what is the best vegetable for people living with diabetes I wanted to find out for myself so I bought 20 most popular veggies and during the last 20 days I ate every single one of them 1 hour after eating each of these vegetables I tested my blood sugar to see how much it spiked and I think we got the winner it's right here so here is what we're going to do we will divide the 20 most popular vegetables in three bowls green bowl with vegetables causing only a mild blood sugar Spike AKA blood sugar friendly
vegetables yellow bowl with vegetables causing a moderate blood sugar Spike AKA okay vegetables and Red Bowl with vegetables that can cause a steep blood sugar Spike by the way throughout this video I will be sharing several of my favorite veggie recipes so make sure to watch all the way to the end keep in mind I'm not a doctor I'm not a nutritionist I just lived with diabetes for 35 years and I have a real life experience with this condition let's start with one of the most popular vegetables there is bell peppers bell peppers are a
great source of vitamin C and vitamin A but let's see what they do to our blood sugar a general rule of thump is the more carbs you see the bigger blood sugar Spike you will get a cup of diced bell peppers has eight carbs that's a decent amount but out of these eight gam of carbs 2 G is fiber now fiber is great for us because unlike the other carbs our body cannot digest it and that's why it doesn't cause blood sugar to spike so when we want to know how much certain food will impact
our blood sugar we need to deduct fiber from the carbs when I did that for my cup of diced bell peppers I realized it has only about six net carbs after deducting the fiber that's not too bad but the next important thing we need to look at is the glycemic index or GI of bell peppers a typical bell pepper has a GI of around 30 which is also pretty good now when I ate a cup of bell peppers I did see my blood sugar spiking but the blood sugar Spike was not dramatic it was not
that bad and that's why I put bell peppers in the yellow bowl for all vegetables in the yellow Bowl I know I can eat a moderate portion like one bell pepper without being too worried about my blood sugars now one important thing to note is that I'm an insulin dependent type 1 diabetic so I typically take a premal insulin dose whenever I eat more than five net carbs even if it's just a bell pepper next up is broccoli I absolutely love broccoli because this veggie is loaded with antioxidants fiber and vitamin C it's very beneficial
for Eye Health heart health and general disease prevention but let's see what broccoli does to our blood sugar shall we a cup of broccoli has only six carbs and when we deduct 3 G of fiber we'll get to only three net carbs for me any veggie that has less than five net carbs per portion is a great choice and broccoli definitely meets this criteria but the next important thing to look at is the glycemic index of broccoli the American Diabetes Association recommends eating primarily foods with GI of less than 55 for me less than 55
is okay but less than 40 is better especially when it comes to vegetables raw broccoli has a GI of 15 that's amazing but we have to keep in mind that whenever we steam boil or roast pretty much any vegetables the glycemic index will go up cooked broccoli can have a GI of around 40 now during my blood test I noticed that cooked broccoli will Spike my blood sugar faster than raw broccoli but take a look at this even when I ate a cup of bold broccoli I did see my blood sugar spiking only very little
and this why I put broccoli in the green bowl by the way for all vegetables in the green Bowl I'm personally not concerned with the portion sizes at all I will simply eat as much as I want most of the time I don't even need to take any insulin because they have very little carbs moving on to probably the most popular vegetable of them all potatoes potatoes are often considered as a healthy and nutritious food because they are rich in potassium and vitamin C for example but a cup of rusted potatoes which is the most
popular type has 26 carbs and only 2 G of fiber so 24 net carbs that's a lot and the glycemic index of rasted potato is 80 that's very high when I ate a portion of boiled rusted potatoes my blood sugar spiked to well over 200 in only 30 minutes although I took my insulin with it and that's why I put potatoes in the Red Bowl but please don't get me wrong I'm not saying that you should never eat potatoes again what I am saying and that goes for all vegetables in the Red Bowl is consider
smaller portion sizes and combine the potatoes with green bow vegetables this will add fiber and slow down that blood sugar Spike now another thing you can do to avoid massive blood sugar spikes from potatoes is choosing other kinds of potatoes with lower glycemic index sweet potatoes for example have gi of around 50 Charisma potatoes have gi of 53 these are values that are well within the Ada recommendation of less than 55 although it's not ideal you can see in this graft that both sweet potatoes and Charisma potatoes raised my blood sugar much slower and a
