Diabetic diets - Spicing things up
One of the hardest parts of diabetes is the day-to-day struggle with eating the right foods. The risk of high blood sugar and insulin spikes keeps a lot of diabetics constrained to bland, boring, unexciting diets.
But it looks you might be able to throw bland and boring out the window. Turns out, throwing a little cayenne pepper into your food might actually lower insulin spikes.
In a study by the University of Tasmania in Australia, researchers watched 36 healthy adults, all around 46 years old with a BMI of 26, and on a spice-free diet. To check their blood sugar levels, the researchers took blood samples from the participants and then fed them a meal consisting of a burger, bread, and a sugary drink -- all foods guaranteed to raise your insulin levels. Then the researchers took another blood sample (and sure enough, their insulin had risen).
A week later, the participants were brought back into the lab, given another blood test, and fed the exact same meal, only this time with some cayenne chili spices thrown in.
But this time, the blood samples showed a lower surge in their insulin levels. And when the researchers repeated the cycle, the results were the same.
(Your insulin level is important because an abnormally high insulin level might be symptomatic of insulin resistance, a problem in your body with controlling blood sugar. And this can lead to type 2 diabetes.)
The researchers weren't entirely sure what it was about the chili that caused lower insulin spikes after the meal. However they though that capsaicin (the chemical in chili that gives it that fiery kick) coupled with the antioxidants in chili could have something to do with it.
Of course, this doesn't mean that if you're diabetic you should go throw some pepper on a donut and expect to be okay. But what it does mean is that you may be able to spice up your diet a little bit and get some really good benefits out of it.
