Healthy eating habits for diabetic patients

Lifestyle Saturday 16/February/2019 20:20 PM
By: Times News Service
Healthy eating habits for diabetic patients

Healthy eating plays a key role in making our life energetic and healthy. Especially in case of diabetic patients, balanced diet is a necessary part for maintaining blood glucose level. By preparing a properly planned diabetic diet, this chronic disease can be well managed. Inclusion of food intake with rich protein concentration is preferred than food with rich carbohydrate concentration.
Healthy eating does not emphasise on consuming a large quantity of food. Acquiring the needed quantity of food is the core principle behind healthy eating. Desserts, candy, and other sugar beverages are some of the restricted food intakes for a diabetic patient.
Over inclusion of high caloric food items increases blood sugar level and retards the metabolic rate of the body. So try to take sugar free food items other than sugary products. Preplanned diabetic diet helps to a great extend in maintaining a healthier life. Keep note of diabetic diet for each day or for a week in advance for good result. Try to avoid the regular intake of fast food from restaurants.
Make sure to include a good proportion of vegetables like beans and fruits in diet which will promote a balanced blood glucose level. Fresh vegetable juice can be preferred over fruit juice due to its low sugar concentration. Studies say that it is better to prefer whole grain products in diet than processed grain products.
Try to avoid fried and oily food products in diet. Over consumption of fried chicken and beef products creates accumulation of fatty acids in body. Try to choose boiled meat instead of consuming fried meat products.
Obesity reduces sugar metabolic rate of the body and increases the blood sugar level. Inclusion of fish in meals is preferred over beef since it consists of only less amount of fat. Consume food items with low saturated fats so as to reduce the cholesterol level in the body. Over intake of high caloric value diary products like ice creams and yoghurt welcomes diabetes in life.
Now let’s find answers for some questions like how much to eat and what to eat? Actually the answer for these questions depends on our meal plan. Meal plan helps in avoiding unhealthy food consumption.
Foods with rich fibre rich concentration is considered as an ideal food item for diabetic patients. Many doctors advice in including oats in diabetic diet which is a low fat food product. Avoid skipping of regular meals which may induce hypoglycemia or low blood sugar level. Consumption of rice, wheat and potato increases blood sugar level slowly where as consumption of table sugar induces a rapid rise in blood sugar level. This phenomenon can be expressed in terms of glycaemic index value.
Diabetic patients are advised to take food items with low glycaemic index than those with high glycaemic index. Groundnuts, soybeans, lentils and kidney beans are some of the examples of food items with low glycaemic index. If there is any doubt in planning your meal, never hesitate to consult a dietitian. Planning meals according to diabetic food pyramid is very important for a diabetic patient. Over consumption of junk foods like burgers and soft drinks make blood sugar level to go high. Healthy eating with healthier lifestyle keeps diabetes under control.