Diet Tips for Diabetes

If you've just gotten diagnosed with diabetes, you are not alone. Millions of people around the world suffer from this disease, with more being diagnosed all the time. Statistics show that Indians are more prone to diabetes as India has the highest population of diabetic patients.

It can be confusing at first, trying to figure out what you need to do to keep your blood sugar under control.  Diabetes is a metabolic disorder, but it is nevertheless possible for diabetics to live a normal life if they are well informed and know the rules they have to follow. Today, people with diabetes can benefit dramatically from new ways of managing diabetes that were unknown even a decade ago. Here are some tips to maintain your blood sugar levels and continue a rich and active lifestyle:

Things to avoid:

Let us start with the things to avoid:

• To improve insulin function one must cut down all artificial foods like fizzy drinks, packed/canned foods, diet chocolates etc.
• Maida in form of white-bread, nan, pizza, burger etc should be avoided.
• All sugary products, juices and very sweet fruits like chikoo (sapota) should be avoided.
• Corn flour, white rice, fried potatoes, too much of dairy and eggs should be avoided.
• Avoid roasted peanuts and too much tea/coffee as they decrease the nutrient absorption and act as a diuretic. However, raw sprouted peanuts are fine.
• Cut down too much of butter, ghee, oils etc as a high concentration of fat in the food tends to decrease the insulin action on the cells.

Things to be done:

• Use a judicious mix of poly-unsaturated oils like safflower/corn and mono-unsaturated oils like olive oil/rice bran oil while cooking.
• A lot of herbs help to improve the insulin response like karela (bitter melon) (karela juice can be consumed as it has plant insulin), methi seed sprouts, neem, jamun fruit etc. All these are also available as a dried powder which can be taken twice a day.
• Garlic is like a boon for diabetics. Besides being useful in decreasing cholesterol it also lowers blood sugar. It is also rich in potassium so it replaces the potassium lost in the urine of diabetics. It also has zinc, sulphur and manganese which is also beneficial in diabetics.
• A high fiber diet is the cornerstone of treatment of most diseases and specially insulin related disorders. An interesting finding is that during the world war when all British nationals were eating whole wheat flour, the incidence of diabetes fell by 50%! One can eat whole wheat porridge, whole wheat bread and oats as it contains soluble fiber which is very good for diabetes, cholesterol and obesity. Whole-grains are also rich in chromium which is mostly deficient in diabetics.
• Soya bean is excellent for polycystic ovary and diabetics due to lecithins and can be eaten as a mixed atta (soya atta), tofu, tempeh, miso soup, nuggets, granules etc.
• Potassium is found in vegetable broths and peanuts (try to eat sprouted peanuts).
• Other low sugar/low glycemic index diet foods are black channa, legumes, butter milk, turmeric and amla.

Diabetes is a health risk it is just not worth ignoring. Changing your lifestyle can change your future and protect you from the hazards of diabetes. And finally a reassurance that such dietary changes benefit all and even if a non-diabetic eats such foods then that person will benefit in the long run.