Diabetes Mellitus (DM)

Definition

• Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a condition in which the amount of glucose (sugar) in the blood is too high. As the body can not use it properly.
• Insulin a hormone produced by the pancreas helps glucose to enter cells, where the body uses it as a fuel.
• There are two types:
  • Type 1 diabetes- where the body does not produce any insulin
  • Type 2 diabetes - where the body does not utilise the insulin to function normally (most common of the two)
    
    

Factors causing DM:

• genetic  (familiy history)
• Physically inactive
• Overweight
• Diabetes due to pregnancy

 
Statistics

• 2 million people are diagnosed with diabetes in the U.K.

• Approximately 750,000 are undiagnosed.

• Diabetics are at a high risk of:

  • Cardiovascular disease

  • Blindness

  • Kidney failure.
    

Do you have Diabetic symptoms like?

• Increased Thirst
• Frequent urination (usually noticed at night)
• Extreme tiredness
• Blurred vision
• Weight loss
• Regular episode of thrush
• Genital itching

What can you do.

• Risk of DM can be significantly reduced by:
  • increasing physical activity
  • reducing body weight
  • watching your diet
• A simple fasting blood test can exclude or diagnose DM.
• Knowledge, understanding and acquiring self-management skills are very important to prevent complications of DM.

FOODS TO EAT AND AVOID

What one eats is very important from the point of view of his health.
The chief concern while monitoring and controlling diabetes is to see that the sugar level does not cross the normal range. This means that one needs to cut down on certain types of food and consume regularly those foods, which are good at regulating diabetes.

People with diabetes should try to maintain a healthy weight and eat a diet that is:

• low in fat
• low in sugar
• low in salt
• high in fruit and vegetables (at least five portions a day)
• high in starchy carbohydrate foods, such as bread, chapatti, rice.

There is no such food that people with diabetes should never eat. In addition, there is no need to cut out all sugar. But, people with diabetes should try and eat only small amounts of foods that are high in sugar, fat. So, if you have diabetes you can treat yourself to cakes and biscuits once a blue moon, as part of a balanced diet.

What food to try and avoid

• Limit starchy foods like potatoes, white bread and pasta and and go easy with beet, carrots, peas, beans.
• Avoid sugars such as table sugar, honey, sweets and fruits
• Avoid artificially sweetened juices
• Avoid alcohol, caffeine and smoking
• Avoid Processed foods, white sugar, white flour and junk food, must be totally given up.
• Avoid sweets, glucose, fruit sugar, cakes, ice cream, chocolates, soft drinks, cream and fried foods
• Reduce salt intake
• Avoid Sweetened, fruit and low-fat yogurts
• Avoid concentrated dairy products like Cheese, Cottage cheese (except in small amounts)
• Beware of commercially packaged foods such as TV dinners, "lean" or "light" in particular, and fast foods, snack foods and "health foods".
• Limit fruit juices, as these are much higher in carbs and also lack in dietary fibre than fresh fruit. (If you like fruit juices as a drink, dilute about 1 part fruit juice with 2-4 parts water.)
• Avoid Diet" and "sugar-free" foods (except sugar-free jelly)
• Try and abstain from sweets, ice-creams and chocolates, including the so-called sugar-free types.
• Foods made from white flour, rye, corn, polished rice, bread, pasta, pastry, cakes, biscuits, pies.
• Try and avoid  fruits such as bananas, mango, grapes, strawberry, custard apple, date

What food to eat

• Eat lots of fruits and vegetables in which fibre content is very high. Such type of food lowers the requirement for insulin, the reason being it releases energy into the body cells slowly. A high fibre diet means more chromium, which is very helpful in the treatment of diabetes.
• Eat   vegetables, onion, garlic, ginger, radish, spinach, kale, cucumber, carrot, tomato, cabbage and cucumber are excellent in the treatment of diabetes. beans which have been sprouted, and unripe banana which is cooked, are also recommended.
• Fenugreek seeds which have been soaked in water are good for diabetic patients.
• Eat moderate quantity  of whole grains, such as brown rice and multigrain bread, sprouted grains  instead of the refined options
• For fruits, take guava, fig, kiwi fruit, apples, citrus fruits and pomegranate juice. Let these things be a part of your morning breakfast. Since, fruit juice is high in fructose (fruit sugar) and can cause blood sugar levels to rise quickly, it’s best for diabetics to drink fruit juice with a meal and avoid having more than one small glass a day.
• Replace white sugar with palm sugar, dates and honey, if you want to have something sweet.
• Fats like olive oil and peanut oil are good in diabetes.
• Drink plenty of water, at least 8 to 10 glasses per day.
• Single helping of fish or seafood, as it provides omega 3 fatty acids.
• Condiments such as pepper, chilli, mustard, herbs and spices.
• Raw vegetables need to be taken in large quantity, as cooked food raises the level of blood sugar fast.
• Eat non-fat dairy such as skim milk, non-fat yogurt and non-fat cheese, plain yoghurt, avoid cottage cheese a sit is high in carbohydrates.
• Some herbs and vegetables are specifically prescribed for diabetes, like Bitter Gourd and bitter melon juice.

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