Diabetes? Stay low on GI, high on life
Living with diabetes doesn’t mean eating less or depriving yourself — it simply means eating healthy and with caution. Diabetes is on the rise every year and there is no cure for it, but one can manage it well.
The first step towards the management of diabetes is to consume more of low glycemic index (GI) foods. GI means how fast and by how much a certain food will cause your blood glucose levels to rise. Glucose has a GI score of 100, and is used as a reference food to compare the GI score of all the other foods containing carbohydrates.
Consuming foods with low GI is important as they are absorbed and digested slowly, which leads to a gradual rise in blood sugar levels, thus regulating your hunger pangs.
Discussed below are some of the food items with a low GI score that every diabetic needs to consume:
■ Vegetables high in fibre: Make beans, spinach, broccoli, and green leafy vegetables a steady part of your diet. Fibre helps to feel satiated for long, thus regulating your blood sugar levels. Researchers have identified a new antioxidant in broccoli that can significantly lower blood glucose levels, along with it being rich in fibre and low in carbohydrates.
■ Pulses: Beans including black and white beans, kidney beans and chickpeas are rich in soluble fibre and protein, making them an ideal choice for diabetics.
■ Oatmeal: Being full of soluble fibre, oatmeal breaks down slowly, leading to slow absorption of glucose in the stomach, which consequently helps control blood sugar levels.
■ Cracked wheat: Popularly known as daliya, it is the crushed coarse form of raw whole wheat. It contains more fibre, vitamins and minerals, along with a lower glycemic index than rice and wheat flour.
■ Fenugreek seeds: Commonly known as methi, these seeds, being rich in fibre and other useful chemicals, helps in the slow digestion and absorption of carbohydrates and sugar by the body.
■ Green tea: This tea retains all its useful polyphenol content since it is not processed, thus having strong antioxidant and hypoglycemic effects. The polyphenols present in green tea helps control release of blood sugars.
■ Flaxseeds: They are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, protein and fibre, along with being a good source of magnesium, a mineral that helps cells use insulin, thus important in blood sugar control. The basic aim of people with diabetes should be to avoid blood sugar spikes. You need to follow a healthy diet plan that has whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables and lean proteins to be on your way for a long, healthy life.