Selenium-Rich Foods for Diabetics to Improve Their Immune Health

Your thyroid gland plays an important role in your body, by managing hormones and helping regulate metabolism. A poorly functioning thyroid can lead to a number of problems, especially for diabetics who already have enough to deal with.

Unfortunately, diabetics experience thyroid problems at a higher rate, and the thyroid problems then make their diabetes worse. Since your thyroid helps regulate most other systems in your body, it can affect your immune system if it’s not working properly.

There are even cases where your immune system will damage the thyroid, making everything worse. However, to combat this, you should include snacks in your diet that give you a nice little boost of selenium, which helps your thyroids perform better.

By getting your thyroids under control and having them work better, you’re going to be able to control your blood glucose levels much easier, something that is crucial for diabetics.

Selenium doesn’t just help your thyroids, though. It’s also been found to help your immune system and even heart health, both of which are also very important for diabetics.

Now it’s just a matter of finding the right food to get your selenium from. You don’t need a lot at all - around 50-60 micrograms per day is fine. As long as you stay under around 400 micrograms you’ll be fine, but you shouldn’t go over that amount.

The first common source of selenium is chicken. Of course chicken can be cooked in a ton of different ways, plenty of which are fine for diabetics. You want to avoid fried altogether, but you can season it and pan sear or bake it instead.

You should also be sure to avoid sugary sauces like barbeque sauce. Selenium can also be found in eggs in decent amounts. Eggs are a good food for diabetics because they’re high in protein and fairly low in carbs, especially if you’re not adding in things like cheese to the mix.

Just having some sunny side up or scrambled eggs in the morning is a good way to get those nutrients in early on. Finally, the best source of selenium is Brazil nuts. Just 5 whole Brazil nuts is enough to give you your daily intake.

These can be eaten as a quick snack in the afternoon or along with another meal, and they’re low carb enough for diabetics to not have to worry about them.


If You’re Diabetic Get Plenty of Vitamin A for a Healthy Immune System

While many people associate vitamin C with being the most important immune system vitamin, you shouldn’t forget about the other vitamins which can also play major roles in keeping you healthy.

Vitamin A is often overlooked when compared to vitamin C and D, but it has a lot of health benefits that you could be missing out on. One thing that vitamin A does for your immune system is that it helps you maintain healthy mucus.

While it does seem gross, and though you might not have known it, the mucus in your nose and throat is actually your body’s first line of defense against viruses. It’s meant to catch anything that’s not supposed to be there, which is why your body produces more of it when you get sick.

Another immune system boost that it gives you, which is also helpful for diabetics in particular, is its anti-inflammatory properties. Vitamin A can help quickly reduce and control inflammation, which helps your immune system.

Many diabetics experience inflammation, which is uncomfortable, so this will also help you feel a lot better in your day to day life. Vitamin A is often found with beta-carotene, something that helps improve eye health, which is definitely an important thing for diabetics.

Diabetes can greatly increase your chances of things like cataracts and poor eyesight, so taking care of your eyes is important. The best source of vitamin A and beta-carotene you’re going to find is carrots.

They’re a very diabetic-friendly vegetable since they’re so low in sugar, and they can be prepared in a ton of different ways. You can have carrots as a snack throughout the day, though you might want to stay away from sauces that might contain more sugar.

Just eating them raw will help you keep your blood sugar under control. They’re also great roasted in the oven or cooked up into a sauce, and you can also add them to soups for extra flavor.

They pair well with almost any meat, and are also great in salads. You can also find a decent amount of vitamin A in foods like spinach and broccoli, though not in the same amounts.

Still, if you don’t like carrots, broccoli and spinach are great ways to boost your cooking and can be eaten in whatever way you find most appealing.

Learn more about your health online when you read the rest of our information here about: What is Diabetes guide and also download the free health report available there!

Warren Tattersall has been a full time nutritional consultant for over 35 years and works with people all over the world to help them improve their health, increase their personal energy levels and to use supplements to assist with diet related health issues.

Just send him a note on the form here - Contact Us - to request a personal no obligation one-on-one consultation with Warren

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