Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes is a metabolic disease in which the person has high blood glucose (blood sugar), either because insulin production is inadequate, or because the body's cells do not respond properly to insulin or both. Patients with high blood sugar levels over a prolonged period are considered as diabetics.

Symptoms of Diabetes:

Frequent urination.
Disproportionate thirst.
Intense hunger.
Weight gain.
Unusual weight loss.
Increased fatigue.
Irritability
Blurred vision.
Cuts and bruises don't heal properly or quickly.
More skin and/or yeast infections.
Itchy skin.
Gums are red and/or swollen.
Frequent gum disease/infection.
Sexual dysfunction (men).
Numbness or tingling, especially in your feet and hands.

General Instructions for Diabetics:

Do not skip meals and have small and frequent meals 5-6 small meals to prevent hypoglycemia.

Use whole grain cereals, whole grams, and pulses, whole wheat porridge, whole wheat bread, oats etc to incorporate fiber into your diet.
Supplement wheat with the whole channa and do not sieve flour (wheat and channa 5:1 ratio). Mix rice with whole grams or dals in a ratio of 1:1 to incorporate fiber.
Consume at least 4-5 servings of fresh green vegetables and fruits/day.
Take fruits as a dessert. Use lemon as salad dressing
Use olive / sunflower/ rice bran / soy /mustard oil. Change oils in a couple of months.
Almonds, walnuts, flax seeds and fish are good sources of antioxidants.
Fresh lime (without sugar), coconut water, soups can be taken liberally.
No fasting to be done to avoid hypoglycemia.
The patient should always carry sweet for use in an emergency when the blood glucose levels go down.
Attainment and maintenance of an appropriate body weight is a must.

Avoid:

Whole milk and its products.
Homogenized milk and its products.
Sugar, jams, jellies, honey, sugarcane(gur), chocolate, cakes pastries, etc.
Rooty vegetables like potato, colocasia (arbi), sweet potato (shakerkandi), and beetroot (chukander).
Fruits i.e. mango, banana, chiku, grapes.
Maida preparations like white bread, biscuits, plain boiled rice, sago, noodles, macaroni, etc.
Saturated fats like ghee, butter, coconut oil.
Fried foods like puris, paranthas, pakoras, samosas, kachoris, matris,etc.
Aerated drinks, fruit juices, alcoholic drinks.
Pickles in oil, sauces/ squashes.