Diabetes Raw Food Diet

According to the medical website Medline Plus, diabetes requires dietary modifications to control the body's level of blood sugar, as the disease renders the body unable to regulate blood sugar normally. While a diabetic diet can be seen as somewhat restrictive, optimists can view it as a catalyst for innovating---searching for new and interesting dietary approaches to keep the disease in check while staying healthy. One possibility for the curious diabetic dieter is a raw food diet.

Diabetic Dieting Rules

• According to Medline Plus, diabetic dieting focuses on carbohydrate restrictions to effect a positive change in blood sugar levels, as carbohydrates are the macronutrient most able to trigger large swings in blood sugar. Therefore, the crux of a diabetic diet is limiting carbohydrate consumption to regular, small amounts of slow-digesting carbs (which tend to affect blood sugar less). This steady influx of slow-burning carbs keeps blood sugar at a constant level throughout the day, avoiding the primary pitfall of diabetes. The slowest-burning carbs include grains, fruits and vegetables, while the carbs to avoid include white flour, processed foods and sugars.

Raw Dieting

• A raw food diet consists of limiting your overall food consumption to raw, natural items---grown organically where possible. This style of dieting encourages copious amounts of fruit and vegetable consumption while eliminating foods that require preparation, such as meats, breads, pastas and the like. Foods permitted in a raw food diet include fruits and vegetables, but they also include nuts, seeds, and nut butters (such as natural peanut or coconut butter). Some raw food dieters also consume raw eggs, but as this might lead to health problems you will have to decide on your own whether to take this risk. A raw food diet works well in tandem with a diabetic diet because it naturally limits your sources of carbohydrates to those slow-digesting items that are already permitted on the diabetic plan. According to the raw food dieting site TheBestofRawFood.com, one sample meal on a raw food diet would be coconut milk, avocado and carrot soup, and a shot of wheatgrass.