World Diabetes Day, held every year on November 14, is a good time to remember that nuts are great allies in the fight against this disease. A number of scientific studies have proven that, thanks to their simple sugars, which don’t concentrate in the blood, nuts can keep blood sugar levels down.
The PREDIMED (Prevention with a Mediterranean Diet) study carried out detailed trials in several Spanish cities between 2003 and 2010: close monitoring of 7.447 people over an average period of 4.8 years revealed that a Mediterranean diet supplemented with nuts can help reduce the risk of suffering Type 2 diabetes mellitus.
The recommended daily intake of nuts is 30 g, for diabetics and non-diabetics alike. However, some nuts are more effective than others: walnuts, for instance, help combat diabetes in people with a predisposition to suffer the disease or who are insulin resistant, whereas pistachios help keep blood sugar levels down after meals (postprandial glycaemia).