bit less than regular potatoes especially Charisma potatoes are very good another thing that can help a little bit is not peeling the potatoes and leaving the skin on because the skin has about a half of the potatoes fiber content and as I already mentioned fiber always helps to slow down that blood sugar Spike but there is another trick you can do to slow down that blood sugar Spike and that's preparing the potatoes the right way you definitely don't want to roast them in the oven because roasting increases the glycemic index of the potatoes even more
than boiling you want to boil the potatoes and once they are done put them in the fridge and cool them down the cooling process will create resistant starch which your body cannot break down into glucose easily and even if you reheat those potatoes later on they will still not raise your blood sugar as fast as the normal boiled potatoes but my absolute favorite way to eat cold potatoes is to make a potato salad by adding some greens olive oil dis mustard and vinegar look at this the potato salad I made raised my blood sugar much
less than the same amount of regular potato that's really fascinating isn't it see I spent years studying all these little things that impact my blood sugar and I want to share all my knowledge with you on this channel but if you are looking for more structured more personalized and more effective ways of learning I have something special for you I'm in the process of creating an exclusive coaching program the blood sugar Academy this program will help you live your life the way you want while consistently achieving balanced blood sugar and lower hba1c so if you
want to learn more about this program click on the link below and register your interest I will make sure to reach out once the program is launched next up are onions now I don't know anyone who doesn't use onion for cooking except for my brother-in-law who is allergic to them but anyway I personally love using onions because they add rich flavor to my dishes but a cup of chopped onion has about 15 carbs and even after deducting Three G of fiber we get to 12 net carbs that's quite a lot for a veggie but we
also need to look at the the glycemic index to have the full picture the GI of raw onions is 15 that's pretty good but when you cook the onion the GI might raise to around 40 and that's sort of borderline while still within the Ada recommendation of less than 55 but when I tested my blood sugar after eating one roasted onion I could see a gradual but relatively small spike in my blood sugar it lasted for about an hour and therefore I put onions in the yellow Bowl but to be honest I don't worry too
much about adding onions to my meals because typically I just add one or two onions in the whole dish so the amount per portion and the impact on my blood sugar is very minimal next popular veggie we're going to talk about our cucumbers what I love about cucumbers is that while they are crisp and refreshing they're 96% water so they help hydrate your body and they also benefit your skin digestion and overall Wellness a cup of raw sliced cucumbers has four carbs and after deducting 1 gram of fiber we get to 3 G of net
carbs that's excellent the glyc index is 15 that's also extremely low so we're probably looking at a very blood sugar friendly food here when I tested my blood sugar after eating a whole cucumber the blood sugar Spike was hardly noticeable but my belly was full therefore cucumbers go in the green bowl without a doubt you can eat as much as you'd like without worrying about your blood sugar now cucumbers are the most blood sugar friendly vegetabl we've had on the list so far but if they are too plain for you don't worry about it and
make tatii shred cucumber in a Bowl add a pinch of salt let it stand for a few minutes and then drain it and get rid of most of the water then add Greek yogurt garlic fresh d a splash of olive oil mix everything together and voila you're looking at an extremely healthy and blood sugar friendly side dish or snack I love eating tatii they are so refreshing but let's move on to another Super popular vegetable Tomatoes now I know botanically speaking Tomatoes just like peppers are considered a fruit but most people think about them as
veggies especially in the culinary context and that's why I included them in this video we're talking about eating them not planting them okay a cup of plum tomatoes usually has around seven carbs of which two are fiber so we're looking at promising five net carbs but from my experience most people prefer cherry tomatoes which are typically sweeter and can have about eight net carbs the next important thing to look at is the glycemic index because the higher the GI is the faster Tomatoes will spike your blood sugar now please be aware that the GI can
