Healthy and clean eating is a must for everyone, especially diabetic patients. A diet for diabetic patients should include vegetables, fruits and whole grains. They should be nutrient-dense and low in fat. The goal of dieting if you have diabetes is to lower the risk of heart diseases, manage weight and control your blood sugar level. Eating fatty and extra calorie food will increase the level of glucose in the body. If treatments are not followed then one is at risk of kidney and heart damage.
An Indian diet for diabetes would include these things -
1. The Best Sugar
At the end of the day, sugar is sugar. White sugar, brown sugar, honey, jaggery are all forms of sugar. Despite differences in appearance and taste, all sugar spike your blood sugar level almost to the same extent. A diabetic patient should most certainly avoid consuming artificial sweeteners. This is because having the idea of it being sugar-free, many double down on its consumption and have more of it.
2. The Best Grains
We Indians have a lot of options to select the best grain for our consumption. Wheat, bajra, jowar, ragi, suji, poha, rice, dalia, murmura and many more are a common sight in our groceries. We should include as many grains in our diet as we can. Breakfast can include poha, oats or dalia. While lunch and dinner can consist of wheat, rice, jowar, bajra and other grains. For snack one can munch on murmura or makhana. Incorporate a diversity in grains.
3. The Best Fat
For a diabetic patient, fat is their new friend. Having good fat can delay the digestion process and would help in slowly releasing the sugar in your bloodstream. Instead of using refined oil, stick to using double-filtered oil. Coconut oil, mustard oil peanut oil, sesame oil are good options. Consuming good ghee can help give a better insulin response. Fat sources like fried bhajia and samosa are a strict no.
Along with them, one must eat a decent variety of vegetables. Include green vegetables and roots in your meal. Having bitter greens like bitter gourd, methi, neem etc helps in controlling your blood sugar levels. A diabetic patient should always prefer eating fruit over drinking its juice. Maintain this basic meal plan and you would surely see significant results in your life.