Sunflower Seeds Prevent Diabetes
Are you tired of sugar-free candies, low-carb pasta, and endless chicken dinners? Having diabetes doesn't mean your diet has to be boring. In fact, it should be the opposite. Variety tempts your palate and ensures you consume a healthy balance of vitamins, nutrients, and antioxidants.
There's no standard diet for diabetes and it varies from person to person. Therefore, a personalized diet should be created based on the advice of a dietitian. However, the general recommendations for daily calorie intake are as follows:
- 25-35 percent of daily calories should come from fat. Unsaturated fats are the healthiest types of fat.
- Carbohydrates should provide 45-65 percent of daily calories.
- Protein should provide 12-20 percent of daily calories.
- Fiber-rich foods contain fewer calories. They are good for digestive problems like constipation, have a low glycemic index, help control blood sugar, facilitate weight loss, and reduce the risk of diabetes. Therefore, you can consume fiber-rich foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and sunflower seed products.
Why Sunflower Seeds?
Sunflower seeds are a light snack rich in fiber, packed with important vitamins and minerals. The nutritional components that make sunflower seeds unique include their rich fiber and polyunsaturated fat, copper, vitamin E, selenium, magnesium, and mercury. A 28-gram serving of sunflower seeds contains approximately 4 grams of fiber and 6 grams of protein.
The best part is that while sunflower seeds are high in total fat, they also contain polyunsaturated fat, which researchers say is the best type of fat for combating diabetes. The presence and combination of such beneficial nutrients for diabetes are rarely found in common foods.
Nesrin Eriş, Founder of Optimum Life Quality, Ph.D.
