Food is a necessity in our lives. It provides us with energy and helps us survive. The type of food we consume plays a major role in enhancing immunity and maintaining overall health. Making wrong food choices can cause bodily harm, especially if you are already diagnosed with diseases like diabetes, hypertension, PCOS, and thyroid. There are many diseases which spread during winter. It thus becomes even more important to protect the body from infections, especially for patients who are suffering from diabetes and thyroid. For this, green leafy vegetables are useful as they contain a lot of nutrients and also protect against infections.
Let’s take a look at some green leaves that are beneficial for diabetes and thyroid:
Curry Leaves: Curry leaves are the most easily accessible vegetable. They are used to make various dishes in Indian households and add a lot of flavour to the food. It has been found that curry leaves are considered quite useful to control blood sugar levels and thyroid levels. Curry leaves are said to be rich in fibre, which is responsible for slowing down digestion and keeping blood sugars in check. Curry leaves tend to boost your insulin activity. When the body is enabled to use insulin properly, blood sugar levels get stabilised. They are rich in calcium as well, which helps prevent the over-absorption of T4 hormones in the blood.
Olive Leaves: Another leaf that plays an important role in controlling diabetes and thyroid disease is the olive leaf. They are high in antioxidant content and contain healthy fats. They are known to be full of dietary fibre, which helps in controlling the blood glucose level. Apart from that, olive leaf extracts improve thyroid function by increasing T3 levels and significantly reducing thyroid-stimulating hormone levels.
Neem Leaves: Neem leaves are an effective method to treat diabetes as they have flavonoids, triterpenoids, antiviral compounds, and glycosides, which may help manage blood sugar levels. Other than that, they can also be consumed to control thyroid levels, but in limited quantities.
