Posted on October 13, 2009 in Diabetic Diet
We are aware of the benefits of the fruit apple. The adage ” An apple a day keeps the doctor away ” encapsulates the nutritional richness of this fruit. Research shows that the fruit is one among the few selected fruits recommended even for diabetics. This article tries to gain further insight.
How Apple is beneficial to a Diabetic: Doctors recommend the diabetic patients to take food items low in carbohydrates. It is because the carbohydrates are mostly responsible of the rise of the glucose level in the body. Rise in glucose levels cause the consumption of insulin to rise in order to bring the blood sugar level back to normalcy.
The carbohydrate nutrient’s presence and its effect on the body is measured by a term called the Glycemic Index. The amount of the food item taken while measuring the Glycemic Index, is always 50gms. Lower the Glycemic Index of a food item, higher will be the benefits of it for a diabetic patient. It is relatively easy to find vegetables with low GI. Fruits with low GI are less in number. Apple is one such fruit with a low Glycemic Index Rating of 38.
Another term similar to the GI is the Glycemic Load. This factor also provides an idea of how the blood sugar level raises on taking a food item. But here the amount of food item taken is not constant (like 50 gms standard, while measuring GI).
Knowledge Gained from Research about the Apple fruit:
- The pulp of this fruit contains a component called pectin.
- The pectin is known as a natural healing agent, and is beneficial to the diabetics.
- Research has found that the pectin percentage in apple fruit is 1-1.5%.
- The Glycemic Load when 120 gms of apple is consumed, is found to be only 6.
- Because of low carbohydrate producing elements, the apple reduces the requirements of insulin in the body by 35%.
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