7 Benefits of Plums For Diabetes And How to Consume
Diabetes is one type of disease that is often experienced by humans, for sufferers of this disease it is certainly highly recommended to consume foods that are low in sugar, low in calories but must be high in fiber content.
So eating fruits is the right choice for people with diabetes. But not all fruit can be eaten by people with this disease, one fruit that is highly recommended is plums which have important benefits for diabetics.
Know About Plums
Plums are fruits that have a round shape of medium size. This fruit has red skin and a slightly purple color, the flesh of this fruit is yellow. But some plums have green skin, both types of plums can be consumed for diabetics.
Plums are a type of fruit that comes from England, you can get the fruit from August to September. Because that month is the time when this plant bears fruit.
Important Content of Plums
As you know that plums contain a lot of nutrients and vitamins, but in this article, I will provide some important ingredients needed by diabetics for every 100 grams of plums.
- Carbohydrates 9.6 grams
- Fat 0.1 gram
- 0.6-gram protein
- Calories 39 Kcal
Some of the important content of plums that I just explained is the nutrients needed by diabetics without having to worry about increased blood sugar levels in the body, so plums can be an alternative to healthy food.
Benefits of Plums for Diabetics
For those of you who don't know that an important benefit that is mutually sought after from plums is their ability to control and maintain blood sugar levels in normal conditions. These advantages, of course, you can only get on plums.
In addition, diabetes is divided into two types, namely, Type 1 Diabetes and Type 2 Diabetes. Both types of diabetes can be reduced risk only by consuming plums, but the greatest effect is felt for people with type 2 diabetes.
Although it can maintain blood sugar levels in a normal and stable state, it turns out that plums have other benefits such as maintaining heart health, losing weight, and facilitating the digestive process. Some of these other benefits are very important for diabetics.
Why Plums Good For Diabetes?
For those of you who don't know it, maybe this question will come to your mind. According to health experts say that there are several reasons that you can get when consuming plums, and here are some explanations.
1. Low Sugar
Plums contain various types of fruit sugars such as glucose, fructose, and sucrose. Anyy sugar that enters the body will be processed faster and turn into energy, but it will be slower if accompanied by eating grains or nuts.
Plums have an average weight of only 78 grams with 7.4 grams of sugar. This figure is very low so it is very good for people with diabetes to consume.
2. Able to Lower Blood Sugar Levels
According to several studies by health experts in an article on the Healthline site, consuming plums regularly is very effective in lowering blood sugar levels in diabetics.
This happens because plums can increase the potential of the hormone Adiponectin which is a hormone that plays an active role in controlling blood sugar levels in the body. Thus, blood sugar levels will always be maintained in a stable state.
3. Low Fat And Calories
As I explained earlier, plums contain very low fat, calories, and carbohydrates. Even the fat content in plums is only about 0.1 grams for every 100 grams of plums you consume.
So when you consume 1 plum then you will only get 60 calories and 15 grams of carbohydrates. The content of calories and carbohydrates that much is certainly very safe if consumed for diabetics.
4. Contains Low Glycemic Index
As I just explained earlier that plums contain carbohydrates in the form of sugar as much as 13 grams in one fruit. However, plums have a very low glycemic index.
As you know, if the glycemic index in fruit is low, it reduces the risk of increasing blood sugar levels significantly. Besides being able to control blood sugar levels to keep them in normal condition, consuming fruits that have a low glycemic index is certainly very effective for losing weight and maintaining heart health.
5. Has High Fiber
Each fruit certainly has fiber content, although each fruit is different. In every 1 plum, on average, it contains 2 grams of fiber. This amount is quite high compared to other fruits that both contain fiber.
According to the results of research by health experts in the United States, the fiber content in plums can lower blood sugar levels and keep them in a normal state.
Why is that? Because the fiber in plums can slow the absorption of carbohydrates after you eat. This is certainly a good condition because blood sugar levels will increase gradually and even don't experience an increase in sugar levels.
How to Consume Plums for Diabetics
Plums do have important benefits for diabetics, but what you need to know is that consuming plums, especially for diabetics, is not arbitrary. And here are some ways to consume plums for diabetics.
- Consuming plums for diabetics must be in the right portion, which is between 44-87 grams or the equivalent of 1 fruit per day, and should not exceed that number.
- For diabetics, you can consume plums directly or cooked, when cooking plums you can add yogurt or oat porridge, or you can also slice plums as a salad.
- You need to make sure that there is no history of allergies to plums, if you eat plums for the first time then you can consume a little then wait for 1 hour, if there is no itching then you can continue eating the fruit
- You can also consume dried plums, although the nutritional content is also different compared to fresh plums. Because the content of dried plums contains very low calories and carbohydrates.
- Choose ripe plums with the characteristics of the fruit being quite heavy and the outer skin a little hard. Do not choose plums that are too soft, because it could be that the fruit is too ripe, plums that are too ripe have a not-so-good taste.
- You need to know when you just consume plums it is highly recommended not to consume foods that contain sugar and carbohydrates.
Those are some of the benefits of plums for diabetics that you need to know. Hopefully, this article can help you in keeping your blood sugar levels in a normal state. Regards