Health and Fitness Care with Herbalife

Fiber is one of the diabetic best friends. Fiber can help lower blood sugar levels, blood cholesterol levels, and weight, as well as help you feel full with fewer calories and fewer carbs. Here are five things every diabetic needs to know about fiber.

Food labels list fiber as part of total carbohydrate but the carbohydrates in fiber are not digestible. They do not raise blood sugars, and it’s OK to subtract grams of fiber from total grams of carbohydrate if you are counting carbs. Diabetics still need to count non-fiber carbohydrates against their totals for each meal and each day.Fiber fills your stomach and slows the release of digested food from your stomach into your intestine. This slows down the release of sugars into your bloodstream so that the pancreas has more time to make insulin to keep blood glucose levels low.

Soluble fiber, found in fruits, vegetables, and oat bran, keeps you feeling full but not bloated or gassy. Soluble fiber, unlike the fiber found in wheat bran, does not cause heartburn.Also, because it keeps you feeling full  and maintain a healthy weight. And, as an added bonus:.Dozens of studies confirm that eating fiber lowers cholesterol. This is because fiber catches excess cholesterol released by your liver and keeps it from re-entering your body.Diabetics, both type 1 and type 2, should eat at least 20-35 grams of fiber each day, and preferably more. Most diabetics eat less than half that amount, and diabetics who follow high-protein meat-based diets may get almost no fiber at all. The average person should eat between 20-35 grams of fiber each day. Most Americans eat about half that amount.

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