How do Carbohydrate Impact Blood Sugar | मधुमेह में क्या खाना चाहिए | Diet for Diabetes

 In the last blog, Cure Diabetes Without Medicine Permanent Naturally | Eradicate Diabetes like Polio we discussed How to cure diabetes permanently. We discussed the types of diabetes, complications, and its management to stay healthy.

In today's blog, we will discuss, How carbohydrates impact blood sugar levels.

The world is changing at a fast pace. You must stop it and consider your health in this quick-paced society. These days, illnesses like diabetes have become extremely common. Diabetes must be eradicated like polio since there are 77 million type 2 diabetic patients above the age of 18 and 25 million people who are pre-diabetic in India alone, according to WHO (World Health Organization).  

Diabetes is simply a rise in blood sugar levels over normal (normal blood sugar levels are less than 100 mg/dl before meal intake). According to studies, 90% of diabetic individuals experience insulin resistance, which is brought on by an unhealthy and high carbohydrate-rich diet. The primary query is "How and which food components may impact our blood glucose level." Another query that can cross your mind is whether only sweet and sugary foods affect blood glucose levels.

Understanding the fundamentals of food

MICRONUTRIENTS:

Various herbs and green vegetables contain a variety of micronutrients to be included in daily diet. Micronutrients include Vitamins, Minerals, enzymes, and Phytonutrients which can be obtained from specific food items only. Proteins in the bone make it flexible while calcium makes it harder. Now Vitamin D, which is a micronutrient, facilitates the binding of calcium to bones.

Similarly, vitamin C can help to counter problems like bleeding gums, which can be obtained by Lemon and Indian gooseberry (Amla). Vitamins should be included in the daily diet because vitamins get excreted out of the body after a specific interval of time.

Micronutrients act as catalysts (a substance that can increase or decrease any biochemical reaction inside the body). A catalyst is needed in small quantity for the biochemical reactions in the human body. Micronutrients like vitamins and enzymes act as phytonutrients that add therapeutic value to food and cure many diseases. In the Ayurveda system of medicine, certain plants and herbs are used as medicines that contain these phytonutrients. 

MACRONUTRIENTS:

• Macronutrients comprise 95% of our body and include proteins, fats, water, and carbohydrates.
• These form the structural components of the human body. For example, hair and nails are made up of proteins.
• We know that the human body is made up of cells, a cluster of cells gives rise to tissue, and a cluster of tissue gives rise to organs, all of these have a common structural component and they are protein, fats, and water.
• Our body can store all the macronutrients mentioned above but not carbohydrates because they are used for energy generation. The energy is generated inside the cells and is utilized by our body.

CARBOHYDRATES CONVERSION INTO SUGAR

1. In simple terms when an individual consumes food it goes to the stomach, and carbohydrate present in the food is broken down in the intestine and converted into glucose (Sugar).
2. This glucose molecule then enters the bloodstream and then to the cells and is utilized in it.
3. Insulin is responsible for the transfer of glucose from the blood to the cells. The increase in blood glucose triggers the release of insulin from the pancreas into the blood and carries the glucose molecule inside the cell for energy generation thereby lowering the rise of blood glucose level.
4. An interesting fact about insulin is that from 6 P.M. onwards its concentration in blood increases. This is because the body is getting ready to trap the glucose from the blood in the cells after carbohydrate intake through meals.

Intake of unnecessary amounts of carbohydrates in food causes insulin resistance, where insulin is present in the blood in adequate amounts but it can not push the glucose inside the cells because the cells already have huge amounts of glucose inside it.

CARBOHYDRATE-RESTRICTED DIET FOR DIABETICS

Food should be consumed after nutritional analyses which are printed behind any food product. If carbohydrate is more, then it would have a greater impact on the blood glucose level. For example, almonds contain 20-25% of proteins, 50% of fats, 10% of moisture, and the remaining 10-15% of carbohydrates.

 In this contrary, rice contains 1-2% of fats, 2-4% of protein, 5-10% of moisture, and 80% of carbohydrate. Rice may be brown or white and analyses of both have been found to contain almost 80% of carbohydrates. If an individual is consuming almonds over rice, carbohydrate content is much higher in rice than in almonds. Almonds would have a negligible increase in blood glucose levels whereas rice will show an exorbitant rise (white or brown). 

 WHAT TO EAT IN DIABETES

A diabetes diet should include complete, nutrient-dense meals that help regulate blood sugar levels and enhance general health. Here are a few foods to consider:

• Green vegetables: They are high in Fiber and are important nutrients having low carbohydrate content. Broccoli, spinach, and cauliflower are some examples.
• Proteins: fish, meat, and eggs are the good source of proteins.
• Healthy Fats: Include healthy fat sources in your diet, such as avocados, nuts, seeds, and olive oil.
• Fruits: Choose those fruits that have low glycemic load like apples, berries, cherries, and pears. If you want to know the glycemic load value of different food items, you can have a glycemic load chart from us which contains 300 food items with their respective values.

If you are a vegetarian then you can rely on green vegetables and non-animal proteins like soya beans. 

If you are a diabetic and in search of zero-sugar content food items then Diabexy is the place where you can get flour and snacks along with supplements and sweeteners, many more. These products are made using low glycemic load ingredients hence blood sugar increase is almost negligible. So, on a good note, you can enjoy having your cookies at evening tea or you can enjoy having dessert after a meal without taking any tension that your blood sugar levels.

WHAT TO AVOID IN DIABETES

Management of diabetes is not an easy process. Proper knowledge and discipline are required to reverse diabetes without any medication. You can start managing your diabetes today by controlling your eating habits. Mentioned below are a few items that you should avoid if you are pre-diabetic or diabetic.    

• Sugary drinks, such as cold drinks, fruit juices, and sweetened teas, should be avoided because they might induce rapid blood sugar rises.
• Limit your intake of sugary foods such as candy, pastries, and sugary cereals.
• Avoid highly processed carbohydrates such as white bread, white rice, which are generally high in refined carbohydrates.
• Avoid trans fats, which are found in many processed and fried meals and can contribute to insulin resistance.
• Limit high-sodium (high salt content) foods since they can increase the risk of high blood pressure and heart disease, both of which are major risk factors in diabetes.
• Excessive alcohol consumption should be avoided because it can influence blood sugar levels and interfere with medications.

Now answering the question that may have come to your mind previously, whether salty food increases blood sugar level? The blood glucose level depends on the nutritional analysis of the food irreverent to the sweet or salty taste of the food. Food rich in carbohydrates increases blood glucose levels irrespective of its taste.

For example, if we compare salted and sweet biscuits both have similar ingredients but the salted biscuits contain a higher number of salts to give a salty taste. Both biscuits have almost equal amounts of carbohydrates; hence both can equally impact the blood glucose level.

In contrast to these biscuits’ almond biscuits of Diabexy are made of “Fructo-oligosaccharide” which contains the same amount of carbohydrates as that of normal biscuits but these carbohydrates do not increase the blood glucose level as normal biscuits do. Now the question that arises here is whether each carbohydrate impacts the blood glucose level to the same extent. This question will be discussed in our next blog Diabetic Foods to Eat and Avoid | डायबिटीज में क्या खाना चाहिए और क्या नहीं खाना चाहिए till then stay tuned and if necessary, feel free to contact us for health and food-related assistance.