differ depending on many factors such as the source of information the ripness and the preparation method now the glycemic index of tomatoes usually Falls between 20 and 30 and that's very good the sweeter the tomatoes are the higher GI they will probably have but the less sweet they are the lower the GI will be during my testing I also found out that the more ripe and the more processed the tomatoes are the faster they will Spike my blood sugar look at this a coule of raw Tomatoes raised my blood sugar very mildly but a cup
of roasted sweet cherry tomatoes Spike my blood sugar quite a bit more although I took my insulin with it the difference is clearly noticeable and that's why I decided to put tomatoes in the yellow Bowl they are not as blood sugar friendly as cucumbers but they don't Spike my blood sugar as much as potatoes for example now I don't shy away from eating tomatoes I actually have them quite often but I always count or estimate carbs and take the right dose insulin with it as needed here is another favorite veggie dish of my Pico Deo
there's a lot of tomatoes going into this one you just cut fresh tomatoes onion Sano peppers and lots of cilantro in small pieces add lime juice and salt mix everything together and it's done this salad goes very well with barbecue but you can also mix it with cooked kinoa beans corn or avocado and creates so many healthy meal variations now let's turn our attention to lettuce particularly Roma and Iceberg varieties which are the wildely popular ones with the the mere 1 G of carbs and a half gram of fiber per cup these leafy greams are
exceptionally low in the net carbs making them a staple in every Green Bowl glycemic index is only 15 which further adds to their blood sugar friendly profile normally I add lettuce to various salad bowls but during my testing I ate lettuce on its own a few times to see if it would spike my blood sugar but it never did therefore I put lettuce in the green bowl without a doubt I simply eat as much as I feel like eating and I don't worry about taking any insulin or worrying about my blood sugar but there are
even better leafy greens than lettuce and I will talk more about them a little bit later in this video now let's dive into one of the most widely used vegetables carrots while carrots offer a vibrant Crunch and are rich in nutrients it's essential to be mindful of their impact on blood sugar here is a rule of thumb that I learned during my research veggies that are yellow orange or red typically have a moderate to high carb content on the other hand veggies that are green typically have a very low carb content and they are higher
in fiber and that's what I want 99% of the time less carbs more fiber carrot is no exception with 12 total carbs 4 G of fiber and eight net carbs per cup carrots are relatively Carby vegetable but the glycemic index of carrots is not too bad between 15 and 40 depending on the preparation method depending on if you cooked them or not remember cooking increases the GI now let me show you what my blood sugar did when I ate carrots during my testing one Raw carrot raised my blood sugar only very slightly but when I
blanched the carrots roasted them in the oven and ate three of them my blood sugar spiked close to 180 within 1 hour after eating them so similar to other car vegetables eating a moderate amount of carrots is probably a good idea and also taking the right dose of insulin if you're insulin dependent diabetic next up are green beans with 7 G of carbs 3 and 1/2 G of fiber and 3.5 net C carbs per cup they are a fairly low carb option even if you cook green beans they maintain a low glycemic index of 30
promising a glucose friendly profile when I ate a cup of boiled green beans during my testing I did see my blood sugar spiking only gently and that's why I put green beans in the green Bowl these crunchy bad boys are one of my go-to options as a side dish whenever I see them on the menu but now it's time to talk about another popular side dish which is often considered a veggie corn and more specifically sweet corn now you might say that corn is a grain or a fruit but again this is not really the
point of this video most people see corn as a vegetable and that's why I includeed here on this list but while corn adds a sweet crunch to many dishes it's essential to be mindful of its impact only your blood sugar because a cup of sweet corn contains 27 carbs and didactic 3 G of fiber gets us to 24 net carbs which is a lot now sweet corn has a glycemic index of 52 which is within the Ada recommendation of less than 55 but in combination with the high carb content is definitely more than I would
like to see during my test I could clearly see that corn spikes my blood sugar quite a lot and quite fast after eating a bowl of corn my blood sugar spiked to about 200 although I took my insulin with it and that's why I decided to place sweet corn in the Red Bowl you don't have to stay away from it completely but you might want to consider going for a smaller portion size or combine the corn with some leafy greens or other low G vegetables in a nice salad also if you are an insulin dependent
