Best Foods to Lower HbA1c FAST (Backed by Science)

[00:00] You've probably noticed that on social media,  everyone's got a different diet that they all   swear is the one to control your blood sugar. And  if you're not doing their diet, you're doing it   wrong. And I always hear from you guys, from my  viewers, on how frustrating and how confusing  

[00:16] this all is. And a lot of you guys have been on  many of these diets. You've tried the low fat   and the low carb and the vegan and the keto. And  the truth is, most people, not everyone, but most   people struggle to stay on these diets long term.  That is why in this video, I'm not going to sell  

[00:32] you some diet that I like and I want everybody to  eat the same. Instead, we're going to talk about   foods that have the most consistent scientific  evidence behind them when it comes to diabetes,   blood sugar, and hemoglobin A1C. And then you can  integrate those foods into whatever diet works for  

[00:49] you. We'll also cover some foods that people often  think are diabetes friendly but can actually cause   harm. And at the end of the video, I want to share  a supplement that has really impressive evidence  

[01:01] behind it and a cooking trick that most people are  not using but can help you push that hemoglobin   A1C even lower. So, when we look at all of these  studies on lowering hemoglobin A1C, one thing that  

[01:14] keeps popping up over and over are foods rich in  magnesium. Hemoglobin A1C is a readout of average   glucose levels over three months and magnesium  has a powerful impact on glucose metabolism.  

[01:28] When insulin binds to cells and regulates their  function, magnesium is required for that process.   Magnesium also promotes glucose transport into  cells and out of circulation. So if we don't  

[01:42] have enough magnesium around, insulin doesn't  work normally and we become insulin resistant.   and glucose can't be transported into cells and  out of circulation efficiently and we get higher  

[01:55] blood sugar levels. A great source of magnesium  are tree nuts like almonds, walnuts, cashews and   pecans. One meta analysis of randomized control  trials showed that a diet emphasizing tree nuts  

[02:10] significantly lowered hemoglobin A1C and fasting  blood sugar. As we go through all these tips and   different foods, bear in mind the effects are  usually stronger in diabetics because they have   the highest hemoglobin A1C to begin with. Some of  these strategies show some effect in pre-diabetes  

[02:27] as well, but more modest. And then the healthier  the person, the less likely that you're going to   see much of an effect. That all makes sense,  right? Another food rich in magnesium are flax   seeds, which have also been shown to help lower  hemoglobin A1C. Okay. Another pattern that emerges  

[02:43] from all of these studies on hemoglobin A1C  reduction are polyphenols. Polyphenols are natural   compounds present in low glycemic index fruits  like berries. Strawberries are great sources  

[02:57] of polyphenols, and citrus fruits. Pomegranates  have polyphenols as well. Onions and some green   vegetables like spinach, broccoli or asparagus.  The reason polyphenols are so helpful is they have  

[03:10] an anti-inflammatory and also antioxidant effect  and they also promote insulin sensitivity and   all of these processes have a positive impact on  your glucose metabolism. Now one polyphenol that  

[03:22] is particularly powerful is curcumin. Curcumin  is a bright yellow chemical present in turmeric   which is a spice popular in Indian cuisine. A  large meta analysis showed that curcumin helps  

[03:35] lower fasting blood sugar, HOMA-IR, which is a  measure of insulin resistance, hemoglobin A1C,   and fasting insulin. Here's how it works. Curcumin  activates membrane transporters that allow glucose  

[03:48] to enter fat and muscle cells, and that helps  reduce blood sugar levels. Curcumin also reduces   the amount of glucose that is produced by your  own liver and pumped into the bloodstream and it  

[04:00] also supports the function of the beta cells  of your pancreas that produce insulin. So it   improves insulin secretion and blood sugar  control. Normally curcumin is not very well   absorbed but there's a way to boost it, if you  also include some black pepper in your recipe.  

[04:16] Pepper contains a compound called pepperine. And  pepperine powerfully promotes the absorption of   curcumin by thousands of times. Okay. Another  food that has been shown to help lower A1C is  

[04:28] garlic. When we crush garlic and we let it rest  for a few minutes without cooking it right away,   a compound is formed called allicin. And allicin  enhances the function of the insulin receptor.  

