Is Watermelon A Good Fruit For People With Diabetes?

Is watermelon a good fruit for people with diabetes?

Watermelon is a good fruit choice for people with diabetes, but many people mistakenly think that it is not. The reason has to do with the difference between glycemic index and its glycemic load.
The Glycemic Index (GI) is a measure of the effects of carbohydrates on blood glucose levels. Carbohydrates that break down quickly during digestion, releasing glucose rapidly into the bloodstream (like those found in white bread), have a “high GI” (70 or higher); carbohydrates that break down slowly, releasing glucose gradually into the bloodstream (like those in whole grains and legumes), have a “low GI” (55 or lower).
The Glycemic Load (GL) is a ranking system for the glycemic impact of foods, based on their carbohydrate content, portion size, and Glycemic Index. Low = 1 to 10; Medium = 11-19; High = 20 or higher.
As explained in the book The New Glucose Revolution for Diabetes (Marlowe, 2007), the GL was developed by Harvard researchers, who posited that eating a small amount of a high-GI food would have the same effect on blood sugar as would eating large amounts of a low-GI food. Another issue with looking only at the GI of a food is that it’s tied to the number of grams of carbohydrates in that food and, obviously, that number varies by large amounts. Watermelon is a good illustration of this problem. Watermelon’s GI is high, 72. The GI, however, is based not on a normal portion, but on 50g of carbohydrates — whatever the food. To get 50g of watermelon carbs, you’d have to eat almost 5 cups. GL combines both the quality and the quantity of the actual carbohyd Continue reading

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Potatoes 'pose pregnancy diabetes risk'

Eating potatoes or chips on most days of the week may increase a woman's risk of diabetes during pregnancy, say US researchers.
This is probably because starch in spuds can trigger a sharp rise in blood sugar levels, they say.
Their study in the BMJ tracked more than 21,000 pregnancies.
But UK experts say proof is lacking and lots of people need to eat more starchy foods for fibre, as well as fresh fruit and veg.
The BMJ study linked high potato consumption to a higher diabetes risk.
Swapping a couple of servings a week for other vegetables should counter this, say the authors.
UK dietary advice says starchy foods (carbohydrates) such as potatoes should make up about a third of the food people eat.
There is no official limit on how much carbohydrate people should consume each week.
Starchy carbs
Foods that contain carbohydrates affect blood sugar.
Some - high Glycaemic Index (GI) foods - release the sugar quickly into the bloodstream.
Others - low GI foods - release them more steadily.
Research suggests eating a low GI diet can help manage diabetes.
Pregnancy puts extra demands on the body, and some women develop diabetes at this time.
Gestational diabetes, as it is called, usually goes away after the birth but can pose long-term health risks for the mother and baby.
The BMJ study set out investigate what might make some women more prone to pregnancy diabetes.
The study followed nurses who became pregnant between 1991 and 2001. None of them had any chronic diseases before pregnancy.
What is gestational diabetes mellitus?
It is a condition where there is too much glucose (su Continue reading

What Candy Can People With Diabetes Eat and How Much Is Safe?

Think candy is off-limits simply because you have diabetes? Not a chance! “I encourage people with diabetes to remember that a diabetes diet is really just a healthier diet,” says Rainie Carter, RD, CDE, who is in private practice in Birmingham, Alabama. She suggests thinking of candy as a dessert, versus a snack. “Changing that mentality allows people to think about eating candy in smaller portions. We are typically fuller from the meal and therefore eat less candy or sweets than we would have before.”
And you don’t necessarily need to reach for a sugar-free version, which can contain tummy-upsetting sugar alcohols. “Our bodies need carbohydrates throughout the day — and candy can be a delicious, festive, enjoyable source of it on occasion,” says Meg Salvia, RDN, CDE, the owner of Meg Salvia Nutrition in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Just eat the candy in moderation: The 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend limiting added sugars, the type of sugar present in candy bars, to less than 10 percent of daily calories. So if you’re having 2,000 calories a day, that would be no more than 200 calories from added sugar (about two fun-size packs of peanut M&M’s). And people with diabetes have other considerations, too — more on those next.
Next time you come across fun-size candy — whether it’s because you bought it yourself, you’re digging through your child’s trick-or-treat bag, you’re hosting a birthday party with a piñata, or you’re rummaging through the office candy bowl — here’s what you need to know about making the best can Continue reading

Diabetes and Bananas: Are Bananas Good or Bad For diabetics?

Banana, being a rich source of vitamin, potassium, and several other nutrients are considered very healthy. However, the high content of sugar often gives rise the question as to whether the fruit should be consumed by those who suffer from diabetes? It is often very important to take extreme care of your body when you are suffering from diabetes as the disease brings in a lot of other related complications such as a number of cardiovascular diseases as well as diseases related to the kidney. A well maintained and regulated lifestyle, coupled with a healthy diet and physical exercise have always been recommended by the doctors. One such regulation is the inclusion of bananas in the daily diet.
In this article, we try to find out the answer to the above question. We shall delve deep and analyze whether it is safe to eat bananas as a diabetic patient.
Let’s Know Some Facts Related to Bananas
Before we begin our discussion on the relation between diabetes and bananas, we should know a few facts about the fruit. Following are a few facts which might help us to understand the relation between diabetes and bananas:
The fruit is very rich in both sugar and carbohydrates. These elements, in turn, are responsible for raising the blood sugar level in the body, thereby adversely affecting diabetes.
Out of the total calories that banana contains, around 93% of the same is in the form of carbohydrates, which might pose some threat and increase complications in a patient suffering from diabetes.
However, the fiber content of the fruit makes it harmless for a diabetes patient. In fact, Continue reading

Is Watermelon Good or Bad For Diabetics?

Diabetes, as we know, is a very complicated condition leading to a host of complications in patients. Some of the complications relate to the heart, the nervous system, kidneys, and several other parts of the body. The best way to manage the same is by maintaining a healthy lifestyle and diet. It is for this reason that a diabetes patient is always conscious of what he or she is consuming and in what quantity.
In this article, we shall explore the relationship between diabetes and Watermelon. And try to understand that can a diabetic have watermelon or not in regular diet?
Facts Related to Watermelon
To begin with, we need to understand some of the facts that are related to this fruit.
The fruit is rich in a lot of vitamins and minerals, namely, Vitamin A, B-6, C. iron, calcium, and other minerals.
The Glycemic Index of Watermelon is somewhere around 72 per serving of 100 grams.
The fruit is considered to be high on its fiber content. Hence it is recommended as a very healthy snack.
90% of the content is water in Watermelons.
Lycopene is the main ingredient in the fruit from which it derives its color. The pigment is a powerful antioxidant with a number of health benefits.
Health Benefits of Watermelon for Diabetes Patients
How is watermelon good for diabetics? Let us look into some of the health benefits of the fruit when it comes to the diabetes patients:
– One of the effects in diabetes is the feeling of fatigue and extreme tiredness in patients suffering from the condition. This is due to the increase in the levels of blood glucose which hinders the smooth circulation Continue reading