Diabetes is a condition with high blood sugar level or blood glucose level. Some signs include unexplained weight loss, blurred vision, exhaustion, hunger, increased urination, and thirst. A well-planned diabetic diet chart will monitor the condition and its symptoms. Type 1 Diabetes and Type 2 Diabetes are two types of diabetes.
Although it’s a dangerous disease, following the right diet hacks for diabetes, and taking good care of the body, we can manage the condition. As a doctor(Dr.Shobhan Pounikar), I can tell you that you should pay attention to these diet hacks as you pay for the diabetic prescription.
What’s to eat and what not to eat?
With a wide variety of food choices, the key rule to follow is to include food with a low glycemic index or, in other words, select foods that do not raise blood glucose levels. How easy is that? Let me tell you about the diet hacks that I usually tell to my patients as per their condition. Exercise is also a vital part and here is an article for it.
The basic dietary hacks every diabetic should adopt are:
- A popular misconception is to avoid sugar of any sort, particularly white sugar, but you can also enjoy desserts with the proper diet plan.
- Avoid eating fruit sauces or preserves; they contain sweeteners, even harmful preservatives.
- Avoid Bottled fruit drinks, canned fruits, . They’re artificially sweetened.
- Avoid sweet pickles or sweet chutneys. Look for labels & find any unnecessary sugars entering your body.
- Instead of Eating large parts try to eat small amounts consistently.
- Avoid High-calorie foods including pizza, burgers, hotdogs, etc. Make your custom burgers full-grain or lean meat with ample lettuce.
- Make your pizza with homemade sausages. The sausages on the market contain high sodium, which is bad for heart health.
- Never miss breakfast or food. This is very important since it can lead to fatality in all people regardless of diabetes or disorders. Skipping food is not a diabetes cure, as it is popular among young diabetic patients. This leaves the body vulnerable to other metabolic dysfunctions. It easily adds weight to your body.
- As fish are rich in proteins, it is good to have fish in the diabetic diet. Moreover, as it does not have sugars, they don’t have GI.
- Eating barley instead of white rice will decrease sugar levels by up to 70 percent.
How does the diet affect the body?
- Drinking plain water is the safest way to detoxify the body. Both body-accumulated waste materials or toxins or various metabolic bi-products are washed off. It’s necessary to start your day.
- Breakfast is an expert brain-food. So controlling blood glucose levels requires a healthy nutritious meal. This energizes the remaining day. Have a healthy breakfast; then you get a timely appetite during lunch & dinner.
- You can choose your favorite veggies, fish or meat if they no longer interfere with blood glucose levels. It’s still nice to avoid some processed food for e.g., cornflakes or market-placed cereal bars. They’re never a safe choice. Most importantly, never miss breakfast as it’s your first-day meal.
- Just before lunch, eating any fruits or vegetables is advisable. You may also choose fruit juices. This cools your body and prepares you for lunch.
- Lunch should include either brown rice or wheat flour rotis. Curries of sardines, salmon or anchovies. Just make sure you consume the right amount of food. Eat with your appetite.
- If you’re not hungry, don’t eat too much. Drinks like buttermilk will provide the body with minerals, vitamins, and other nutrients. Chicken is a good source of protein, so make non-vegetarian salads as a curry choice with fewer spices & oil. Avoid all fried food types, particularly fried fish, fried meats, heavily oiled pickles. Homemade food is the best choice.
- Your snacks should always compliment your health. Diabetes snacks are different from regular ones. You can select nuggets but oil-free, use pan-grilled ones for your body.
- Light pancakes that are oil free and made of whole-grain flour with shredded chicken are delicious. You can also have salads with sprouts. Drinking herbal beverages like cumin water, ginger tea is better than standard coffee or tea. Occasionally, enjoy your coffee or tea.
- Eat freshly cooked food during dinner. You can select vegetables along with chicken or fish. Fish are healthy fat for your body. Eating a small piece of fish with daily dosa or roti is safe. You should eat cooked fruit drinks with oats. Apple or guava may be cooked in a pulp. Apply the pulp to the cooked oats. It’s an excellent, rich-flavored cocktail.
It’s my advice to all my diabetic patients that follow the right diabetic food and exercise guide and enjoy your life.
Healthy eating is a pillar of healthy diabetes care. Food choices can directly affect blood sugar levels. Indeed, questions vary from what, when, and how much you eat often matter in controlling diabetes. Therefore, understanding your diabetes management food plan is essential for managing sugar levels.