people with diabetes who eat more high-fiber grains, vegetables, and fruit can better their blood sugar and possibly avoid the need for additional diabetes medicine.
During the study, 13 patients with type 2 diabetes spent six weeks eating 24 grams of fiber a day (nutritionists generally recommend 20 35 grams per day). They then upped their intake of fiber to 50 grams for the next six weeks. (Among the foods added to their diets were papaya, oranges, grapefruit, sweet potatoes, raisins, granola, oat bran, and oatmeal; unlike subjects in similar studies, they didn’t take any fiber supplements.) Not only did the patients see striking improvement in their blood sugar levels, they found their cholesterol levels improved as well.
Endorsing the study’s findings was the Joslin Diabetes Center, a leading diabetes research institution. Joslin recommends diabetics consume a minimum of 20 to 35 grams of fiber a day. Joslin officials cautioned, however, that diabetics should add
