Diabetics - Eat Your Greens, Kale, Spinach, etc...

I'm up early and I just walked outside to check on my garden. I'm growing several different types of greens this year and they are all coming along nicely. In fact, I've been picking off the outer leaves for some time now. If you want to reverse diabetes naturally, then one food item that you should definitely eat lots of is greens. It is highly recommended that you eat as wide a variety of greens as possible: kale, spinach, mustard greens, collard greens, chard, dandelion greens, bok choy,  lambsquarter, etc... All greens are incredibly healthy, especially for anyone who has been diagnosed with diabetes or pre-diabetes. Greens are well known to reduce blood sugar naturally.

That's right... Popeye did not have diabetes!

Greens like kale and spinach are known to be the most nutrient dense foods on Earth and I do mean this literally. They contain a whole range of micronutrients (antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals). Greens, especially dark leafy greens, contain lots of chlorophyll which turns out to be very similar to hemoglobin in structure and thus can really help with anemia which is common health issue with diabetics. Eating dark leafy greens will ramp up your hemoglobin much faster than red meat in fact.

Eating lots of chlorophyll can help reverse diabetes in another way too. The atom at the center of the chlorophyll molecule is magnesium (in hemoglobin, the central atom is iron but otherwise chlorophyll and hemoglobin are almost identical). Magnesium is one of the main minerals that is known to help reverse diabetes. It lowers blood sugar naturally and helps insulin work more efficiently. However, taking magnesium supplements is not nearly as good as eating greens because of how much better the body absorbs the magnesium in greens versus the form of magnesium put in the pill form of mineral supplements.

Mother nature almost always wins in these contests anyway!

As a person who has reversed her diabetes and someone who plans to keep it that way, I have become a very picky shopper! I buy only ORGANIC greens. I have learned that organic produce has far more nutrients because they are grown in soil that contains far more nutrients. People just don't think about the importance of soil enough but most of the nutrients in vegetables come from the soil! These nutrients include ones that we are only beginning to understand the importance of. Of course, organic greens are also not covered with herbicides and pesticides. Therefore, washing the greens is not as critical -- a quick rinse is all you need -- you don't have to worry about reaching ever crevice where toxic herbicides may be hiding. Keep in mind that you can NEVER really wash off all the chemicals on conventionally grown greens so when you're standing there comparing the prices at the stores, keep this important point mind as well as the higher nutrient density in organic versus non-organic! You may pay a little more for organic but you are also getting "natural medicine" for your diabetes!! Also, I have found that organic just tastes way better!

My favorite green leafy vegetable to cook is dinosaur kale which is a dark green kale that is a bit more tender than green kale, blue green kale, and red kale and thus cooks very easily. Remember that reversing diabetes is made much easier by learning how to make delicious healthy foods using the basic ingredients known to help cure diabetes quickly. If you can prepare foods quick then you'll be more likely to make them. I savor the sweet flavor of dinosaur kale (it seems to be even a little sweeter in the fall and winter). Dinosaur kale is also called Lacinato kale and is actually an heirloom variety from Italy. It turns out that the nutrients in kale are more available to the body for absorption if it is lightly cooked by slightly steaming. You can achieve this in the skillet by putting in a bit of olive oil and then as the skillet gets hot dropping in just enough water to create steam. I usually do this about 3 times and the kale is cooked. Remember you don't want to over cook kale so when it turns bright green it is done. I like to add sea salt and a squeeze of fresh lemon. Some people also add garlic but I actually prefer it with just lemon even though I do love garlic in lots of other foods and also highly recommend you eat plenty of garlic too!

My favorite green to eat raw is baby spinach. I make all sorts of salads with baby spinach as it is so versatile. This is my "go to" salad when I'm really in a hurry and I want a super healthy meal that is also filling. I get out a big bowl and use the baby spinach as the bulk of the salad but I add lots of other things too like blue cheese, dried cherries, walnuts. For a dressing, I use apple cider vinegar and olive oil (one of my favorite versions) but then I've learned to make a really yummy and creamy cashew dressing which tastes great on baby spinach with lots of other veggies. I also sometimes throw in some berries like blueberries or whatever wild berry happens to be in season to add a bit of sweetness. I try to keep some cashew butter on hand so I don't have to deal with the blender.

Greens of all types have lots of natural fiber too which is also very important to reversing diabetes!

So, I would like to encourage you to start eating organic greens every day. I recommend big piles of organic greens in fact. While you are doing that, I also highly recommend you got to the top of this page and click on the red button. This will show you exactly all the foods and techniques that you can use to not just "control" your diabetes but actually reverse it for good. In other words, you can CURE diabetes if you have the right information. Here's the link here too: how to reverse diabetes naturally!