New Dietary Choices for People with High Blood Sugar: A Nutritional Analysis of Six Categories of Forest Vegetables

Dietary Recommendations for Patients with Hyperglycemia

Eat More "Forest Vegetables": Dietary therapy is a crucial step in diabetes treatment. However, due to various pollutants, it is increasingly difficult for people to enjoy truly green foods. So, how can diabetic patients, who need to strictly control their diet, consume healthier foods? Nutritionists suggest eating more "forest vegetables."

"Forest vegetables" are one of the five most popular types of healthy foods worldwide. They include the buds, stems, leaves, flowers, and even the entire above-ground parts of various plants growing in fresh forest environments. Because they are not polluted by harmful substances such as exhaust fumes, sewage, pesticides, fertilizers, and dust, they are very beneficial to the human body and are thus hailed as "forest treasures," "natural foods," and "green foods."

Forest vegetables can be divided into the following six categories according to the edible parts:

(1) Stem vegetables, namely the tender stems, buds, and branches of forest plants. Examples include fragrant bamboo shoots, bracken, angelica, wolfberry, Japanese knotweed, sour plum, wild celery, and wild peas. More than 30 varieties have been discovered to date. These types of forest vegetables can provide diabetic patients with abundant carotene, vitamin C, and B vitamins.

(2) Leafy vegetables refer to tender leaves and buds. Examples include nearly 30 kinds such as Chinese toon, Chinese pistache, locust, prickly ash, houttuynia cordata, and burdock. Diabetic patients can use Chinese toon to make a fragrant and crisp home-style dish.

(3) Root vegetables are those whose edible parts are tubers, rhizomes, and fresh stems. Examples include nearly 10 kinds such as konjac, Pinellia ternata, Asparagus cochinchinensis, Lilium tigrinum, Lilium brownii, and Ophiopogon japonicus. They can provide diabetic patients with abundant carotene and vitamin C. Konjac foods are currently popular worldwide. For Lilium tigrinum and Lilium brownii, there is a folk custom of using the fresh stems, chopped, to steam into egg custard.

(4) Flower vegetables refer to flowers, inflorescences, and buds. Examples include osmanthus, orchid, magnolia, locust, white chrysanthemum, and honeysuckle, totaling about 20 kinds. Diabetics can use magnolia petals, eggs, or fish as side dishes, coated in flour and then pan-fried with sesame oil. This combination of delicate flavors and wild game creates a delicious and refreshing dish. White chrysanthemums are suitable for dishes known for their light flavor and can also be used to make chrysanthemum sauce. Hibiscus (white flowers) can be pan-fried and eaten; it is smooth, tender, and delicious.

(5) Fruits and vegetables refer to fruits, seeds, and pods. Examples include chestnuts, prickly elm, tamarind, and akebia, among more than 10 others. Chestnuts are known as the "king of dried fruits" and can be used to make dishes such as chestnut stir-fried chicken and chestnut braised pork.

(6) Fungi and lichens comprise more than 40 species. Fungi include shiitake mushrooms, silver ear fungus, black fungus, bamboo fungus, monkey head mushrooms, pine mushrooms, porcini mushrooms, and winter mushrooms. Lichens include earth ear fungus and rock ear fungus. Many of these, such as shiitake mushrooms, silver ear fungus, and winter mushrooms, are excellent choices for diabetics.

Forest vegetables can be prepared in a variety of ways. There are many processed forest vegetable products on the market now, such as canned wild vegetables, pastries, sauces, pickled products, beverages, candies, and dried vegetables. Traditional ways of preparing them are even more diverse; for example, shepherd's purse can be used as a filling, in soups, stir-fries, or boiled; and toon sprouts can be eaten fresh, in salads, pan-fried, stir-fried, steamed, deep-fried, or pickled.

Diabetic patients can try more forest vegetables as needed to control their condition; it is believed that they will receive unexpected benefits.