Wednesday 5 April 2023

Morning superfoods for diabetes; 5 drinks and snacks to have on empty stomach

From hindustantimes.com

People with diabetes can give their day a perfect start by consuming these healthy foods that will help in controlling blood sugar throughout the day.

Morning is the best time to fuel your body in the right manner. For people with diabetes, it is especially important to have foods that promote satiety, lead to slow release of glucose and the ones that provide sustained energy throughout the day without causing sugar spikes. Eating a balanced diet with the right proportion of protein, carbs, healthy fats, fibre and are non-starchy can give your body the perfect start. Morning is also the time when people with diabetes may experience rise in blood glucose as our liver produces extra glucose to fuel the body for the day. This may lead to hyperglycaemia in some. If you feel thirsty, urinating excessively or have blurry vision in the morning, you have a high blood sugar level. This is especially common in people with type 1 diabetes as they are at an increased risk of blood sugar fluctuations.

People with type 2 diabetes should periodically monitor fasting blood sugar done on an empty stomach when you wake up in the morning(Freepik)

People with type 2 diabetes should periodically monitor fasting blood sugar done on an empty stomach when you wake up in the morning(Freepik) 

"People with type 2 diabetes should periodically monitor fasting blood sugar done on an empty stomach when you wake up in the morning and a post prandial sugar which is taken two hours after a big meal like lunch or dinner. It is important to keep a tab on both these readings because some persons have a high sugar in the fasted state or some others have high sugar post prandial with the fasted state being normal," says Clinical Nutritionist Avantii Deshpaande.

Avantii says the rise in the sugar levels is the body’s way of making sure one has enough energy to get up and start the day.

"In case of diabetes, your body may not have enough insulin to counter act these hormones and hence there could be surge in blood sugar in the morning. The opposite scenario might be true too where there is hypoglycaemia in the morning and the blood sugar levels are lower than threshold. The food that you consume first thing in the morning often depends on these levels," says the nutritionist.

Based on these blood sugar readings, Avantii suggests the following foods to manage blood sugar in the morning.


1. Ghee and turmeric powder

If you have normal blood sugar levels, you can trust this powerful combination to work wonders on your blood sugar levels. Take 1 tsp of cow ghee with turmeric powder is the best thing to be consumed first thing in the morning if your sugar readings are normal.

People with diabetes experience sugar cravings and ghee helps them to get better satiety and help control sugar cravings throughout the day. Turmeric on the other hand aids in lowering inflammation which is commonly seen in diabetes.


2. Alkalising drinks

1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar or 30 ml of amla juice or lemon juice with 100 ml of water, has an alkalising effect on the body and one can choose to have this too to keep the body alkaline, which in turn helps in healing the body better.


3. Infused water

Cinnamon is a spice which is known to imitate the effects of insulin in lowering the blood sugar. You can prepare an herbal tea infused with cinnamon powder for helping you manage the blood sugar levels in the day.


4. Fenugreek water

This is another remedy which will help you lower the absorption of carbohydrates in the day. So soaking 1 tsp of fenugreek seeds overnight night and consuming this water along with chewing the seeds can help to control diabetes.


5. Protein snack

In case of hypoglycaemia or low blood sugar in the day, you can choose to consume a small protein snack first thing in the morning like soaked almonds, walnuts or then fruit with nut butter. Taking tea or coffee might not be a great idea in the morning on an empty stomach but have a puffed millets chivda or protein snack like moong khakra or moong jor garam and soaked sprouts with this.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/lifestyle/health/morning-superfoods-for-diabetes-5-drinks-and-snacks-to-have-on-empty-stomach-101680674990990.html

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