diabetic like me injecting the premeal dose 15 to 20 minutes before eating corn makes a difference and makes the blood sugar Spike less this method is called pre- bolusing and I find it working really well with any vegetables or any other food from the Red Bowl now having said all this I'm still a firm believer that sweet corn is a much better option than some other side dishes like white rice pasta a white bread things like that because those will spike your blood sugar much more and much faster than a bowl of sweet corn moving
on to another of my favorite vegetables garlic this flavor Powerhouse contains vitamin C vitamin B6 selenium manganese and other beneficial compounds but how will garlic impacts your blood sugar well one glove of garlic has about 1 gram of carbs that's really good because typically we only add a few gloves in the whole dish right a few carbs should not impact your blood sugar too much the average glycemic index of GB looks promising too it varies from 10 to 30 depending on the source which means that garlic probably won't spike your blood sugar very fast if
at all but see that's the issue I have with the glycemic index in general how can it be between 10 and 30 unfortunately there is almost never a precise number there are many sources with different information there is different preparation methods all that impacts the GI of every food you eat but don't worry the GI information I provide here in this video is is coming from my most trusted sources and is backed up by my real life experience with those Foods when I tested garlic I found out that I can enhance the taste of many
of my dishes without causing any notable spike in my blood sugar and that's why I've decided to place it in the green Bowl now let's explore another popular veggie Peas the main reason why I really like peas is that they offer this burst of sweetness which I can add to my meal without adding any processed foods or any sugar a cup of green peas contains 21 carbs and when we deduct 7 G of fiber we get to 14 net carbs that's actually more than I expected to be quite honest now the glycemic index of piece
varies between 22 and 50 depending on how you prepare it now I don't need my piece to be warm so I usually just unfreeze it in a bowl of water and drain it that way I can keep the GI on the low end and after eating a cup of pece I could see my blood sugar spiking but it was nothing dramatic it didn't get above 140 so PS were definitely better for my blood sugar than sweet corn but not as good as broccoli for example therefore peas are going into yellow Bowl feel free to add
them to your plate but keep in mind they might raise your blood sugar quite a bit if you overdo it next up a vegetable that's often considered a culinary delight asparagus with only five carbs per cup asparagus definitely is a low carb option and after deducting 2 G of fiber we get to a mere three net carbs per cup that's really good but what about the glycemic index well asparagus again has a GI of 15 which is very low making it looking like a very blood sugar friendly option at the first sight during my testing
a cup of asparagus didn't Spike my blood sugar very much it actually behaves similarly to things like broccoli or green beans and therefore it's safe to say that asparagus belongs in the green Bowl you can indulge in this tasty Delight without worrying too much about your blood sugar and carb counting now let's talk about another popular vegetable this one is also known for its ability to improve your sex life celery with only three carbs per cup celery is an excellent low carb option after deducting 1 and A2 gram of fiber we end up with just
1.5 net carbs that's amazing celery also has a glycemic index of 15 just like the asparagus we talked about before making it an excellent blood sugar friendly option during my testing I found that even two cups of fresh celery sticks hardly spiked my blood sugar at all and I was really happy to see that so it's probably no surprise that celery falls into the green Bowl you can't go wrong with celery my favorite way to eat celery is to cut it into juicy sticks and eat it with a bowl of hummus that's a very balanced
blood sugar friendly snack moving on to a full favorite pumpkin a cup of pumpkin contains 15 carbs deducting 3 G of fiber gets us to 12 net carves and that's quite a lot plus the glycemic index of cooked pumpkin of 75 way above the Ada recommendation of less than 55 and my sweet spot was less than 50 indicates that this might not be the most blood sugar f vegetable da is during my testing I really enjoyed the rich flavor but after consuming a bowl of roasted pumpkin my blood sugar spiked quite sharply to above 200
and therefore I put pumpkin in the Red Bowl if you're a fan of pumpkin consider smaller portion sizes and balancing it with some other low GI Foods next up is one of my favorites zucchini I love this one because you can add zucchini to almost any meal and make it healthier now unfortunately they are not as nutritious as pumpkins but are they maybe more blood sugar friendly let's see with 3 and2 carbs and 1 G of fiber per cup or 2.5 net carbs per cup zucchini are definitely a very low carb option glycemic index again
