer Recipes and the Diabetic
Sep 4th, 2010 by GuestPoster
Most diabetics wonder whether they should include fruit in their diabetic diet, knowing fruits contain fructose, a form of sugar. Well, according the the American Diabetes Association the answer is yes, just don’t overdo it — and a good point is that most fruits are rated low on the glycemic index, partly because of their fiber content.
Fruit and vegetable juices
There have been a variety of studies conducted over the past decade that have discovered that some fruit and vegetable juices can help manage the symptoms of diabetes. Especially diabetes type-2.
One of the most recent discoveries is bitter melon juice. Researchers in India experimented with 100 sufferers of diabetes in a 2 day trial. On the first day and after a period of fasting the diabetic participants were given a drink containing pure glucose and the subsequent rise in blood sugar levels was recorded. The second day after an equivalent period of fasting the participants were given a drink with the same amount of glucose as the previous day, but this time they were also given bitter melon juice too. Amazingly, the bitter melon juice helped to lower the spike in blood sugar levels by 14% on average across all 100 participants! For those of you who manage their diabetes every day know just how significant 14% can be!
It is important to note here, that as a rule it is a good idea to stay clear of fresh fruit juices because of the high sugar content and lack of fiber. If we eat a piece of fruit then we are also getting the fiber, which significantly slows down the digestion and absorption of the natural fruit sugars into the bloodstream. Juicing strips away this fiber and the sugar is consequently absorbed rapidly into the blood stream. We also need to take into account that one serving of fruit juice is a couple of pieces of fruit at least and therefore more sugar.
Vegetables are a lot less sugary than fruits and are generally safer for blood sugar levels. However, vegetables that grow in the ground like carrots, yams and beets are the most sugary of the vegetables and should be juiced infrequently. Vegetables that are very very low in sugar and are fair game include, kale, lettuce, spinach, collard greens, cabbage and broccoli.
Vegetable juice from green beans and brussell sprouts are the best to use for your diabetic juicer recipes because they have natural plant compounds that have an insulin like effect in the blood, similar to bitter melon juice.
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