When living conditions improve but healthy habits cannot keep up, some diseases of affluence will increase. Diabetes is now a very common “disease of affluence” and has a lot to do with the standard of living.
Over a hundred years ago, people with high blood sugar were mainly the nobility who ate rich foods every day with excessive fat intake, leading to slow blood sugar metabolism. Nowadays, people can afford to eat meat, but their level of physical activity has decreased, causing blood sugar levels to rise.
High blood sugar is becoming increasingly common for a reason. High blood sugar comes from what we eat; when maintaining stable blood sugar, people naturally think of bitter melon.
Bitter melon is very suitable for people with diabetes because it contains bitter melon saponins, which can stimulate insulin secretion in the body, effectively maintaining blood sugar levels. Therefore, many people call bitter melon “natural insulin.” Summer is the season to eat bitter melon, as it helps cool down, reduce heat, and has benefits for skin beauty.
In terms of activating insulin vitality, bitter melon is not the most outstanding, but rather black buckwheat, which is more effective than bitter melon. Black buckwheat is a type of buckwheat that grows in cold areas, making it relatively rare and more expensive than regular buckwheat. Due to this, black buckwheat also has high nutritional value among buckwheat varieties.
Black buckwheat is known as the “king of grains” with a rich content of nutrients. It is abundant in essential amino acids, fatty acids, and other substances needed by the body, enhancing the body’s immune system and the ability to resist bacterial infections in people with high blood sugar, reducing the risk of infection. The selenium element and substances like rutin in it also help maintain stable blood sugar levels.
Notably, black buckwheat is rich in vitamin P, which can prevent the oxidation of vitamin C and enhance vascular capabilities for maintaining vascular elasticity. These effects make black buckwheat’s health value significantly higher than bitter melon, especially in terms of maintaining stable blood sugar.
Black buckwheat is not a health supplement or medicine but a regular food item with various consumption methods and almost no side effects. Simply drinking it infused in water daily or cooking it with rice can yield very good results, lowering the glycemic index of the rice.
When it comes to maintaining stable blood sugar, many middle-aged and elderly individuals only think about avoiding desserts but overlook the impact of carbohydrates and glycemic index on blood sugar levels. Desserts, being sweet, are less deceptive, while foods that are not sweet-tasting like rice are easily overlooked, despite being among the culprits.
Rice, as a staple food, is essential on the Chinese dining table. Despite not tasting sweet, its glycemic index is quite high. Among staple foods, white rice has a glycemic index as high as 84, second only to bread and steamed buns. So, the choice of staple food is crucial in maintaining stable blood sugar.
The inclusion of black buckwheat has greatly relieved individuals with high blood sugar from the need to control rice consumption. With the addition of black buckwheat, the glycemic index of rice decreases. Moreover, the presence of dietary fiber and other nutrients in black buckwheat makes it difficult for the carbohydrates in rice to cause blood sugar spikes.
Aside from black buckwheat, substances like plantain and Chinese knotweed have better blood sugar-lowering effects than bitter melon, but their only downside is that they have certain side effects and should be used cautiously, not consumed daily.
High blood sugar should be stabilized as early as possible, and there are various ways to do so. Consuming bitter melon or infusing it in water is one way. Black buckwheat is also a good option; consistently drinking water infused with black buckwheat can help maintain stable blood sugar levels.
