Almondsmay Keep Diabetes

 Simple, Nutty Way to Keep Diabetes AND Heart Disease at Bay

By Catherine Lewis, IH Editor

If you’ve been diagnosed with type-2 diabetes and struggle with your weight, staying healthy can seem like a full-time job. Simply managing your diabetes every day can be exhausting. The cycle of self-testing blood sugar levels several times a day, knowing how to tell if it is too low or too high, knowing what food to eat and when to eat it, and keeping track of all your medications can be quite the juggling act.

The problem is, type-2 diabetes and obesity tend to go hand-in-hand. It’s becoming so common a new term has been coined - “diabesity” - to describe this double diagnosis. It’s dangerous enough on its own, but it also contributes to a whole host of other conditions like kidney disease and cardiovascular conditions.

How common is it? Well, more than 40% of baby boomers are obese. Many will go on to develop type-2 diabetes and put themselves at even more risk of contracting other chronic conditions if they don’t do something about it – and fast.

Almonds may keep diabetes at bay.

There are several pharmaceuticals used to treat diabetes, but as to be expected come with their own range of dangerous side effects and problems.  Just recently the drugs Actos and Avandia made the news because of negative side effects. That’s why managing diet and exercise is by far, in most cases, the best way to control - and more importantly prevent - the onset of type-2 diabetes.

When it comes to diet, new research has found eating almonds daily in addition to a calorie-controlled diet could help prevent diabetes and heart disease. Almonds work by improving insulin sensitivity and decreasing LDL cholesterol levels in people who have been diagnosed with prediabetes - a condition in which blood glucose levels are higher than they should be, but not high enough to be classified as frank diabetes.

One recent study involved 65 adults with prediabetes (48 women and 17 men) in their middle 50s. Half of the group was put on a diet enriched with almonds. Their improvement in insulin sensitivity and LDL cholesterol was significant when compared to the nut-free group. Twenty percent of their daily energy needs came from almonds, which amounted to about 35 to 46 nuts for females, and about 46 to 69 almonds for males. Though a bit high in calories, almonds are a great source of antioxidants, vitamins E., magnesium, fiber, and healthy fat. And, when it comes to managing diet it is important to consider the quality of calories as well as the quantity.

And, sometimes the simpler, the better. Almonds are not only tasty, but they’re incredibly easy to add to your diet.