High fibre best for diabetics

                 (By Lisa Sarah John, Courtesy Bangalore Times, Aug 27, 2007)

Some diabetics believe that all vegetables and fruits are safe for eating and since maida and rava are from wheat they are safe too. Some avoid rice but eat rice flakes (aval).
We see that making certain choices in our regular food can significantly reduce sugar levels.

The first thing to understand is that any food containing extra fibre is good, for example, whole wheat, broken wheat and atta are better choices than maida, rava, sevia, noodles, or pasta.

In whole wheat the skin is difficult to digest and since the body has to work harder to digest it, blood sugar levels will drop. Similarly whole wheat chapatti, whole wheat bread and wheat puttu are better than rice, idli, rice puttu and aval.

These rice items are polished and have lost their fibre. Also ragi puttu, ragi dosa, ragi porridge, oats porridge and cornflakes are better to eat for a diabetic than rice items.
Bakery products are usually made of maida and lots of vanaspati or butter is added to them, making them very, very dangerous for diabetics.
Whole wheat bread is permitted and 2 Marie biscuits may be eaten at tea time (4.30pm). All other biscuits have too much fat, so avoid the richer ones.
Vegetables with more fibre and less starch are the ones to eat. All greens are good as well as cabbage, cauliflower, ladies finger, beans, brinjal, bitter gourd, ridge gourd, kovaika and peas.

These are better choices than potato, colocassia, yam, tapioca and beet root. Radish, a little carrot and pumpkin may be eaten. But the potato, tapioca, etc. are best avoided.

The other vegetables would be 30 calories for 100gm while potato would be 90 calories for 100gms. At both lunch and dinner a diabetic must try to eat 1-2 cups raw salad — tomato, cucumber, onion, cabbage, lettuce. These are full of fibre and if eaten with a meal, helps reduce the quantity of rice and cooked food and bring down blood sugar.
The only safe fruits for a diabetic are mosamabi, orange, apple, pear and pomegranate — these have high fibre content. Eat a fruit at 11am and another at 6 pm.

Remember, bananas have a very high in their sugar content (100-120 calories), while one apple or orange is 50 calories. Even a small ellakki banana has a high sugar content. Also banana, mango, jackfruit, custard apple and chickoo are fruits which are pulpy, with less fibre and cause the blood sugar to shoot up suddenly.

Eat milk/curds made of milk, which has been thoroughly skimmed (the cream removed). Fish and chicken may be eaten but without any gravy, which is bad for diabetics.
Dietary control is the secret to managing diabetes. If not managed well the complications of diabetes can mean destruction of the heart, kidney, eye sight, hearing, gums and jawbone and can lead to the formation of gangrene in the foot.  

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