[04:40] So it helps insulin communicate with cells better  and regulate their metabolism. Allicin also helps   your body fight inflammation and oxidative stress  and it also improves glucose metabolism in your  

[04:52] liver. All right. Another important nutrient to  optimize A1C are healthy fats. When it comes to   diabetes and blood sugar, all we hear about is  carbs and sugar and sugars and carbs. But there's  

[05:05] a lot of other nutrients that also play important  roles. One meta analysis of 102 randomized control   trials showed that unsaturated fats, both mono  and polyunsaturated fats, lowered hemoglobin  

[05:17] A1C when eaten in place of refined starch added  sugars or saturated fats. Where can we find these   healthy mono and polyunsaturated fats? Well, in  addition to nuts and seeds, which we've already  

[05:31] talked about, you can also find them in extra  virgin olive oil. Fatty fish like salmon is   another good source. Avocados and olives have  them as well. One fat in particular, omega-3s,  

[05:43] which are a type of polyunsaturated fatty acids  that are found in seafood, fatty fish, seaweed,   and walnuts have them as well. And omega-3s have  been shown to help reduce fasting blood sugar,  

[05:56] hemoglobin A1C, insulin resistance, triglycerides,  and LDL cholesterol. Fish and seafood are also   good sources of another important nutrient and  that's protein. And protein is another nutrient  

[06:09] that can help lower hemoglobin A1C because it  promotes insulin secretion from the pancreas.   Protein is insulinogenic, and so it helps blood  sugar control. And protein also promotes satiety,  

[06:22] that feeling of fullness after meals. So that  helps us lose some weight, some excess fat mass.   And one of the most powerful triggers to lower  hemoglobin A1C is to lose excess fat, especially   visceral fat. This is why you see everybody on  social media claiming their diet is the one that  

[06:39] reverses diabetes. It usually comes down to weight  loss. Weight loss consistently improves hemoglobin   A1C, even on diets that are not healthy long term.  So all of these ideas that are popular on social  

[06:52] media, if you want to reverse your diabetes, you  need to cut all the fat from your diet. Anything   fatty has to go. Fat causes diabetes. Or you  need to cut any carbohydrate from your diet.   Eating carbohydrates causes diabetes. Or you  need to cut all animal foods from your diet.  

[07:06] That's the only way to reverse diabetes. It's true  that some people do well on these different diets.   But none of that is necessary and none of that  is the root cause of diabetes. We have plenty  

[07:19] of randomized trials reversing diabetes that do  none of that. So carrying excess fat is bad news   when it comes to glucose metabolism. And fat is  especially bad when it's located in our visceral  

[07:32] organs inside the liver and the pancreas because  it messes up their function. Our liver produces   glucose when we're not eating, when we're fasting  to prevent our blood sugar from getting too low,   which is dangerous. And when everything's working  normally, when we're healthy, the liver produces  

[07:47] just the right amount. And the pancreas tells the  liver, "Hey, we got enough. you can stop" and the   liver maintains that level in the healthy range.  But excess fat inside these organs scrambles them.  

[08:00] It messes up their function and the liver can keep  making glucose and pumping it into circulation and   our glucose level gets too high. This is why you  can have high blood sugar in the morning. You're  

[08:13] fasted. You haven't eaten anything in 12 hours  and your blood sugar is high. Your body made most   of that. It didn't come from food. So, our blood  sugar is about a lot more than just the sugar we  

[08:25] eat. So, it's a good idea to try to have some  protein with most meals when you're trying to   lower your A1C. Fatty fish, as we said, is a  good source. A piece of grilled chicken breast   is another good idea. Or legumes like lentils or  tofu. Seitan is another good source of protein.  

[08:42] Now, just like we want to favor healthy foods, we  want to avoid the bad ones. And some of the worst   offenders when it comes to putting on excess fat  mass are highly processed carbohydrates and added  

[08:54] sugars. Sugary soda, pastries, cookies, cakes,  sugary cereals like Lucky Charms or Cocoa Puffs.   Replacing those foods with a source of healthy  protein or a healthy fat or a low glycemic index,  

[09:09] whole unprocessed carbohydrate like a non-starchy  vegetable or a piece of fruit or a legume is a   great move to improve your A1C. Another source of  protein is dairy. And dairy is very heterogeneous.  

[09:22] There's many different types. And we see the  best results for probiotic fermented milk,   also known as kefir. A meta analysis of randomized  trials published recently, just 2024, showed  

[09:34] that kefir lowered fasting glucose, hemoglobin  A1C, cholesterol levels, and the inflammatory   marker C reactive protein. Another nutrient that  consistently pops up in research with good results  

[09:46] is soluble fiber. This is a specific type of fiber  that feeds your microbiome, the bugs in your gut,   and allows them to produce short- chain fatty  acids. And short- chain fatty acids reduce insulin  

[09:59] resistance. They boost the production of hormones  by your gut that increase insulin secretion by the   pancreas and they also improve glucose uptake into  cells. One meta analysis found that adding some  

[10:11] soluble fiber to a diet was successful in reducing  hemoglobin A1C. It also helped lower triglycerides   and body weight. Foods rich in soluble fiber  include chia seeds, kiwi, oranges, apples, some  

[10:24] green vegetables like okra or Brussels sprouts  are good sources as well. And for people who   have trouble tolerating a lot of fiber-containing  foods, psyllium husk is one way to go. Psyllium   husk is a powder that contains soluble fiber  and you can drink it dissolved in water or in  

