Eat This Superfood Type 2 Diabetics : Mangoes
Our Swee2ooth Mango Tango recipe wasn’t concocted just because it tastes good – there’s real science behind it. Aside from all the great nutrients in the Swee2ooth blend, mangoes were added specifically to help lower blood sugar levels in Type 2 diabetics.
“Mango is an absolute super food for Type 2s, but you never hear about it,” says Swee2ooth founder Thom Zwawa. “Where fruits are concerned, it’s at the top of the charts in terms of health benefits for Type 2 diabetics. It has good fiber content and vitamins and minerals – including vitamins A, C, E, K, B vitamins, calcium, and potassium – but it’s not just that. It’s the genetic makeup of mangos. There are healing agents in there. It’s a very sweet fruit, but it won’t spike blood sugars.”
Sweet Food, Sweeter Benefits
Those “healing agents” Zwawa refers to include polyphenols, which provide powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits that are crucial to Type 2s. Mangos also include a compound called mangiferin, which has been shown to lower blood sugar levels – one recent study even refers to mangiferin as a “miracle bioactive compound.”
Numerous other studies have shown that mangos can help control blood sugar and may even help prevent obesity. All of this in spite of the fact that mangos are not a low-carb or low-sugar food.
“People think that if you’re a Type 2 you can’t eat carbs or sugar, but that’s not true,” says Zwawa. “If you pick the right foods and the right types of sugar – natural sugar instead of added sugar – you can still have some sweet stuff. Fruit can be confusing for Type 2s, because not all fruits are processed the same way in the body. The best fruits for Type 2s are mangos, papayas, and berries like blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries.
“I love mangos; I eat them all the time. They’re perfect to keep frozen and put in shakes and smoothies.”
