Diabetes is a serious medical condition that causes blood sugar levels to become too high. If you already have diabetes, you could benefit from adding more berries to your diet, according to This Morning‘s Dr Sara.
Diabetes is a common medical condition that’s been diagnosed in about five million people across the UK.
Type 2 diabetes is by far the most common, and it’s caused by the body not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the body not reacting to insulin.
Without enough insulin, the body struggles to convert sugar in the blood into useable energy.
Diabetes patients might have to make some diet or lifestyle changes to maintain normal blood sugar levels.
READ MORE: Diabetes type 2 symptoms: Three signs of blood sugar damage in feet
Dr Sara told Express Health: “Think about the types of fruit you’re eating and the volumes of fruit, because purely just knocking back the fruit without the vegetables aspect of things could certainly increase your sugar levels.
“I would usually recommend berries as a good fruit when it comes to blood sugar levels, because they don’t contain huge amounts of sugar.
“You can have a nice handful of them – so like a little fistful – and that would be an appropriate amount to have without worrying too much about your sugar intake.”
Patients should also consider eating more wholegrains, she added.
Wholegrains contain carbohydrates that take longer to break down.
That subsequently means it takes longer for the carbs to turn into sugars, which is ideal for diabetics.
Processed foods, meanwhile, have sugars already broken down.
When these enter the body, it means the sugar goes straight into the blood, causing rapid blood sugar spikes.