Want to maintain healthy blood sugar levels? Add Okra to your diet, according to a study conducted by the National Institutes of Health. This is because okra, also known as ladies' fingers, contain a lot of beneficial properties that can help manage these levels. It is loaded with potassium, calcium, folic acid and vitamins B and C.
Okra is also a rich source of antioxidants that can help suppress oxidative stress, tackle insulin resistance and improve blood glucose levels. A 2011 study,published in the Journal of Pharmacy & BioAllied Sciences, found mice with diabetes that were fed okra peels and seeds exhibited low blood glucose levels.
Taking care of these issues may help to keep diabetes at bay. The medical condition has become a public health issue across the globe. Reducing consumption of carbohydrates may help type 2 diabetes patients manage blood sugar levels.
"The purpose of our study was to investigate the effects of the diet without 'interference' from a weight loss. For that reason, the patients were asked to maintain their weight. Our study confirms the assumption that a diet with a reduced carbohydrate content can improve patients' ability to regulate their blood sugar levels -- without the patients concurrently losing weight," Senior Consultant, DMSc Thure Krarup, MD, from the Department of Endocrinology at Bispebjerg Hospital, told a news portal.
Adding: "Our findings are important, because we've removed weight loss from the equation. Previous studies have provided contradictory conclusions, and weight loss has complicated interpretations in a number of these studies."
Another study, published in the journal PLOS, revealed a low body mass index (BMI) could also help reduce the risk of diabetes. The findings are treated for people who are overweight and those who are not. "These findings suggest that all individuals can substantially reduce their type II diabetes risk through weight loss," the authors of the study stated. The further explained that even though new analysis "can determine that lower lifetime BMI is protective against diabetes, that does not necessarily imply weight loss later in life, after carrying excess weight for decades, would have the same result."
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