Health & Wellness
You can keep your diabetes well under control by sticking to a well-balanced diet including carbohydrates, fibre and fats. The key here is to eat at regular intervals to enable your body to use the insulin it produces and maintain an active lifestyle.
You can include special diabetic recipes in your cooking to develop healthy eating habits. However, this doesn’t mean that you not need to prepare a separate diabetic recipe every time you sit down to eat.
You just have to know what kinds of food are recommended for you and what you must avoid.
Here is a quick checklist of all items you must include in your diabetic cookbook.
Carbohydrates: Fiber-rich carbohydrates including fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes are good for a diabetic. You should focus on limiting your carb intake by controlling your portion size or controlling your carbohydrate intake in grams. Try diabetic recipes by mixing whole fruits like apple, banana, pear or oranges with low-fat yoghurt. You can also find diabetic recipes for baked vegetable casseroles. Dairy products including milk provide essential nutrients to our body. They have a low glycemic index and should, ideally, be a part of your diet irrespective of age. But, you should avoid saturated high-fat milk. Stick to low-fat alternatives including skimmed milk, yoghurt and cottage cheese.
Fibre: Try and include as much dietary fibre in your diet as you can. Certain plant fibres cannot be digested or absorbed by the human body. As they move through the body to be eliminated from our digestive system, they absorb toxic waste, cleaning up our system on the way. Vegetables, fruits, nuts, beans, peas and lentils, whole-wheat flour and wheat bran are all rich in fibre content. Try diabetic recipes using beans; they are not only filling, but they also cut down your cholesterol. Diabetic recipes for cakes using whole-wheat flour can take care of the occasional sweet tooth.
Fish as an alternative to high-fat meats: Certain species of fish including salmon, sardines, tuna and herrings are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which reduce the level of triglycerides in the body. They should be included in your diet for a healthy hat. Red meat is not recommended for diabetes patients, you can try replacing it with low-fat fish like cod, tuna and mackerel.
Fats: Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats can help in lowering your cholesterol levels. However, you should include them in your diet in limited quantities. Nuts like almonds, pecans and walnuts make for a healthy snack. But, considering their high-calorie content, limit yourself to shot-size serving. Try diabetic recipes using canola, olive and peanut oils as substitutes for butter and other cooking mediums. Avocados lower the level of cholesterol in your body and can be included in a diabetic diet. But, they have high-calorie content; so it is best to limit your weekly intake.
