Can I Eat Pumpkin With Diabetes?

When you suffer from diabetes , you need to constantly monitor your blood sugar levels, otherwise the disease worsens and this brings a number of other new health problems. Complications of diabetes lead to cardiovascular disease, damage to the nervous system, serious vision and kidney problems, predisposition to persistent skin infections. 

It is not easy to properly organize the menu of a diabetic and even more so to maintain the richness of the table, with more or less means. 
In any case, vegetables are a suitable food and when consumed in their season, we supply our body not only "fuel", "bricks", but also specific useful nutrients.

Now is pumpkin season . Is it a suitable food for diabetics? Certainly, yes. Because first, it is low in calories - 42 kcal per 100 g of cooked pumpkin; secondly, it is low in sugar and carbohydrates and at the same time, thirdly - it is an ideal source of beta-carotene , also popular as provitamin A (provides about 230% of its recommended daily dose!).
Pumpkin also contains vitamin C, calcium, iron and valuable fiber . 

If we dig a little deeper ...

Glycemic load is a system for classifying foods according to their carbohydrate content. This system shows not only the amount of carbohydrates per serving of a food, but also what effect it has on blood sugar levels after consumption. Foods with a glycemic load (GL) lower than 10 have minimal effect on blood sugar. 

The concept of glycemic index is better known in our country . The values ​​of this scale (0 - 100) show us what is the time for which carbohydrates are absorbed by the body and the rate of rise in blood sugar after food consumption. For diabetics suitable foods are foods with a low glycemic index. This means that carbohydrates are broken down slowly and a small amount of sugar is released into the blood for a long period of time. Foods with a high glycemic index - these are mostly products rich in sugar and white flour, cause a sharp rise in blood sugar.

However, the glycemic index is not as informative as the glycemic load because it does not provide information on the amount of carbohydrates. Pumpkin, for example, has a high glycemic index - 75, but a low glycemic load - 3. Which means that if we eat a portion of pumpkin slowly and with pleasure, it will not affect who knows how much our blood sugar levels. But if we overdo it, it will certainly happen. As with all other carbohydrate-containing foods, the key to controlling blood sugar is in the amount consumed.

And it's not just that!

The interesting thing about the effect of pumpkin from its consumption in diabetes is that its ingredients probably contribute to reducing the need for insulin, as it increases its synthesis naturally. In another study, it was found that the trigonelline and nicotinic acid in pumpkin (probably they) favor lowering blood sugar and have an antidiabetic effect. A third study found that the polysaccharides in pumpkin and the compound puerarin, derived from the plant Pueraria mirifica , which is used in traditional Thai medicine, helped improve blood sugar control and insulin sensitivity. However, these studies are at a preclinical level and yet they cannot be relied on much in terms of human health. 

How to eat pumpkin in diabetes?

Traditionally, Bulgarians consume roasted pumpkin, boiled in water or milk, make pumpkin ... That is, in most cases we serve it with a high content of sugar or refined flour, which is very unsuitable for a person with diabetes.

Roasted or boiled pumpkin without sugar is the appropriate option for consumption in this case. Pumpkin could also be made, provided that no sugar was added, the crusts were not much and were made from wholemeal flour. Pumpkin soups are also an option. Suitable recipes for pumpkin pie could also be found - their ingredients may include more protein and fat, such as protein flour, almond milk, nuts, nut oil, as well as chia and even a tablespoon of honey to slightly enrich the taste. .