Eating Right in Diabetes
Diabetes doesn’t stop you from eating….it wants you to eat right!
Jim at a friend’s party-
"No, I don’t take soft drinks or juices. I would prefer to have plain water instead.
I would have a wheat base pizza without cheese along with green salad. Please don’t ask me for desserts."
Jim is habitual to explanations of avoiding certain, in fact many food items when in a group. Infact his non-indulgence in many gastronomic delights has made him conscious enough that he avoids partying and drinking to such an extent that his social circle is now diminishing at an enormous rate. Yes , you guessed right, he is a diabetic.
It seems that the number of diabetic specialists are rising with the disease to such an extent that each and every person that Jim seems to know has given him some advice on eating habits in this condition . This has influenced him to such an extent that Jim now seems to hide the fact that he is a diabetic when talking to others. If we look around us, there would be many Jims near us. Moreover diabetes is not a disease; it is a condition where the glucose metabolism is affected. Hence as long as we can control the glucose level in the blood, all foods are right for the patient. What is more important is that we need to eat at regular intervals so that the food ingested is metabolized well before the next meal is taken. This calls for divided meals, atleast five in a day . A diabetic cannot survive with a lunch and dinner.
Diabetes can be type 1 or type 2. However, type 2 diabetes is more common where the receptors excepting insulin hormone loose sensitivity for the same and the sugar metabolism goes on a toss. This is because the glucose formed after the digestion of sugars and carbohydrates now cant be consumed by the cells as the transporter is unavailable. Hence, as a broadline sugars and starch are to be avoided for all diabetics to avoid sugar load in the blood and to ease the metabolism.
Whether to eat fruits and consume fruit juices is a question with variable answers. I would mention the most scientific and rationale which has nothing against consuming fresh fruits as long as you don’t gorge on them. Fresh fruits have fructose which is a natural sugar easily metabolized by the body. Moreover the fibre content in natural fruits helps in metabolism. However, the sugar content in some fruits like bananas, grapes and mangos is so much that they can give rise to peaks in blood sugar level, hence they can be had occasionally by a moderately diabetic patient. However, a banana is much better than a scoop of icecream. On the other hand , citrus fruits are very favourable in this condition and could be consumed liberally. What happens in practical life is that a patient zeroes down on sugars of all kind and then after a week or so craves for sugar as his tongue goes sour. He then gives up the meal plan and gorges on ice cream and pies which raise the blood sugar levels enormously. Instead if the patient consumes a fruit everyday, the sugar control would be much better.
There are a few food items which are specially suited for diabetics like ginseng, jamun, bitter gourd, cinnamon, aloe vera gel and magnesium. As a rule, where ever possible the entire fruit or vegetable should be consumed to take in fibre in addition to the nutrients. However, due to less palatability, juices may be consumed.
Eat Well , and take care…
Have you read about Gourdin, which has helped hundreds of diabetics to manage their diabetes ?
- Gunjan
Tags: Natural Remedies, Herbal Supplements, Ayurvedic Medicine, Kitchen Tips, Natural Cures
