Control Diabetes with More Vitamin A

Once you develop type 2 diabetes, you've got to be vigilant about eating the right foods and maintaining a healthy weigh to prevent complications. Left unchecked, diabetes can damage your kidneys, increase the risk for obesity and heart disease, cause vision loss, poor circulation, and dental disease. In other words, if you're living with diabetes, you should do everything you can to prevent it from getting worse.

And your diet plays an important part in controlling diabetes, insulin sensitivity, and weight management. New research suggests that increasing vitamin A in your diet may help control diabetes, limit weight gain, and reduce the risk for heart disease. That's a big win for just making simple changes to your diet.

In the study presented at the Annual Conference of the Canadian Nutrition Society, researchers found that increasing vitamin A levels in mice lowered blood sugar levels, improved insulin sensitivity, increased metabolism, and aided in weight loss. Your body needs vitamin A for healthy teeth and skin, strong bones, tissue growth and repair, and good vision. This study suggests that boosting vitamin A levels in your diet may also help control diabetes. Combine a healthy diet with regular exercise, and you may reduce your need for medication to control diabetes.

So how do you get more vitamin A in your diet? Fruits and vegetables are the best sources of vitamin A. Sweet potatoes, cooked carrots, dark leafy green vegetables like kale and spinach, cooked squash, and red bell peppers contain high levels of vitamin A. And vitamin A-rich fruits include cantaloupe, dried apricots, and mangoes.

And many of our MagicKitchen diabetic meals contain hearty levels of vitamin A like Beef Stew, Carrots & Mashed Potatoes, Cheese Manicotti, , and Shrimp & Vegetable Linguine. Eat tasty and healthy food to control diabetes, now that's a diet that's easy to follow!