For most of us, it's a common practice to start our day with a handful of soaked almonds. These crunchy delights are a treasure trove of essential nutrients and help promote overall health. Almonds are a great source of protein, antioxidants and other essential nutrients such as vitamin E, magnesium, calcium and potassium. Different studies around the world have found that almonds are good for heart health, digestion, immunity, eyes and so much more. Adding to the benefits, two new research studies have found that eating almonds before meals may help regulate blood sugar levels for Indians with prediabetes and obesity.
Also read: Why Soaked Almonds are Better Than Raw Almonds
The first study conducted over three days was published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition and the second carried over a period of three months was published in the journal Clinical Nutrition. For the studies, the researchers at Fortis-C-DOC Centre of Excellence for Diabetes, Metabolic Diseases, and Endocrinology, New Delhi analysed 60 healthy adults, who ate 20 grams of almonds 30 minutes before breakfast, lunch and dinner throughout the study duration. It was found that the people who ate almonds had better glucose control.
"Adding almonds in your diet half an hour prior to all three meals a day could stave off progression of diabetes. The study shows that we can normalise the blood sugar levels of pre diabetics with this strategy. It helped reverse prediabetes, or glucose intolerance, to normal blood sugar levels in 23 percent of the people," said lead author of the study Dr Anoop Misra. He further added that eating 20 grams of almonds before a meal showed a significant decrease in blood sugar levels of the participants.
Also read: 5 Delicious Ways To Add Almonds To Your Weight Loss Diet
The study was conducted in participants who were pre diabetes and were between the age range of 18 to 60 years. Dr Seema Gulati, head, Nutrition Research Group, National Diabetes, Obesity, and Cholesterol Foundation, and co-author of the study said, "In total, we recruited 60 participants in the study and we wanted to see what is the impact of ingestion of almonds, what is the impact on glucose variations and also overall, glycemic control."
Considering the above factors, we suggest, include almonds in your daily diet for overall health. Click here for some of our best almond recipes.