If you have been diagnosed with prediabetes, now is the time to take control of your health. If not diagnosed and acted on time it can silently lead to type 2 diabetes. This condition is like a red flag, and if you don’t act now, it can progress to full-fledged type 2 diabetes. Simple changes like diet modification and lifestyle adjustments can significantly reverse prediabetes and bring your blood sugar into a normal range.
Understanding Prediabetes
Prediabetes indicates that your blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be classified as type 2 diabetes. The primary cause is the body’s inability to use insulin effectively, leading to glucose accumulation in the bloodstream. Prediabetes often has no apparent symptoms, making regular check-ups crucial.
Why Diet Matters: The Indian Context
Managing diabetes, or preventing its onset from prediabetes, requires a mindful approach to nutrition. According to the 2023 ICMR Guidelines, over 101 million Indians live with diabetes, highlighting the critical role of a balanced diet in preventing complications like neuropathy and cardiovascular disease. The traditional Indian 'Thali' concept, emphasizing combinations of local, seasonal, and predominantly plant-based ingredients, aligns well with current evidence-based recommendations. These practices ensure a balance of necessary food groups, improving adherence to meal plans and glycemic control.
Key Principles of a Prediabetes Diet
Remember, you cannot deprive your body of nutrients while you try to bring in some changes in your diet for the better. The goal of a prediabetic diet is to eat natural and minimally processed foods that give you all the essential nutrients, enough calories and loads of fiber to help you reach (or stay at) your ideal body weight.
Carbohydrate Control:
Read also: The Hoxsey Diet
- Be cautious about your carb intake.
- Go for complex carbs over the simple ones.
- Replace white rice, white bread, white flour (maida), breakfast cereals with brown rice, millets, quinoa, whole grains, whole wheat. They release glucose slowly into the bloodstream and help to control blood sugar levels, especially postprandial.
- While keeping a low carbohydrate count, don’t forget to get enough fiber from your diet, which improves your gut health and keeps blood sugars in check.
- However, remember all foods have calories, so don’t go overboard with them.
Avoid Processed and Packaged Foods:
- These are high in sugar and carbs.
- Make it a rule: If you have to open the packet and eat directly from it, you are better off not having that food.
Limit Sugar Intake:
- The very reason you are trying to cut down on carbs is to get sugars in control.
- You don’t want to ruin all your efforts while adding more sugar to your system by consuming foods that are high in sugars.
- The obvious ones are sweets, cookies, pastries, cakes, and the hidden sources of sugars are breakfast cereals, flavored yogurt, condiments, health drinks.
Understand Glycemic Index (GI):
- The GI rates food as they affect blood sugar levels.
- The highest score is 100, and the lowest is 0.
- As a rule, you should choose foods with a GI score of 55 or less as they raise blood sugar levels slowly.
- Make a list of foods, even the healthy ones that increase your blood glucose levels, and stay away from them.
Eat in Moderation:
- Even if you choose everything healthy and get the right diet plan in place, don’t forget to eat everything in moderation.
- Remember, no food is calorie-free.
Snack Smart:
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- When controlling blood sugar, the bigger challenge is to control the sugar load during snack time more than during meal times.
- So, choose foods that satiate you and keep you fuller for longer.
- For instance, one regular biscuit has 15 gm carbs and so does a small apple.
Time Your Meals:
- To beat prediabetes, remember to avoid too long or short gaps throughout the day.
- Some people might need to keep this gap for up to 3 to 4 hours maximum.
- This again depends on your health status and personal glycemic response.
Avoid Vices:
- If you want to seriously prevent the progression of diabetes from prediabetes try to give up your vices like smoking, tobacco, and alcohol.
- These are risk factors for diabetes.
Plan Your Snacks:
- People usually go wrong with snacking because unlike the main meals snacks are not planned well in advance.
- So keep a snack bag ready - stuffed with roasted chana, makhana, fruits.
Increase Protein Intake:
- Protein is one of the three main macronutrients along with carbohydrates and fats that provide fuel to our body.
- While you cut down on carbohydrates, remember to up your protein intake to help your body function at its optimal.
- Both plant and animal proteins are good for people who are trying to lose weight and control blood sugar levels.
- Plant foods tend to be high in fiber and low in saturated fat, which can help decrease insulin resistance and improve glycemic control.
- Animal proteins have the highest quality protein with all amino acids.
- Ensure that you have the right amount of protein in your diet and don’t overdo it.
- If you are into strength training and take supplements to build muscles it is best to have a word with your doctor or healthcare coach to know how much protein you need and if you are taking it in the right amount.
Choose Healthy Fats:
Read also: Weight Loss with Low-FODMAP
- We know that fats are also a macronutrient that we cannot avoid.
- There are good fats and bad fats.
