Hunger can lead to spikes and dips in blood sugar that causes irritability, dizziness and weakness. This in turn can increase your risk of diabetic related complications, including stroke, blindness, high blood pressure, nerve damage, hearing loss, kidney disease and amputations.
Therefore, you have to maintain healthy blood sugar levels especially if you’re diabetic. One of the best ways to avoid the roller coaster is by eating foods with a low glycaemic index (GI) at regular intervals throughout the day. These foods can slow down your absorption of sugar and in turn help you stabilise your blood sugar.
Four snacks for blood sugar control
1. Peanuts
Researchers from Marmara University in Istanbul, Turkey, found that peanuts can significantly lower cholesterol levels in diabetics. Peanuts are among the foods with the lowest GI. Therefore, eating peanuts can help you control your blood sugar and reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease. However, when you eat them, ensure you opt for unsalted ones. This is because salt can increase your sodium and blood pressure levels thereby, ultimately elevating your risk of stroke.
2. Soy foods
Soybeans are legumes also with a low GI. Healthy soybean snacks include soy nuts, soy ice-cream and soy yoghurt. They are a great source of protein containing all the essential amino acids your body can’t produce. What’s more, they give you an extra dose of calcium, antioxidants and healthy fats.
You can help reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis and cancer by eating soy snacks. In fact, scientists at Newcastle University, England, found that consuming a high-protein breakfast snack with soy-yoghurt results in an almost 40% reduction of blood sugar after breakfast in type 2 diabetics.
3. Soups
Soups such as split pea, lentil and vegetable made with carrots are particularly beneficial, according to research. This is all thanks to the soluble fibre that legumes such as peas and lentils contain. Soluble fibre helps slow down your absorption of sugar from foods and enable you to control your blood sugar. Veggies such as carrots also have a low GI and contain vitamins, minerals and fibre which boost your intake of micronutrients and also decrease your risk of disease.
4. Low-fat yoghurt
You can enjoy low-fat apple, peach or pear yoghurt between meals. It is a low GI food made from cow’s milk and is loaded with protein and calcium to help you maintain strong bones. Furthermore, peaches, apples and pears also contain vitamins, minerals, soluble fibre and antioxidants. As already mentioned, increasing your intake of soluble fibre can help slow down the absorption of sugar from food into your blood.
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