Talking about your diabetic diet, the prime aim should be controlling blood sugar levels. It’s not necessary to cut off all your favorite foods and beverages but to limit them so that they may not disrupt the amount of sugar in your blood vessels.
Controlling blood sugar levels to treat diabetes is essential as it may hamper other body functions, especially your heart. Your diet choices will decide whether you can break up with diabetes or the relationship will go on for a long time.
Where packed and processed foods draw a negative impact on your blood sugar levels, a meal plate full of leafy greens and healthy protein may help you maintain your blood sugar levels.
What’s Diabetes?
Diabetes is a group of conditions where your body stops reacting towards the balanced consumption of produced insulin or stops using insulin at all to control the blood sugar levels. This adds a surplus of sugar which eventually affects your body functions, making you more prone to serious diseases.
Types of Diabetes
There are 3 prime types of diabetes-
- Type 1 Diabetes – This type of diabetes is considered an autoimmune condition where the beta cells in your pancreas begin deteriorating by unknown factors, hampering the production of insulin. Since the damage to beta cells is permanent, it’s tough to manage type 1 diabetes and scientists are still looking for probable solutions. However, the best way to manage type 1 diabetes till now is to be active and eat healthily.
- Type 2 Diabetes – This type of diabetes arises with insulin resistance. When your body stops consuming enough insulin, it gets stored in your pancreas until it overloads. With this practice, the pancreas reduces the production of insulin and hence, the blood sugar levels get imbalanced. Factors which primarily contribute to type 2 diabetes are either genetic, due to a sedentary lifestyle, or obesity.
- Gestational Diabetes – This type of diabetes is caused by the insulin-blocking hormones that are produced during pregnancy. It is often seen that people who rely on high sugar intakes, have a genetic history of diabetes, or have pre-existing diabetes.
Signs You’re a Diabetic
People often get confused regarding the symptoms of diabetes as they are minor during the pre-existing stage and resemble many diseases. However, in severe cases, the symptoms worsen and begin reflecting.
Some of the common symptoms are-
- Excessive thirst
- Consistent feelings of hunger
- Headache
- Blurry vision
- Itchy skin
- Slow healing wounds
- Frequent urination
- Nausea
- Tiredness
- Morning sickness
- Confusion
- Unsteadiness
Potential Complications with Diabetes
The potential risks of diabetes develop over time with poorly managed blood sugar levels. The major and chronic complications of diabetes are-
- Infections
- Skin Diseases
- Nerve Damage
- Kidney Damage
- Vision Problems
- Vessel Disease
- Amputations
- Alzheimer’s disease
Top 5 Ingredients For a Diabetic-Friendly Diet
According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), the keys to a beneficial diabetic-friendly diet are as follows-
- Adding more fruits and veggies full of vitamins and nutrients
- Having lean protein
- Avoiding trans-fats
- Limit the consumption of processed and ultra-processed food
- Choose food with less added sugar
Fish
Fish is the prime source of omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA. These fatty acids help reduce the risk of heart stroke for people with diabetes. DHA and EPA both protect the cells which form the linings of your blood vessels, improve the functionality of your arteries and reduce marks of inflammation.
Leafy Green Vegetables
Leafy green vegetables are extremely low in digestible carbs. They significantly do not affect blood sugar levels. They’re full of vitamins and minerals. Green vegetables have anti-inflammatory qualities with a sufficient amount of Vitamin C and that’s why green veggies make a huge remake in balancing blood sugar levels.
Beans
Beans are legumes rich in Vitamin B. They are affordable, healthy, and super nutritious. They carry beneficial minerals including calcium, potassium, and magnesium. With a low glycemic index, they help prevent diabetes and balance blood sugar levels.
Avocados
Avocados improve your overall diet quality and significantly lowers your body weight and BMI. They have high fiber content and healthy fats with a few carbohydrates and around 1 gram of sugar. They don’t contribute to raising blood sugar levels. Hence, they are quite healthy for people dealing with diabetes.
Nuts
Here we have the delicious and nutritious ingredients of our diabetic diet plan. Most types of nuts contain fiber. They improve your heart’s health and subsequently control blood sugar levels.
Broccoli
Broccolis are considered among the most nutritious vegetables that not only control blood sugar levels but also improve your heart’s health. Broccoli carries significant nutrients including Vitamin C and magnesium. Broccoli and sprouts both are counted as cruciferous vegetables which carry sulforaphane.
Bottom Line
With a scheduled light meal plan, regular exercise, and hygiene habits; we can wisely manage our blood sugar levels and reduce the risk of severe diseases. We just need to limit or avoid the factors that disbalance your blood sugar levels such as alcohol, sugary drinks, saturated drinks, salty food, processed food, and a sedentary lifestyle. By including the above-mentioned diet ingredients, we can simply take over the charge of controlling blood sugar levels.
References-
- https://www.healthline.com/health/diabetes/types-of-diabetes#symptoms
- https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/16-best-foods-for-diabetics#_noHeaderPrefixedContent
- https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324416#green-leafy-vegetables
- https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/7104-diabetes-mellitus-an-overview
- https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/basics/diabetes.html