- Choose foods that are high in unsaturated fats as they are good for heart health and also helps to keep blood sugars in check.
Avoid Trans Fats:
- No questions asked.
- They are the bad kind of fats that increase LDL cholesterol and reduce HDL cholesterol.
- They also make your blood sugar levels go haywire.
- Stay away from Packaged foods, fast foods, fried foods, and high-calorie bakery products for the same reason.
Be Mindful of Cooking Oils:
- Cooking oils can make your blood sugar levels soar, especially if they are high in trans fats.
Limit Coffee Intake:
- Having more than two cups of coffee a day can work against your diet plan as caffeine can have a damaging effect on your blood sugar levels.
Check for Deficiencies:
- Raised blood sugar levels can lead to certain vitamin and mineral deficiencies.
- It is imperative to check for these deficiencies so it doesn’t lead to other health problems.
- Just because we need them in minuscule amounts does mean they are not needed.
- Don’t take supplements without consulting with doctors or your health coach.
Read Labels Carefully:
- While buying food from stores, always read the levels carefully.
- Look at total carbohydrate and sugar content before picking up a pack.
- Check for hidden sugars names like - fructose, sucrose, maltose, dextrose, corn syrup, corn sweetener, rice syrup - which are all sugars with different names.
Chew Your Food:
- Sometimes we don’t chew our food and swallow it down.
- This makes us eat more as the brain fails to recognize when to send a cue to stop.
- So chew every morsel at least 10 to 15 times before swallowing it.
Follow the Plate Method:
- An ideal nutritious plate should be filled like follows - Half plate with vegetables - cooked, steamed or tossed, A quarter of the plate with proteins - meat, eggs, legumes, pulses, tofu, cottage cheese or paneer.
Control Portions:
- Sometimes we go overboard with second helpings.
- If you want to get more food on your plate ask yourself if you really need it.
Stay Hydrated:
- Don’t forget to drink your 8 glasses of water throughout the day.
- Dehydration means increased blood sugar levels.
Manage Stress:
- Wondering how this will help in lowering blood sugar?
- Well, having a gloomy mood affects your hormones which can trigger binge eating or emotional eating.
- Usually, we end up eating more when stressed so stop having meals at your desk when you are running against a deadline or when you want to turn to food for comfort.
- Instead, go for a walk, listen to music or read a book to calm your mind.
Get Enough Sleep:
- Sleep deprivation can increase blood sugar levels and increase hunger and initiate late-night binging.
Develop a Relationship with Food:
- Sometimes to eat well and healthy you need to develop a relationship with food.
- Not just what we eat, how we eat it also makes the difference.
Change Your Cooking Style:
- Changing your cooking style can help to retain more nutrients and aid in the process of healthy eating and blood sugar control.
- Add herbs, roots, whole species to your meals rather than store-bought masalas.
Eat on Time:
- Always eat on time and avoid long gaps between meals.
Practice Mindful Eating:
- Practice mindful eating to eat healthily and consume the right amount of calories.
Maintain Diet on Vacation:
- Even if you are on vacation, don’t break your diet pattern.
Foods to Embrace in Your Prediabetes Diet
Non-Starchy Vegetables:
- Fill half your plate with colorful, nonstarchy vegetables like carrots, bell peppers, broccoli, and leafy greens such as spinach or kale.
- Plant-based fiber fills you up without raising blood sugar. Vegetables are also full of nutrients. Aim for at least 3-5 servings a day. That’s ½ cup cooked or 1 cup raw. You can choose fresh, frozen, or canned. But be sure to go for the low- or no-sodium kind.
Fruits (in Moderation):
- These plant-based sweets have sugar, but that doesn’t mean you should avoid them. Fruit is packed with fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
- Aim for two to three servings a day. That could be one small apple or ½ cup of strawberries.
- Ask your doctor if you should opt for low-sugar choices. That includes berries, kiwi, melons, and oranges.
- Try pairing your fruit with healthy proteins like natural nut butter, Greek yogurt, or almonds.
Whole Grains:
- Unlike refined grains, whole grains have all their original fiber and other nutrients.
- You can eat them for breakfast or as a side dish for lunch or dinner.
- They come in lots of forms, including oatmeal, brown rice, whole-wheat bread or pasta, and quinoa.
- You can even make cookies with whole-grain flours.
- If you buy a packaged product, make sure you see the word “whole” before grain on the label.
Nuts and Seeds:
- Grab a handful of any kind you like. Just make sure they’re unsalted. And stick to the serving size, about an ounce.
- Nuts and seeds have healthy fats, but they’re also high in calories.
- Good choices include walnuts, pistachios, peanuts, sunflower seeds, and cashews.
Lean Protein Sources:
- Try including protein with all your meals and snacks. It helps you feel full and slows how fast carbohydrates go into your bloodstream.
