November is Diabetes Month and this Wednesday the 14th is National Diabetes Awareness Day. It's though over 100 million Americans have either diabetes or pre diabetes. Around 9% of the population is afflicted with diabetes. Minnesotans as a whole are a little below the average with about 8% of the states population dealing with diabetes. One in four don't realize they have diabetes.

I found this interesting as far as foods. Here's a few that are not good for diabetes. White rice should be a no no. Studies show an 11% increase for each additional daily serving of white rice. It's recommended you go with brown or wild rice. Another food that surprised me was dehydrated fruit. I just assumed fruit would be good. However, the dehydrated fruit tends to make folks eat too much of it as it doesn't fill you up as quickly as fresh fruit.

Foods that are good for you include cinnamon. Never thought of that but I guess it helps to lower blood sugar.Tomatoes are a source of good nutrition and they are also slow in raising blood sugar. Kale, strawberries and walnuts are a few other foods that can benefit someone with diabetes.

One thing that I found interesting was a small sample study done in England a number of years ago. It tended to show that if you eat pasta, it might be best to let it cool and then reheat it like a leftover. Once it cools the starch changes and blood sugar levels don't rise as much if eaten reheated. Again this was a small study so hasn't gotten too much attention.

And of course in so many afflictions, get your regular exercise.

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