5 Tips to Prepare a Diet Plan for Diabetics

There is no doubt that diet plays an important role in management of Diabetes. A good diet plan helps in maintaining both weight and blood sugar levels. Especially if you’re an obese, it becomes important to consult your doctor or dietician and work with them to plan the best diet that work for you.

If it is possible you must buy as much fresh and organic foods as possible. Fresh fruits and vegetables are certainly packed with more vitamins and other nutrients than any packaged products, thus more useful for diabetics.

Here are five tips to manage your diabetic diet:

1. Strike off the unhealthy snacks and replace them with healthier alternatives

If you don’t have a solid diet plan, you tend to frequently munch upon anything that’s available in the refrigerator. That means you cannot regulate the amounts of carbs you’re taking throughout the day. You may have to let go of many snacks which doesn’t fit a healthy diabetic diet. Though it may seem hard in the beginning, once you’re used to you new regime you’d start loving your new diet plan. Replace fried, high carb and fat products with healthier alternatives like dried unsweetened fruits, unsalted nuts, fresh fruits and vegetables. Take no more than two dark chocolates squares instead of regular chocolate.

2. Replace regular refined flour with whole-grain flour

Flour and flour products form the bulk of the diet especially in India where diet is incomplete without chapati (Indian bread). It’s important to switch from refined flour to whole-grain or multi-grain flour which is richer in dietary fiber and low on carbs. Besides controlling the blood sugar fiber had a lot of other health benefits too. Apart from chapati, other flour products like bread slices, noodles and pasta should also be replaced with their whole-grain alternatives. Consuming fresh bread is better than preserved bread. Some people think that whole grain products do not taste good, and thus do not switch. However, that’s not really the taste. Whole-grain products are equally delicious too. You may also replace regular rice with brown rice. Also, replace polished dals (pulses) with unpolished dals. You should also replace regular potatoes with new smaller potatoes.

3. Wine in moderation is a better alternative to cocktails

Cocktails are all about sugar, preservatives and synthetic colours, making them highly unhealthy especially for diabetics. On the other hand, a single drink of red wine with your dinner can prove beneficial to your heart too. It contains anti-oxidants with help in cleansing body of free radicals. However, do not exceed the recommended alcohol uptake.

Diet coke is another alternative drink which has little sugar, thus can be consumed in place of cocktails and regular cold drinks.

4. Consume more fruits and vegetables

Fresh fruits and vegetables are rich sources of most vitamins and minerals that your body requires. Though it is best to consume them raw, you can also cook vegetables in a number of ways. Steaming vegetables the healthiest method of cooking than others as it preserves most nutrients without adding carbs or fats to the diet. If you need to use oil for cooking it’s best to use olive oil.

5. Drink plenty of water

There is nothing more beneficial for health than simple plain water. You can drink as much water as you can, as more you drink more it will cleanse your body and keep your kidneys happy. Minimum amount of water that one should consume is 2-3 litres. As such diabetics suffer from polydipsia (excessive thirst). To increase your water uptake you may place water bottles on all the places where you’re going to spend time throughout the day, like your work desk, in kitchen, in bedroom, in living room etc. Force yourself to drink a glass of water after regular intervals whether you’re thirsty or not. Each time you drink a glass of water you’ll find yourself refreshed and be able to concentrate better on your work.

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