Role of Diet in Controlling Diabetes

A person who does not feel good and healthy can recuperate himself by visiting a physician and consuming medicines. However, not every health problem can be visible outside and felt immediately by a person. They are known as silent predators. They offer no symptom or warning signals to enable a person know that help is required for his health. One such silent predator is ‘diabetes.’ Millions of people are affected by diabetes and almost 25% of them do not even know about the existence of this disease in them.

The good news is that diabetes can be prevented, maintained or even reversed at times, with a proper and healthy lifestyle. Preventive actions for diabetes do not mean one has to completely give up sugars and live in total deprivation. It only means one has to conscious of the intake of calories and eats food in moderation with an awareness of how much insulin it will generate in the body.

Importance of weight loss for diabetes

Diabetes can be controlled with some positive lifestyle changes. The most essential element for reduction of diabetes is reduction of weight of a person. It is not necessary to eradicate the entire fat content of the body. Even with a weight reduction of 5 to 10%, the results in control of diabetes can be phenomenal.

Eating the right foods in right quantities is the most effective element in control of diabetes. While exercises do play a good role in weight reduction, the diet that a person consumes also has major effect on the weight of a person. Exercise helps to reduce the existing weight and diet helps to prevent further weight gain as well dissolving excess fat from the body.

A diabetic diet is simple and healthy diet plan which is high in nutrient value, low in fat, medium in calories. It is actually a healthy diet which can be consumed by everyone. The only most important variation for a diabetic person is that they need to have more control on the amount of carbohydrates consumed by them.

Here are some dietary tips which can help a person maintain a healthy life even with diabetes.

1. Choose foods with high fibre and complex carbohydrates

Carbohydrates have a major effect on the sugar levels of a person, more than the fats and proteins in the diet. Hence, the choice of carbohydrates should be done consciously and with care. A person should shun all refined and processed foods like white bread, pasta, candies, sweetened juices, soda and other fast foods. The main aim is to keep the glycemic index of a person at optimum levels. This is possible if the amount of carbohydrates in the food is moderate and rich in fibres.

A nutritional expert from Australia has come out with s simple way to have a tab on the carbohydrate levels and thus, the glycemic levels of a person. According to him, foods can be categorised into three parts:

• Limit the consumption of fire foods which have a high glycemic index and low in protein and fats. The examples of such foods are white bread, white pasta, potatoes, sweets, chips etc.
• Moderate the consumption of coal foods which have a low glycemic index but are high in protein and fat content. Examples of such foods are nuts, seeds, lean meat, sea food, whole grains and beans. Some white food replacements are also included in them like brown bread, wheat pasta and so on.
• Increase the consumption of water foods which are free foods and can be consumed as much as one likes. This category of foods includes fresh fruits and vegetables. However, fruit juices, canned fruits, dried fruits do not come under this category of water foods.

2. Consume sweets in a smart manner

A diet for a diabetic person does not imply elimination of all types of sugar from the diet. The main key is “Eat in moderation”.  One can consume sweets to some extent provided it is off-set through proper exercises. As days go by and one shifts to healthy diet plans, the cravings for the sweets and other unhealthy foods take a back seat. Some tips to include sweets in a diabetic friendly diet plan are:

• Cut down on carb foods in the same meal when a person plans to have sweets. Sweets add more carbohydrates to the body and one should limit the intake of other foods like rice, wheat which are also high carb foods.
• Eat sweets as part of a meal than as a stand-alone snack item.
• Eat dessert slowly relishing each and every bite of it. This will automatically reduce the quantity of sweet intake.

3. Consume fats wisely

Fats can be help or harm the health of a person based on the nature of fats. Diabetic people are at higher risk of heart diseases and hence need to avoid all kinds of saturated fats from their diet. Unsaturated fats are healthy but all types of fats generate more calories in the body and hence, one needs to be more careful in monitoring the quantity consumed.

Some tips to reduce unhealthy fats and include moderate quantity of healthy fats in the diet are:

• Cooking can be done with olive oil than vegetable oil.
• Trim any visible fat from meats before cooking.
• Snack on nuts and seeds instead of chips and crackers.
• Grill, boil, bake and stir fry foods instead of frying.
• Limit cheese in breakfast and add more avacados.
• Use low fat milk thickened with flour on soups than use of cream.

4. Regular diet and maintain a food dairy

Eat regularly in small quantities and never try to skip any part of the meal in a day. Maintain the calorie intake in each meal and in a planned manner.

Maintaining a food dairy definitely helps a person to watch the food quantity and take preventive measures. People who maintain a food dairy have been more successful in controlling diabetes in their lives.

A healthy and well-planned diet combined with regular exercises like walking 30 minutes each day can help in preventing, controlling and reversing diabetes in a person.