Why people suffering from diabetes should have green tea
Green tea is an excellent beverage for diabetes patient
Life of a diabetic patient is all about managing their blood sugar level. It is important to watch what they eat and drink to manage the symptoms of diabetes and live a healthy life. The foods they eat should be generally low in calories (and should be low carb), but when it comes to drinks it should contain either zero or very few calories.
A beverage that fits perfectly to this criteria is green tea. Unsweetened, low in calories and packed with antioxidants, polyphenols and flavonoids, green tea is an absolutely healthy beverage and has been backed even by science for their effectiveness in managing the symptoms of diabetes.
Why a diabetic should switch to green tea?
Several
studies have been conducted to understand the effect of green tea on
people suffering from type 2 diabetes and you will be surprised to know
that most of them showed a positive result.
It has been witnessed that green tea, can reduce the risk of developing diabetes and can even help to control the blood sugar level. As per a study carried on the Japanese population, people who drank six or more cups of green tea in a day were 33 per cent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes as compared to others. But the benefits of drinking green tea is not only limited to this. According to another study, this beverage can keep your blood sugar level in check and prevents the symptoms from aggravating.
How does it control the blood glucose level?
Regular
intake of green tea decreases fasting glucose levels and fasting
insulin levels, which are the two basic parameters used to measure
diabetic health. The benefits of green tea are majorly due to the
antioxidant activity of polyphenols and polysaccharides. These two
antioxidants are also effective in managing the blood pressure level and
lowering the bad cholesterol level in the body.
How much green tea you can have in a day
Green tea is healthy and is not known to have any side-effect on patients suffering from diabetes. But you need to be careful about your intake as it does contain a small amount of caffeine. You can have green tea 2-3 times a day.
How to have green tea to reap maximum benefits
For
maximum health benefits do not add sugar to your drink. Unsweetened
green tea is more healthy. To make it taste better you may add some
lemon juice or mint leaves.
Do not steep green tea for more than 2-3 minutes else your drink will taste bitter. Besides, choose loose green tea leaves over tea bags to gain maximum health benefits.