Research shows that adopting a Diabetes Diet in line with Mediterranean eating habits can help manage Diabetes Type 2 without taking pills. What exactly do they mean by a Mediterranean diet? This diet comes from the cultures that live around the Mediterranean Sea including Italian, Greek, and others. It contains a diet rich in vegetables and whole grains. Surprisingly it also has about 30% of calories coming from fat derived sources. The biggest source of fat though is olive oil. The diet also replaces most of the red meat consumption with fish and chicken. No more than 50% of daily calories can come from carbohydrates.
What is the result of adopting this diet on those with Type 2 Diabetes and their Diabetes Symptoms? Nothing is really a miracle. However many patients gain better control on this diet than with a low fat diet. They also show marked improvements in heart health. Weight loss usually happens as well. Studies have shown that this diet helps some hold off the need for medications. How does this diet do it? The diet focuses on replacing saturated fats with healthier versions. It additionally focuses on increasing the levels of fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet. All of this helps realign your health into a better mode.
Adopting a diet in the style of the Mediterranean eating habits bring many good things to the table of a person with type 2 diabetes. The diet focuses on eating more of fish and chicken rather than red meat. That will lower the amount of saturated fat in your diet. The diet also emphasizes meat as equal or subordinate to those plant-based foods. That means that chicken or fish is not the main part of the meal. It balances with good hearty sized portions of wholegrains and veggies. Many of the meals do not contain fish or chicken. The main source of fat in this diet comes from the use of olive oil in cooking.
The addition of fresh fruits and vegetables can raise the intake of healthy fiber. Fiber helps those with type 2 Diabetes in 2 ways. The first is that it helps regulate how fast the body absorbs food. This helps keep the blood glucose levels steady. The second benefit is that it helps with weight control and heart health. Those additional factors now mean that one is healthier all together. The best part of this diet is that it’s rich in many nutrients that benefit the health of everyone. It is a good diet for the entire family to adopt along with the diabetic.
Tags: diabetes, Mediterranean Diet, Type 2
