Dietary Tips for Managing Blood Sugar Levels

Abstract

High blood sugar level is associated with Diabetes mellitus also known as hyperglycemia as well as blood sugar level can drop also that condition is kept under hypoglycemia.  Diabetes diet is simply meant to be eating the healthiest and nourishment rich food items in moderate quantities as well as may take in regular time intervals. Diabetic diet is filled with a nourishment rich supplemental diet with less fat and calories. These all include fruits, vegetables and some specific grains. Diabetic diet plan is a full diet that can be followed by everyone not only for high blood sugar levels. Healthy-eating diet will help us to control our blood sugar levels and give us energetic feelings. In this article we are going to discuss some dietary tips to maintain our blood sugar levels at normal state.

Introduction

If you are suffering from diabetes or are in prediabetic state then your physician must recommend you to take a healthy diet first then he will help you with medicinal preparations. Diet plan helps you to take important supplements that are also in a decided quantity that ultimately helps you to control your sugar levels, can be termed as glucose, can control your weight, or can control heart disorders to develop, increased fat levels in blood, can control the blood pressure. When you take more calories or fat, body starts to metabolises more glucose and this leads to undesirable rise in glucose levels, if this isn’t kept in normal state it can lead in several problems like high blood sugar level (hyperglycemic condition), and it may results in long term complications such as damage to nerves, heart, kidneys or eyes. Eating habits and our daily meal helps to keep your blood sugar levels in normal range. With Type II Diabetes Mellitus, weight loss is a very good source to control the blood sugar levels, and also some other benefits to reach up to your goal safely.

What Does Diabetes Mellitus Diet Include?

Diabetic diet includes three full meals filled with sufficient minerals and vitamins that maintain our needs as for our daily requirement. This helps us to make proper insulin according to our needs and then also helps us to not use any medication for controlling our blood sugar levels. An Ayurvedic practitioner can help you by guiding a proper diet according to your prakriti, your digestive fire, and according to your severity of condition. We also help to achieve your health goals, according to your lifestyle and taste by improving your eating habit that is suitable for your eating habit and daily activeness.

Recommended Diet and lifestyle for Diabetic Patients

Diabetes is a sedentary lifestyle disorder that is mainly caused due to bad dietary habits and this disorder is very common nowadays. In Ayurveda this disease is correlated with Prameha specifically with Madhumeha. Its main causative factors includes lazy lifestyle, apathya ahar-vihar, like diet taken according to the taste of the mouth, nowadays we also take meals according to our tastes that are not beneficial for our nutritional diet, as a oily, fried, junk food, increased sleep as in days also, increased intake of milk products, new harvested food intake, these all can lead to aggravate the kapha dosha and madhumeha is directly results from vitiated kapha.

Let's discuss about Do’s and Don’ts or pathya-apathya for diabetic patient -

1. Pathya Ahara

1. Fresh vegetables must be consumed in daily diets, in a raw and boiled form, it can be used with pure mustard oil, cow’s ghee.
2. Use green vegetables as your sabji or in salads also like radish, carrot, cucumber, onion, cabbage or cauliflower, spinach, pumpkin, various varieties of gourds as in cooked form or in smoothie form also.
3. You can have green leaves juices that acts as refreshing juices, it includes radish leaves, spinach leaves, beetroot leaves, coriander leaves, leaves of murraya koenigii, mint leaves, and basil leaves are taken upto 5-6 and blend them to make juice that is very beneficial for diabetic patient. You can also add a pinch of saindhav lavan according to your taste, it can be taken after 2 hours of breakfast.
4. Coconut water and pumpkin juice are also used on alternate days,
5. These juices should be consumed very slowly like 1 glass of juice to be drunk in half an hour.
6. Seasonal fruits are very nutritious and can be taken by diabetic patients. Fruits can be consumed raw by peeling off or in a juice form that is freshly prepared.
7. Dry fruits can also be consumed by diabetic patients like almonds, walnuts, cashew nuts, resins by overnight soaking and used the next morning by peeling-off. Soaking time can be differ from fruit to fruit like almonds take 8 hours for soaking, anjeer needs ½ hour, resins for overnight, cashew nuts take 2 hours to soak.
8. Herbals teas are also recommended to control the diabetes, and it can be decided according to the patient’s prakriti, add coriander seeds, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, cinnamon, cardamom seeds take these as ½ teaspoon in 3 cups of water and boil it until ½ cup of water and consume it daily in early morning, jaggery or honey can be added in small amount.
9. Millets are powerhouse of nutritions, these are filled with low glycemic index, detoxifies the blood, are gluten free and prevents various diseases like diabetes, hypertension, and even cancers. Kodo millets, Barnyard millets, browntop millets are specifically used to lower the risk of diabetes.

2. Apathya Ahara

1. Dairy products
2. Non-vegetarian meals
3. Newly harvested food items like rice or wheat
4. Heavy pulses like urad ki dal, rajma or kidney beans, chickpeas should not be consumed
5. Refined oils or ghee
6. Table salt
7. Bakery or processed food items
8. Tea, coffee or other carbonated drinks
9. Packed juices filled with preservatives, or contained sugar.

Lifestyle Modifications

1. Wake up early in the morning between 4 to 6 AM.
2. Go for a walk and consume some fresh air
3. Do yoga, pranayam, kapalbhati, sheetali pranayama
4. Take herbal tea on daily basis
5. Take proper meals or proper intervals.
6. Choose stairs on behalf of lifts.
7. Try to walk after every meal.
8. Don’t use vehicles for short distances.
9. Try to carry your luggage in your hands, not on tiers.

Conclusion

As we know diabetes is a lifestyle disorder caused by sedentary habits, and Ayurveda is a traditional science that helps us to keep focused on our healthy life by doing some modification in our diet and lifestyle that can be very helpful in starting phases of developing  diseases. These changes must stop the development of disease and give us a healthy disease-free life. Ayurveda can also save us from various life-threatening conditions and gives us various herbal formulations that can also help us to get rid of ongoing diseases.