Nutrition guidelines for diabetics Mon , Jun 20

Are you a diabetic who is worried about your blood sugar levels during the lockdown? Nutrition is key in the treatment regimen for good blood sugar control. Nutritional therapy to maintain your levels focuses on maintaining optimal nutrition, portion sizes and modifying recipes.

• Have regular meals at regular times, each day. A healthy diabetes meal plate is the one that has been divided into three portions – cereals, proteins and vegetables.
• If you feel hungry in between meals, try a low-fat, low-carb snack like some fruit, a small cup of sundal (channa, green gram, cowpea, horse gram), one shallow-fried vegetable cutlet or one multigrain kara kozhukattai.
• Plan your meals ahead of time.
• Strictly avoid sweet and sugary foods.
• Reduce your fat intake and change the type of fats you eat – include nuts, especially almonds. But avoid dry fruits.
• Eat adequate fruits (apple, guava, orange, papaya, sweet lime, pomegranate) and vegetables (all green leafy, gourd vegetables) – a total of four portions of vegetables and one portion of fruit every day.
• Always eat your vegetables with meals and fruits in between meals.
• If you like fish, you can eat white fish once a week and oily fish once a week.
• Avoid too much of salt in your diet and processed foods.
• Keep yourself hydrated with sufficient amounts of water.
• Quit drinking alcohol.
• Don’t sleep during the day, try to relax and rest instead.