Diabetes Health Talk

Like going a couple of rounds with Tyson, high blood sugar can do a number on your vital organs. But eating this may give it a one-two punch right back: broccoli.

The tasty green florets are ripped with sulforaphane, a compound that seems to help keep high blood sugar goons on their best behavior, so they do less damage.

Pass the Antioxidants, Please
When your blood sugar is chronically high, it can damage the cells of your heart, eyes, kidneys, and nerves. But in a recent petri-dish study, adding sulforaphane to a mix of blood vessel cells and glucose cut oxidation (read damage) by as much as 73 percent. More research is needed to see if sulforaphane in the diet is as protective. But we already know that the compound is a super cancer fighter. So down the hatch.

It’s no news that boosting your fiber intake is good for your health. But boosting it at breakfast may be the key to staying lean. Putting fiber-rich foods like oatmeal, whole-grain toast, or a veggie-packed omelet on your morning menu to curb afternoon binging on Cheetos or cookies. That’s because fiber acts like a speed bump in your gastrointestinal tract, slowing everything way down, so you stay fuller longer.

This is one way you can use your body chemistry, not willpower, to curb cravings and get to your ideal body size. Learn other science-based strategies like this from Roizen and Oz’s YOU: On a Diet plan.

Believe it or not, enjoying a fiberful diet — especially at breakfast — can reduce your calorie intake for up to 18 hours a day. And it helps control blood sugar and lower insulin levels. Although you should aim for 25 to 30 grams of fiber a day, avoid adding it all at once or you’ll produce more gas than a Saudi oil field, say the doctors. Start with an additional 1 to 2 grams of dietary fiber — the amount in a slice of whole-grain bread or 1/2 cup of green beans — at and between meals and slowly increase from there.