is 15 which indicates they really might be blood sugar friendly during my testing tuccini didn't cause any notable spike in my blood sugar and that's why I'm placing them in the green Bowl you can freely incorporate them in your meals without worrying about your blood sugar by the way one of my favorite meals are these zucchini meatballs made from chicken breast Steel cut oats eggs lots of spices and herbs and a touch of Parmesan cheese I will link a video with the whole recipe in the description below in case you want to make this meal
but now shifting our Focus to another popular vegetable cauliflower with five carbs and 2 G of fiber cauliflower is another low carb option after deducting the fiber we end up with only three net carbs per cup that's very good the glycemic index of 15 also looks very promising in my testing both raw and boil cauliflower did very similar to br when I ate a cup of boiled cauliflower I did see my blood spiking very little raw cauliflower was even more blood sugar friendly than the cooked one and that's why I put cauliflower in the green
Bowl whenever I eat cauliflower I'm not concerned about my blood sugar and counting carbs too much I simply eat as much as I want now let's explore another squash variety butternut squash boiled butternut squash has 22 carbs per cup and even after deducting a solid 7 G of fiber we land at 15 net carbs per cup this is a higher carb V egie for sure but the glycemic index of butternut squash is 51 which is within the Ada recommendation of less than 55 now during my testing I experienced a notable spike in my blood sugar
after consuming a portion of squash and that's why I'm placing it in the Red Bowl if you enjoy butternut squash consider eating it in moderation and if you are insulin dependent like me make sure to count those carbs and prebolus as needed moving on to another popular veggie cabbage both white and red cabbage have very similar characteristics four carbs and 2 G of fiber per cup gets us to two net carbs so cabbage is a viable low carb option the glycemic index of raw cabbage is 15 indicating that this might also be a blood sugar
friendly option when I tested cabbage I didn't notice any impact on my blood glucose at all after eating a cup of both raw and cooked cabbage my blood sugar stayed flat and that's why I'm placing it in the green balll for sure I was surprised that I didn't see a different impact in my blood sugar test after cooking the Cabbage now if you really like cabbage you might want to consider sourkrauts too the fermented version of cabbage just like plain cabbage is extremely blood sugar friendly plus it provides even more nutrients and health benefits now
let's talk about another two very popular leafy greens spinach and kale both spinach and kale contain about 1 gram of carbs and less than half a gram of net carbs per cup that's practically zero making it an exceptional great low option the glycemic index is 15 it could not get better than this during my testing these leafy greens did literally nothing with my blood sugar no matter how much I ate my blood sugar didn't move up even after eating a huge bowl of spinach so if you like them you should definitely incorporate these leafy greens
into your salads into your soup stews wherever you can and wherever you want you will make your blood sugar and your body very happy when you do that now before I tell you what is the absolute favorite vegetable of mine I want to tell you how you can connect with me the easiest way to do that is my patreon where you can message me directly and watch bonus content I do respond to every question for my patrons and that's why places in my patreon group must be limited check out the link below and sign up
while there are still some spots available I also do a few sessions of one-on-one coaching per week so if you want to chat there is another Link in the video description where you can book time with me so what's the verdict what is the best vegetable for diabetes according to Tom we have many many of them in the green Bowl right now but which one is best now this will be a little subjective because I think it's important that the best vegetable is in the green Bowl but it might be even more important that you
enjoy eating it and that you actually will eat it because you like it for me the absolute winner is spinach my mom used to make it for me all the time when I was a kid I love it whenever I see it on the menu in restaurant I order a spinach because it's a side dish full of nutrients it's so much better than any rice pasta or whatever else they might have now we talked about a lot of vegetables in this video but if you live with diabetes it's really important to not only understand how
vegetables impact your blood sugar but also how fruits impact your blood sugar because fruits can impact your blood sugar and raise it even more so click this video and watch it next to find out what the best fruit for diabetes is I will see you there ciao
