Updated on October 25, 2023.
You may know that eating foods rich in fiber has loads of health benefits. It aids in digestion, lowers cholesterol levels, and helps you maintain a healthy weight. It's also great for balancing blood sugar levels.
There are a range of foods that deliver healthy amounts of fiber, including fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Legumes—a food category that includes beans, peas, and lentils—are also a great source of fiber, and they may offer particular benefit for blood sugar.
Some research has shown that a diet high in lentils, nuts, peas, and other legumes seems to be even more helpful than a diet high in wheat fiber when it comes to tamping down high blood sugar levels.
Blood-sugar benefits of beans
If you have diabetes or prediabetes, you may have been advised to fill your diet with foods that tend to have a low glycemic index. That means these foods are digested slowly by the body and have a stabilizing effect on blood sugar.
Luckily for lovers of legumes, beans are low-glycemic index foods. So much so that when people with type 2 diabetes were told to emphasize legumes in their diet as part of one study, their average blood sugar over time was lower than that of the group who'd been directed to eat more whole grains.
Go for balance
The difference was modest for the two study groups but was still significant enough to translate into better protection from heart disease. Researchers suspect that the difference was because the legume-laden diet had a lower glycemic index—and slightly more fiber—than the diet that emphasized grains. The legume eaters were also encouraged to eat high-fiber foods like fruits and veggies.
The bottom line: A low-glycemic-index diet seemed to be best for controlling high blood sugar levels.
That doesn't mean you have to ditch your favorite whole grains, whether it be brown rice, farro, bulgur, or quinoa. It's important to have a varied diet filled with foods that help manage blood sugar levels. Just make sure to make room in your menu for beans.
