Shreya Shah
Clinical Nutritionist and Certified Diabetes Educator
By 2030, India will have the largest number of Diabetics in the world! Diabetes accelerates the advent of several other metabolic complications including cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, retinopathy reducing life expectancy by 30% as compared to non- diabetics.
What Is Diabetes?
As food is digested, it is broken down into glucose (also known as sugar), which provides energy and powers our cells. Insulin, a hormone made in the pancreas, moves the glucose from the blood to the cells. However, if there is not enough insulin or the insulin isn’t working properly, then the glucose stays in the blood and causes blood sugar levels to rise.
There are three main types of diabetes: type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes. Type 1 results from the pancreas no longer being able to make insulin and is usually found in children, teens, and young adults. Gestational diabetes can occur near the end of a woman’s pregnancy and usually disappears after the baby’s birth.
The most common form of diabetes is type 2. Risk factors include being overweight; not getting enough physical activity; having a parent or sibling with diabetes; being African-American, Asian-American, Latino, Native American, or Pacific Islander; being a woman who had gestational diabetes or gave birth to a baby who weighed more than nine pounds; having high blood pressure, having low HDL (good cholesterol) or high triglycerides; and having pre diabetes.
Diabetes: What Role Does Diet Play?
“Food can either promote diabetes or help prevent it, depending on how it affects the body’s ability to process glucose,”
• Help you control your blood sugars and blood lipids
• Help you maintain a healthy weight
• Help in Preventing Long-term and short-term complications of Diabetes.
Processed foods as well as items high in fat or sugar not only can disrupt the balance between glucose and insulin, resulting in inflammation, but can also contribute to risk factors such as being overweight.
Carbs, too, need to be watched. While they are necessary to fuel the body, some carbohydrates raise blood glucose levels more than others. The glycemic index (GI) measures how a carbohydrate-containing food raises blood glucose. Foods are ranked based on how they compare to a reference food such as white bread. Dry beans and legumes, all non-starchy vegetables, and many whole-grain breads and cereals all have a low GI.
Diabetes: What Is a Healthy Diet?
A healthy diet for diabetes is virtually the same as a healthy diet for anyone. Eat reasonably sized portions to avoid gaining weight, and include fruits and vegetables, include whole grains rather than processed ones. Limit saturated fats and high-calorie snacks and desserts like chips, cake, and ice cream, and stay away from trans fats altogether.
Thirty minutes of exercise most days of the week and losing 5 to 10 percent of body weight, if a person is overweight, are also crucial in reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes.
Finally, anyone experiencing frequent urination, extreme thirst or hunger, unexplained weight loss, fatigue, blurry vision, or frequent infections should see a doctor for a blood test to check for diabetes. With careful attention and healthy lifestyle choices, diabetes can be kept under control.
DIETARY GUIDELINES:
• Avoid sugar honey and jaggery in the diet
• Avoid fruit juices, coconut water, and sugarcane juice.
• Restrict the amount of salt in the diet
• Restrict the amount of oil to 3-4tsp/day i.e. ½ litre oil/person/month.
• Avoid deep fried foods.
• Include more amount of fruits and vegetable in your diet.
• Steaming, boiling, poaching, pressure cooking, grilling should be preferred method of cooking.
• Avoid Fruit juices instead prefer whole fruit.
• Avoid all kinds of processed food like chips, biscuits, Maggi, ready to eat food items. • Limit the use of refined flour and products made up of refined flour like: Bread, pav, biscuit, khari, toast.
• Carbonated and sweetened beverages should be avoided.
• Alcohol should be restricted.
• Fasting and Feasting should be avoided.
• While eating out choose the foods wisely
• Eat 4 main balanced meals a day
• And a small snack every 2 hours in between these.
| USE FREELY | LIMIT | AVOID |
| ➢ INCLUDE MORE AMOUNTS OF VEGETABLES IN THE DIET. ➢ FOR SALADS USE VEGETABLES LIKE CARROT, CUCUMBER, ONION, TOMATO, BEETROOT. ➢ INCLUDE MORE AMOUNTS OF FRUITS LIKE APPLE/ PEAR/ PINEAPPLE (1-2 SLICE)/ PAPAYA (1 SMALL BOWL)/ ORANGE/ GUAVA. ➢ HIGH FIBRE FOODS LIKE OATS, SPROUTS, WHOLE GRAIN CEREALS. ➢ VEGETABLE SOUPS LIKE PALAK SOUP, TOMATO SOUP, DAL- VEGETABLE SOUP WITHOUT ADDITION OF MAIDA. NO CREAM SOUPS. | ➢ USE OF OIL TO 3- 4TSP/DAY. AND GHEE – 1TSP/DAY. ➢ ROOT VEGETABLES SUCH AS POTATO, SURAN, ARVI. ➢ USE OF FRESH COCONUT/DRY COCONUT/ COCONUT MILK, AND OTHER TYPES OF NUTS TO MAKE GRAVIES IF USED. | ➢ ALL THE FRIED FOODS LIKE PURI, PAKODA, NAMKEEN, CHIPS. ➢ AVOID SUGAR, HONEY AND JAGGERY IN THE DIET. ➢ SWEETS AND CONCENTRADED MILK PREPARATIONS LIKE GULAB JAMUN, BARFI, PEDHA. ➢ FRUIT JUICES, COCONUT WATER AND SUGARCANE JUICE. ➢ TABLE SALT. ➢ REFINED FLOUR PRODUCTS LIKE BISCUITS, CREAM BISCUITS, KHARI, AND RUSK. ➢ ALL PROCESSED FOODS LIKE CHEESE PAPAD, SAUCES, PICKLE, SALTED BUTTER, COLD DRINKS AND ALL READY-TO-EAT FOOD ITEMS. ➢ RED MEAT, ORGAN MEATS, DRY FISH AND SHELL FISH. ➢ SMOKING AND DRINKING. |