5 easy ways to lower blood sugar with soluble fibre

If you're watching your blood sugar, make sure you have soluble fibre on the menu. These tips on how to include this in your diet will set you on the right track.

There are two types of fibre: soluble and insoluble. Soluble fibre is the kind that dissolves in water. It's found in oats, barley, beans and some fruits and vegetables.

Insoluble fibre is found mostly in whole wheat and some fruits and vegetables. Both types are very good for you, but only soluble fibre will help lower your blood sugar — and in a way that really counts.

Researchers tested oatmeal and barley, an even richer in source of soluble fibre than oatmeal, on overweight middle-aged women. On days when the women ate oatmeal for breakfast, their blood sugar levels over the following three hours were about 30 percent lower than when they ate a sugar-laden breakfast. On days when they ate barley cereal, it was about 60 percent lower.

When it mixes with water, it forms a gum. Think of oatmeal; you can pick out the grains or flakes when it's dry, but once you cook it, it's one big mush.

This gooey gum forms a barrier between the digestive enzymes in your stomach and the starch molecules in food — not just in the oatmeal but also in the toast you ate with it. Thus, it takes longer for your body to convert the whole grain into blood sugar.

Eating more foods rich in soluble fibre is a key strategy for lowering your blood sugar after meals. It will also improve your health in other ways.

Oatmeal is famous by now for lowering cholesterol, but it may lower high levels of triglycerides (properties linked to heart disease) and reduce blood pressure as well.

There's even a health claim allowed on oatmeal packaging: "Eating three grams of soluble fibre from oatmeal in a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart disease."

You don’t need to just stock up on the oatmeal - lots of other foods are also rich in soluble fibre.

Nutrition experts tell us to aim for at least 20 grams of total fibre a day, both insoluble and soluble. A good goal for soluble fibre is 10 grams. Some things you could eat to boost your soluble fibre intake include oatmeal and foods like black beans and Brussels sprouts.

Having soluble fibre in your diet is a great way of taking care of blood sugar levels. These tips will help you incorporate this valuable food in your cooking for best health.