- That’s important when it comes to keeping your blood sugar steady.
- Sources include fatty fish and seafood, plant-based protein like beans and lentils, eggs and low-fat dairy, and lean meats.
Lente Carbohydrates: Lente carbohydrates are slowly absorbed in the body as they contain high amounts of viscous fiber, thereby delaying gastric emptying time and blunting the post-meal BG response. Sources of lente carbohydrates are lentils, split grams, chickpeas, kidney beans, green peas, soaked pulses and barley, which are commonly consumed in Indian cuisine.
Traditional Indian Thali: Thali consisting of whole wheat chapati, brown rice, lentil curry, green vegetable with split yellow lentil, cucumber slices, onion slices, lemon wedge, pickle, thin, spiced, roasted disc made of pulse (papad), buttermilk with herbs, and a sweet (sesame ladoo), served on a banana leaf.
Foods to Limit or Avoid
Sugary Drinks:
- These beverages spike blood sugar because they don’t come with other nutrients -- like fiber and protein -- to slow down the digestion process.
- If you have prediabetes, it’s a good idea to limit or skip the following 100% fruit juice, soda, and sweetened coffee drinks.
- Try to avoid energy or sports drinks, mixed alcohol cocktails, and lemonade or sweet tea.
Added Sugars:
- Read the Nutrition Facts label to see how much added sugar is in a packaged food or drink.
- You can use the 5-20 rule: 5% daily value (DV) or less means it’s a low source of sugar. If it’s 20% DV or higher, then you'll want to put it back.
- You’ll find added sugar in lots of processed foods, such as cookies, candy, and cakes. It’s also in flavored oatmeal, ketchup, and jelly.
Starchy Vegetables (in Excess):
- These have more carbohydrates than their nonstarchy counterparts. But they have healthy nutrients, too. If you use the plate method, give them a quarter of the space.
- Starchy vegetables include white potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, and winter squash like acorn or butternut.
Lifestyle Changes: The Perfect Complement to Diet
Remember diet and exercise go together when it comes to controlling blood sugar and keeping it in the normal range. No matter how many changes you bring into your diet, without having a proper exercise schedule in place nothing will be effective.
- Regular Exercise: Engaging in regular physical activities can help you reduce your blood sugar levels and enhance insulin sensitivity. Regular exercise goes a long way in regulating your body, and ensuring that your blood sugar (and other) parameters become/stay normal.
- Don’t Skip Breakfast: Try to eat within 2 hours of when you wake up. That may help control your blood sugar later in the day. In general, it’s a good idea to eat when you feel hungry. That’s because you might overeat or grab something easy -- and possibly less healthy -- if you go a long time without food.
Traditional Indian Practices for Diabetes Management
- Ayurveda: The Vedic scholars developed the science of Ayurveda between 2500-500 BC for managing a healthy lifestyle. Ayurveda comes from two words: ayus, meaning life and veda, meaning study or knowledge; hence ‘Ayurveda’ means knowledge of life. It not only encompassed detailed medical science, but also emphasized nutrition, exercise, and other aspects to promote physical, as well as mental, wellbeing, strengthen immunity, and enable effective gut function. Food practices focused on function and flavor. The key principles included individualization to match the elements of existence, body types, professions, and the local and seasonal availability of ingredients, all while minimizing waste. Food would be season-specific (‘warming’ foods in winter and vice versa), based on the Ayurvedic concept that there is ‘nature’s wisdom’ in what is seasonally available. Ideally, meals were supposed to have all six tastes: sweet, sour, salty, pungent or spicy, bitter, and astringent. The ancient culture realized that multiple constituents like herbs, spices, and other food components may work synergistically to produce a therapeutic effect.
- Ancient Cooking Techniques: Traditionally, Indian households cooked in earthen and iron pots. Benefits include the ability of earthen vessels to absorb moisture (due to their porous nature) and let heat circulate evenly and slowly through the food being cooked, making it aromatic and retaining nutrition. Clay being alkaline balances the pH and neutralizes acidity. It adds many important nutrients like calcium, magnesium, iron and phosphorus. Cooking in a clay pot needs much less oil.
Seeking Professional Guidance
- Talk to a Dietitian: You don’t have to figure all this out on your own. Ask your doctor to refer you to a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN). That’s a trained professional who’ll help you make simple dietary changes based on your lifestyle.
- Personalized Care: At Kailash Hospital, Noida, they craft customized plans based on blood reports and lifestyle. For personalized care, book a consultation at Kailash Hospital, Noida, where expertise meets compassion.
Monitoring and Prevention
- Regular Check-ups: Ask your doctor about your test schedule and get your blood sugar tested regularly to make sure your parameters are in check.
- Early Intervention: Remember, prediabetes is a warning that your body is struggling to maintain a healthy blood sugar level.
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