When it comes to diabetes, a suitable food list is key. However, what's too often ignored or forgotten are beverages. Drinks you consume also can have a significant effect on weight and glucose levels in blood, and should be part of a food for diabetics diet plan. Pure tea is among the beverages that can be considered besides water, coffee, diet soda and other low calorie drinks. So what is the best tea for diabetes?
Unsweetened tea for diabetes
Before we dive in what teas are the best, we first would like to say that any tea that is sweetened by you or the manufacturer isn't a healthy choice. Be aware that not only you can control the sugar level in your drinks. Sometimes, blended teas and flavored tea bags can have added sugars when they are processed by the manufacturer. To be on the safe side, it's wise to read the details on the packaging. Always make sure you're buying pure tea.
Why tea is good for diabetes?
Tea is an ideal drink for diabetics because it supports your body to metabolize sugar. The key substance behind it are polyphenols found in the Camellia Sinenses tea plant. It reduce stress, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels, which are regularly higher for diabetics.
Best tea for diabetes: green tea and white tea
Given that polyphenols in tea are beneficial to prevent and reduce symptoms of diabetes, green and white tea will be the best options. Unlike fully oxidized black tea, these teas are less processed, and therefore preserve more polyphenols.
However, given personal circumstances those teas might not be the best options. The 'rawness' of green and white tea can sometimes be harsh on the stomach. If your stomach doesn't react well or if you feel nauseous, it's better to go for more oxidized teas such as oolong, black or ripe pu erh tea. Aged white tea cakes are also a great option as the rawness disappears over time.
Another way to avoid side effects is not to drink green or white tea on an empty stomach. Because both teas contain caffeine, you should also switch to a herbal tea in the evening.
What about milk and lemon?
Adding milk isn't a big deal compared to sugar? This is not true according to a research by Anderson & Polanski in 2002 stating that adding milk to tea can decrease insulin-enhancing activity.
"Addition of 5 g of 2% milk per cup decreased the insulin-potentiating
activity one-third, and addition of 50 g of milk per cup decreased the
insulin-potentiating activity approximately 90%."