Since I wrote the article about Good Fruit, Bad Fruit, some people have been asking me to do additional articles about other groups of foods, so I decided to pick nuts and seeds as my next category.
Nuts and seeds are typically high in fiber and protein but, they are also high in carbohydrates, fat and calories, so selecting the right nuts and seeds to eat can make all the difference in controlling your diabetes.
One good thing about the carbohydrates in nuts and seeds is that they are complex, thus they take longer to break down and turn into sugar, so they will keep your glucose curve rounder, rather than spiking.
To help pick the right nuts and seeds to eat here is a list of nuts and seeds ranked from the lowest to highest amounts of carbohydrates per a 100 gram serving:
- Pilinut: 3.98 grams
- Hemp Seed: 8.67 grams
- Pumpkin Seed: 10.71 grams
- Brazilnut: 11.74 grams
- Walnut: 13.71 grams
- Macadamia Nut: 13.82 grams
- Pecan Nut: 13.86 grams
- Coconut: 15.23 grams
- Watermelon Seed: 15.31 grams
- Hazelnut: 16.70 grams
- Lotus Seed: 17.28 grams
- Hickorynut: 18.25 grams
- Pine Nut: 19.30 grams
- Sunflower Seed: 20.00 grams
- Almond Nut: 21.55 grams
- Sesame Seed: 23.45 grams
- Pistachio Nut: 27.17 grams
- Flaxseed: 28.88 grams
- Breadfruit Seed: 29.24 grams
- Cashew Nut: 30.19 grams
- Beechnut: 33.50 grams
- Safflower Seed: 34.29 grams
- Chestnut (Japanese): 34.91 grams
- Ginko Nut: 37.60 grams
- Acorn Nut: 40.75 grams
- Chia Seed: 42.12 grams
- Chestnut (European): 44.17 grams
- Chestnut (Chinese): 49.07 grams
All values are taken from the USDA Food Composition Database.
Wondering where Peanuts are? They are categorized as a Legume, so they won’t show up in this list, but just for your reference they are 16.13 grams which puts them in the top 10.
Which of these nuts and seeds are your favorite? Are there any combinations that you think would be perfect for some homemade peanut butter that is Diabetic friendly? Let us know in the comments below.
