Type 2 Diabetes: Get Your Oatmeal On!
There’s a whole grain craze going on in America and everywhere you look, some company is advertising the fact that their product is made from whole grain. Breads, pasta, pancakes, crackers, mustard, it’s everywhere! For diabetics, whole grain foods can offer our body nutrients, fiber, vitamins, and minerals that are beneficial to our health.
I typically start my day with a cup of oatmeal. This insures that I get a healthy dose of fiber. Oatmeal is just one form of whole grain foods but it has been shown that three grams of soluble fiber from oatmeal can reduce the risk of heart disease. Heart disease is a real concern for diabetics as diabetics are said to be at a higher risk for heart attack and stroke.
Oatmeal also packs 16% fiber per serving which is great because fiber helps control blood sugar. I read a Mercola® article online which stated that people who eat more than 26 grams of fiber a day have an 18 percent lower chance of developing Type II diabetes. But what if you’re already a diabetic? Well, 26 grams of fiber can go a long way in helping reverse diabetes.
For a healthier serving of oatmeal, I sometimes add blueberries, Truvia®, and a tablespoon of coconut oil to give me added health benefits. If you want to help your body, get your oatmeal on!
I truly hope to see some quality research posted about these alleged benefits of oatmeal. I mean I love oatmeal but its carbs I certainly do not need.
This is terrible advice for a type 2 diabetic. The amount of carbs from eating oats, regardless of how healthy it might seem, causes concerning damage due to blood glucose spikes. All the same nutrients are available in much better carbohydrate choices like leafy greens, vegetables, meat, cheese, nuts and the list goes on. A better choice of fiber is bran because there’s almost no carbs and it functions to tame glucose spikes. In general carbs are good but not the kind that come from grains with fast acting, glucose spiking reactions.
As for heart disease, reducing glucose spikes does much more than “fiber” to improve CVD risk factors. The piece actually encourages behavior that causes CVD risk factors to increase!
I guess that it all depends on who you ask and what you believe. Some people will argue that nuts and cheese are no-no’s for diabetics. Most doctors promote eating whole grain foods. Oats are a form of whole grain but we all have to decide what works for us as individuals. Each of our bodies and are different although we may all be diabetics. While I am no doctor, I do include oatmeal as part of my diet. I’m also very active, via exercise and lifestyle, which I believe will negate whatever “bad carbs” oatmeal may may offer. We should remember that carbs are the fuel that gives our bodies the energy that we need to make it through physically demanding activity.
As far as CVD, individuals should use their own judgement, Doctor’s recomendation and scientific findings to determine whether they want to use oatmeal as means to prevent CVD.