Reduce blood sugar with peanuts

Peanuts contain carbohydrates, and all foods that contain carbohydrates elevate blood-glucose levels. Some carbohydrates, such as simple sugars, have a swift, dramatic effect on your blood sugar. Carbohydrates that contain fiber or starch -- the two other types of carbohydrates -- have a slower, less pronounced effect on blood sugar. But unless you eat a lot of peanuts, they will have just a modest effect on your blood glucose.

Super food
The American Diabetes Association ranks peanuts and other nuts as diabetes superfoods. To make the list, foods must supply important nutrients such as fiber, calcium, potassium, magnesium and vitamins A, E and E. Foods on the list must also rank low on the glycemic index, a measuring tool that rates foods based on how much they affect blood glucose. Peanuts make the list because they contain magnesium, fiber and heart-healthy oils and do not overly affect your blood glucose.

Nutrition
The calories and carbohydrates in peanuts can add up quickly if you polish off an entire bag or can. If you eat a full cup of oil-roasted peanuts, you will add 868 calories and nearly 22 g of carbohydrates to your daily totals. Stick to one serving, which is an ounce, or a handful. An ounce of peanuts has about 175 calories, 8 g of protein, 15 g of fat and 4.4 g of carbohydrates. Most of the carbohydrates in peanuts -- 2.7 g in an ounce -- come from fiber.

Fiber and Niacin
Peanuts and other fiber-rich foods help regulate your blood sugar. Dietary fiber can help prevent type 2 diabetes and improve symptoms if you already have the disease. Fiber can also help you lose weight and lower your blood pressure and low-density lipoprotein -- or bad cholesterol. Peanuts have niacin, and niacin in large amounts can cause dramatic increases in blood-sugar levels in those with type 2 diabetes. But unless you eat more than 5 cups of peanuts in a day, such elevations aren't likely.

Considerations
If you follow a diabetes or pre-diabetes diet, count peanuts in three categories: carbohydrates, protein and fat. Diabetics are susceptible to high-blood pressure, so choose unsalted peanuts, as sodium in your diet can elevate blood pressure. An ounce of oil-roasted, salted peanuts has about 90 mg of sodium. The American Heart Association recommends limiting sodium to no more than 1,500 mg a day. Boiled or dry-roasted peanuts have fewer calories than peanuts roasted in oil.