Celebrity Nutritionist Recommends 5 Simple Tips To Manage Diabetes

Diabetes is a chronic condition which affects thousands of people in India. It is a metabolic condition which results in high blood sugar because of inadequate production of insulin or body not responding properly to insulin. Maintaining diabetes is mostly done by eating right and regular exercise. But at times no matter how much you try, managing diabetes and healthy blood sugar levels becomes difficult, and this is mostly because of lack of the right kind of information. Diabetes is often reduced to a blood sugar problem, wherein people constantly focus on regulating blood sugar alone. But there is more to diabetes than blood sugar, and celebrity nutritionist Rujua Diwekar agrees. She shares some easy tips for diabetes on her Facebook and Instagram.
5 easy tips for diabetics to regulate blood sugar levels in a better way:
1. Have a fresh, seasonal fruit at the beginning of the day along with almonds
People with diabetes can benefit by starting their day with a fresh and seasonal fruit, or a banana. Doing this is important as one of the worse ways to affect your health is by staying hungry after a night of fasting. Avoid starting your day with a cup of tea or coffee. The best thing to do is allowing your body to stabilise blood sugars for the day by starting it with a fresh fruit or a handful of nuts.
2. Wrap up your lunch between 11 am to 1 pm and include buttermilk in it
Diabetes drugs tend to play havoc with the digestive system. Conditions like constipation and IBS are common among those who have been taking diabetes medicines for too long. Having your lunch at the right time, and including a glass of homemade buttermilk with full fat curd can help in improving digestion. This also helps in improving assimilation of Vitamin D and Vitamin B12, while killing cravings for sugar after the lunch.
3. Include peanuts in your diet
People with diabetes can benefit by including peanuts as a snack in their diet. They can eat peanuts as a snack mid-afternoon or mid-evening. Peanuts are a rich source of amino-acids, vitamins and minerals. A handful of peanuts can be heart healthy and make you feel full for longer. Ditch digestive biscuits which claim to be rich in fibre and switch to peanuts as a healthy snack.
4. You can add 1 tsp of sugar in your tea/coffee. Artificial sweeteners need to be avoided
People with diabetes need to understand that diabetes is much more than a high sugar problem. According to Rujuta, the real danger in case of diabetes is starving cells, along with complications of kidney, heart and neuromuscular issues. Adding 1 tsp of sugar to your tea or coffee is safer and healthier than adding an artificial sweeteners or even stevia – as they have the tendency to increase circulating levels of insulin. This further increases insulin resistance. People with diabetes can have around 2 to 3 cups of tea or coffee in a day – made with full fat milk and cane sugar.
5. Weight train at least 2 times a week
One of the major drivers of insulin resistance is loss of muscular strength. Thus, weight training is extremely important for people with diabetes. Doing strength training with weights can help in reversing diabetes, mentions Rujuta. Exercising regularly can help in reducing dose of medicines among diabetics. She further adds that medical advice is slow as compared to how exercise science helps in managing diabetes. Thus, if your doctor is advising you to go for a walk daily, you are good to go to the gym as well!