Health Foods to Assist in Lowering Blood Sugar

Diabetes is a chronic common endocrine and metabolic disease, often accompanied by complications, but the incidence rate is increasing year by year. The WHO recently issued a report stating that diabetes has become one of the three major killers threatening human life. Food resources that have health-care effects on diabetics include, according to different blood sugar-lowering functional factors, flavonoids, terpenes, polysaccharides, sugar alcohols, water-soluble dietary fibers, thioethers and other substances that help lower blood sugar.

The so-called hypoglycemic functional factors refer to biologically active ingredients that can reduce the blood sugar concentration and improve symptoms of diabetic patients. The currently discovered hypoglycemic active ingredients include flavonoids, dietary fiber (water-soluble), polysaccharides, and thioethers , sugar alcohols, etc. In addition, there are alkaloids, coumarin, steroids, polyphenols, etc.

Foods containing flavonoid functional factors.

At present, plant flavonoids are the most studied, but in recent years there are also animal flavonoids. The anti-diabetic mechanism of flavonoids and its complications is relatively complex, with different opinions, including antioxidant, α-glycosidase inhibition, insulin-mimetic effects, anti-inflammatory, inhibits aldose reductase and inhibits protein glycosylation, etc.

Foods containing water-soluble dietary fiber.

The International Diabetes Organization strongly recommends dietary fiber dietary therapy for diabetes. Dietary fiber can prevent the occurrence of type 2 diabetes, but has little control effect on type 1. Vegetables rich in dietary fiber include beans (kidney beans, red beans, green beans) , day lily, celery, seaweed, shiitake mushrooms, black and white fungus, etc.

Foods containing polysaccharide functional factors.

At present, it has been found that a variety of plant polysaccharides can lower blood sugar. The most common ones are wolfberry polysaccharide, tea polysaccharide, kelp polysaccharide, konjac polysaccharide, pumpkin polysaccharide, etc. The ones that can be used as base materials for the development of health food include wolfberry, tea, pumpkin, bitter melon, and kelp, coix seed, Ganoderma lucidum, yam, rice bran, sugar cane, black fungus, hericium, seaweed, white fungus, etc. For example, tea leaves and tea polysaccharides can enhance immunity, lower blood lipids, lower blood sugar, resist radiation, anti-hemagglutination, and anti-thrombosis, etc. The main hypoglycemic substance of pumpkin is pumpkin pentose. In addition, there are chromium, nickel, vitamins, pumpkin seed oil, pectin, arginine, etc. Chromium and nickel can promote insulin secretion and lower blood sugar. Pectin can delay the digestion and absorption of nutrients by the intestines and effectively control postprandial blood sugar.

Functional foods containing sugar alcohols.

Sugar alcohols are a special sweetener in which the aldehyde group of sugars has been reduced. The important ones are xylitol, sorbitol, erythritol, lactitol, D-mannitol, maltitol, and isomalt. Ketitol, etc., they all have the effects of lowering blood sugar and preventing dental caries. In addition, ideal sweeteners for diabetics include stevioside (commonly known as stevia), sweeteners, acetame, glycyrrhizin, crystallized fructose, soy oligosaccharides, etc.

Foods containing thioether functional factors.

They are mainly garlic (containing allicin), onions and other related foods. Allicin can enhance plasma insulin-like activity, increase serum insulin concentration, lower blood sugar and prevent diabetic complications. The sulfur bonds in its hypoglycemic factors play a decisive role in lowering blood sugar.

In today's treatment plans for diabetes, all countries in the world highly recommend dietary therapy, strongly emphasize the importance of dietary therapy, and emphasize the overall treatment plan based on dietary therapy combined with exercise therapy, drug therapy, etc.