Controlling your blood sugar levels through eating healthfully is a key way to lowering the risk of diabetes, heart disease, vision loss, and cancer. It curbs strong hunger and unhealthy cravings and also promotes increased energy, satiety, and weight loss. The key to controlling blood sugar is eating meals with healthy fat, lean protein, and a slowly digested carbohydrate. Here are 9 superfoods for helping control blood sugar: 

1. Lentils and Beans (kidney, black, pinto, garbanzo): Lentils and beans are nutritionally unique. With high levels of fiber and resistant starch, they  are carbohydrates that pass through our digestive system without being broken down, thus reducing the number of calories that our body absorbs. Eating a diet high in these two foods provides your body with both protein and energy.

2. Leafy Greens (kale, broccoli, spinach): Dark leafy greens are foods that are rich in vitamins and minerals such as folate, a B vitamin key for metabolism. They contain a wide array of antioxidants and disease fighting compounds that are vital to our body.

3. Nuts and Seeds: Eating the correct portion of nuts and seeds, which roughly equates to about one handful a day, can help you lose weight by satiating your appetite. These foods stabilize blood sugar levels, improving cholesterol and reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease. While high in nutrients such as fiber, magnesium, vitamin B6, and potassium, nuts and seeds also provide protection against heart disease.

4. Onions: Adding onions to your diet supplies your body with soluble fiber and antioxidants that decrease inflammation and fight cancer. They assist in regulating blood sugar, decreasing bad cholesterol, and promoting intestinal functioning to maintain an optimal body weight.

5. Maitake Mushrooms: This type of Japanese mushroom contains antiviral, anticancer, and immune system strengthening effects that aids in controlling both high blood pressure and blood sugar levels.

6. Brewer’s Yeast: Considered to be a probiotic, brewer’s yeast is an ingredient used for the production of bread and beer. A rich source of protein, chromium, potassium, iron, zinc, magnesium, and B vitamins, this ingredient helps to maintain the proper functioning of the digestive tract all the while enhancing energy levels and strengthening the immune system.

7. Root Vegetables (orange flesh sweet potatoes, baby potatoes, sunchokes, jicama, carrots, beets, radishes): Root vegetables are filled with healthy fiber and slow digesting carbohydrates. As a great source of folate and Vitamin C, they help with iron absorption in the body and they increase our exercise stamina.

8. Okra: is a very low calorie vegetable that is an excellent source of dietary fiber, minerals, and vitamins. High in folate and Vitamins A, C, and K, Okra aids in controlling cholesterol and weight loss.

9. Cabbage: Eating cabbage is known to decrease the risk of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. It also promotes a healthy complexion, leads to increased energy, and helps to support a lower body weight.