Our last meeting in March focused on some of the best teas for diabetics. We had a good crowd with several new faces, which is always great to see. So, we had a tea party!
On the teas, we covered several teas that are said to be good for diabetes and why, ie; what their primary action is. Gymnema Sylvestre is said to help repair beta cells and repress sugar cravings. Bitter melon tea is often popular for diabetics and is known to have four different compounds for helping to lower blood sugar levels. Chicory tea has been used to help control diabetes for many years and is also said to help with liver detoxification as well.
We also covered green tea, guava leaf tea, tulsi tea, dandelion, oolong, masala chai and bilberry teas, all of which have specific benefits for diabetics.
While you may not be able to find extensive US scientific studies on some of these teas, medicinal teas have been used for centuries since ancient Egypt and China and have been well integrated into US culture. You can also find more information about these botanical substances in a book by the American Diabetes Association called, Complementary & Alternative Medicine (CAM) Supplement Use in People With Diabetes.
Adding healthful tea to your daily regimen can be an easy and beneficial step to add.
We also presented a pack of carb cards that have previously been very helpful for some of our members. Similar to playing cards, these carb cards have two sides with pictures and total carbs listed for various foods. These cards are not only fun to use but also a really quick way to learn more about how many carbs are in the food you’re eating. Here’s the link to purchase them if you’re interested: https://amzn.to/2UXwMlY
As usual, we had samples of the various teas available for folks to try at the meeting along with a new recipe we just tried for low carb chocolate muffins (2.5 carbs/each). We also had some low carb crackers on hand for folks to sample.
We concluded the meeting talking about a few other topics from individual members. We thought it was a great meeting and would welcome your own comments about it below.
Thanks so much and look forward to seeing you in just a couple of weeks, May 24th. More info on that to follow.