[10:40] a smoothie, for example. Okay, there's one last  food that's actually more like a condiment that   can help, and that's apple cider vinegar. Apple  cider vinegar has been shown in randomized trials  

[10:52] to help lower hemoglobin A1C and fasting glucose,  and it does that by slowing down the digestion   of carbohydrates. The way most people take apple  cider vinegar is they take one or two tablespoons  

[11:05] and they mix it in water and they drink that  right before a meal or during a meal. Now,   there are some foods that are sold as healthy, but  can actually spell trouble for your blood sugar.   Yogurt has a halo of a health food because it's a  probiotic, but most flavored yogurts out there are  

[11:21] basically glorified candy. They have a lot of  added sugars. If you want to have some yogurt,   I would suggest some Greek yogurt, unsweetened,  no sugar added. And if you want, you can add   a piece of fruit or a non-sugary sweetener like  stevia or allulose. Another treacherous one are  

[11:38] flavored instant oats. The oats in these products  are precooked and chopped and they have a lot of   sugar added. If you want to have some oats,  you're much better off with steel cut oats,   no sugar added, or rolled oats. And if you have  glucose issues, you can tone down the glycemic  

[11:55] index of oats by mixing it with a protein source  like milk for example or Greek yogurt. Or you can   have it with berries. The polyphenols in berries  help as well. Another tricky one is dried fruit,   which is fine for a healthy person, but if  you have a high A1C, you want to avoid large  

[12:11] portions of dried fruit because it's got a lot  of concentrated sugar. All the water's been dried   out. And dried fruit is much easier to overeat  than the whole unprocessed fruit. Okay, before   we talk about supplements, let's go over some food  preparation tricks. This is less about what to eat  

[12:29] and more about how to eat it. One strategy that is  fairly well known is to change the order in which   you eat foods. One randomized trial asked patients  with diabetes to eat vegetables before they ate  

[12:42] carbier foods. And after 2 years of maintaining  this habit, they found that their hemoglobin A1C   was significantly lower. So that's a pretty low  barrier strategy for people who struggle making   large changes to their diet. Can they change the  order of the foods that they eat? And that can  

[12:59] help a bit. Another nifty trick has to do with  resistant starch. And resistant starch is a type   of carbohydrate that doesn't get broken down,  doesn't get digested in the small intestine.  

[13:11] That's where the name comes from, resistant, and  it makes it to the large intestine where it then   gets fermented by our microbiome. And resistant  starch is found naturally in foods like legumes,  

[13:24] whole grains, and also green bananas, unripe  bananas. But you can also create your own   resistant starch by cooking a starchy food like  a potato or some pasta and then cooling it in the  

[13:37] fridge overnight. This cooling process creates  resistant starch in the food and the cool thing   is (pun intended) that that resistant starch is  resistant now to heating. So you can reheat the  

[13:50] food all you want. The resistant starch is not  destroyed. One meta analysis found that adding   resistant starch to a diet reduced hemoglobin A1C,  fasting blood sugar, insulin, cholesterol, and   some inflammatory markers. Not bad for eating the  exact same food with just one extra preparation  

[14:06] step. Okay, let's talk about supplements. And  one supplement that has impressive results when   it comes to A1C is berberine. Berberine is the  active component of a herb that is often used in  

[14:18] Chinese traditional medicine. A meta analysis of  46 randomized control trials found that berberine   helped reduce hemoglobin A1C when compared to  a placebo. And the impressive part is that this  

[14:31] effect was similar to what we see with some  diabetes medications like metformin. So they   saw a similar reduction for metformin or berberine  and then they saw an additive effect. When you add   both then the reduction was even more impressive.  Berberine has even been tested in pre-diabetics  

[14:48] and average hemoglobin A1C dropped all the way  to the normal range. Some side effects have been   reported like with any drug or supplement ever.  Some people report GI distress. That's the most  

[15:00] common one. Couple important things. If you decide  to take berberine, consider a brand that is third   party tested because with supplements, it's  always so hard to know what's actually in the   pill because there's almost no regulation. So they  can actually advertise one dosage on the packet  

[15:16] and then inside the pill you can have a lot more  or a lot less. And as always work with your doctor   because berberine can interact with other meds  including diabetes meds and you want to keep an   eye on your glucose. You don't want that to drop  too low too fast. That's dangerous. And finally,  

[15:33] vitamin D supplementation has also been shown  in trials to help reduce hemoglobin A1C,   especially in people who are vitamin D deficient,  who are not getting enough vitamin D. Okay,   what about exercise? Is there a workout  that's best to lower A1C? We actually  

[15:49] covered that question in this previous video,  so check it out and I'll meet you in there.