foods for diabetes

Work a half teaspoon of cinnamon into your daily diet, aim for 40 grams of fiber a day, and try cooking with flavorful herbs like fenugreek and turmeric.

Get on the stick: Cinnamon should be in the pantry of anyone living with type 2 diabetes.

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—It's believed that at least 7 percent of the population lives with the mostly preventable disease type 2 diabetes, a condition that opens the door for a number of life-threatening ailments like stroke, high blood pressure, and heart disease. The good news is there are very effective, natural ways to control the disease and live a healthy life, and a key to doing that lies in healing food fixes and natural supplements.

THE DETAILS: Current alternative and complimentary therapies for diabetes management weren't always considered alternative. Some remedies have been used for blood sugar control since ancient times. And utilizing plants and minerals seems to be coming back into fashion. This month a review published in the journal Clinical Diabetes evaluated several dietary supplements for diabetes, and at the end of last year, another article published in the journal Alternative and Complimentary Therapies analyzed nonpharmaceutical therapies and ranked them for effectiveness, based on previous studies. Alpha-lipoic acid was the only alt therapy to fall under the "strong scientific evidence" category, according to the article, but several other natural interventions show promise, too.

WHAT IT MEANS: If you're living with type 2 diabetes, there's a good chance that less-than-ideal food choices had something to do with your developing the disease. But don't put the blame squarely on your own shoulders—the food industry and a broken food system make it easier to overeat than to not. Poor food choices may have wreaked havoc on your blood sugar levels, but good choices from here on out can help you return to good health.

Here are some options for using your diet to help manage diabetes: