The exciting thing is that if stored properly, tabouli can be enjoyed days after preparation, and you don’t have to do any cooking at all. It is rich in nutrients, it’s filling, tasty, and as beautiful as it tastes (talk about perfection).
Tabouli found its way into my heart, and I can’t keep this to myself, so here I’ll be sharing the benefits with you and also answering the questions on your mind like “Is tabouli good for diabetics?”
What is Tabouli?
Tabouli is an interesting dish or salad that has deep roots in the Eastern Mediterranean, in Lebanon and Syria. In America, you can be anything, so tabouli has become popular here despite its foreign origins. One good thing about tabouli is that it’s served cold and is easy to make.
Now if you find it hard to prepare your salads or coleslaw, you can try the tabouli. The main ingredients in this salad include some soaked, uncoked bulgur, tomatoes, sweet peppers, parsley, juice, onions, olive oil, and some salt. This is basically all you need, but if you want to go further, you can add some lettuce like other variations.
And if it’s too much trouble for you, there’s a variety of Tabouli on the shelves in your favorite store, so find what works for you and pick one.
Is Tabouli Healthy?
Show me healthier food and I’ll give you my house (haha, just joking) because even in Western cultures where high-carb or Nordic foods are dominating, vegetarian dishes are now becoming popular, if not more popular (Holm et al. 2015).
Yeah, you guessed right, Tabouli is healthy, vegan, unbelievably delicious, and perfect. It contains no cholesterol, is low in fat, and is rich in vitamins and fiber. This dish doesn’t require you to go too far in search of its ingredients, as the parsley, tomatoes, and mint or cucumbers in your garden will be just enough for you.
However, if you’re on a gluten-free diet, try to avoid the varieties with quinoa and use traditional bulghur wheat instead, but traditional tabouli dishes are gluten-free. Also, to get the most out of the flavors or ingredients, make it a day ahead of when you’d eat it. You can serve it cold, as a part of a protein-rich diet, as a sandwich with your pita bread, or as a complete lunch, and not worry about being hungry again.
Is Tabouli good for diabetics?
If it’s good for vegetarians, then it’s good for you. A vegetarian diet mainly consists of vegetables, fruits, nuts, and legumes, and these are all food choices that diabetics are always advised to make because they improve your blood sugar and insulin response and also help you maintain a healthier weight.
Tabouli is good for diabetics, and if eaten as a part of a healthier diet like some beans or other legumes, it can offer some huge benefits, some of which include:
- Bulghur has a GI of 48, which is low compared to rice; it is also high in protein, fiber, potassium, and iron, and even better, it’s low in fat. The implication of this is that it can keep you full for longer, while also keeping your blood glucose levels in check, so you don’t have to worry about visiting the doctor after.
- If you’re using garlic in your recipe (highly advised), it can help you manage blood pressure, keep your cholesterol levels stable, and also act as a good antibiotic.
- Onions are one of the main ingredients in a tabouli salad, and aside from the teary-eyed effect, they also contain antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cholesterol properties. They can help reduce the risks of blood clots and keep your body safe from some forms of infections and cancer.
- Parsley is super-vegetable and contains high amounts of vitamin C, iron, and vitamin A. It contains other minerals like manganese, potassium, and calcium. The implication of all this is that if and when eaten raw or as part of a salad, it offers vision benefits, ensures faster healing, can help treat gallstones in the kidney, and also cleanses the blood.
- The olive oil used in Tabouli may not be much, but it has the potential to lower your total cholesterol, and some research has shown that it can also benefit your blood sugar control and insulin levels.
- Tomatoes are a good source of vitamin C, K, A, potassium, and folate and offer anti-inflammatory properties and chromium, which helps to regulate your blood glucose levels.
Along with these main ingredients, using great spices like lemon juice, cloves, nutmegs, and so on will help regulate digestion and even your blood sugar levels while reducing gas and bloating, therefore giving you an all-natural and exquisite experience packed in one meal.
Conclusion
You don’t have to eat tabouli alone if it’s too light; adding it to a high-protein diet will help you stay full for longer and prevent you from snacking all day, and if you have to snack, have another small bowl of this wholesome salad.
