Follow these healthy food habits to keep your diabetes in control

Diabetes has become one of the most common life style diseases in our country. However, you could easily control the blood sugar levels by following healthy eating habits. Here is a meal plan that could help diabetic patients stay healthy.

Breakfast
(One of the below)
Puttu with Bengal gram/ mung beans curry (1:1 ratio)
Idli (2 -4) with sambar/chutney

Dosa (1 – 3) with sambar/chutney
Vellayappam (1 -2) with Bengal gram/ mung bean curry
Upma (loaded with veggies): 1 – 1.5 cups
Puri (1 -2) with mixed vegetable curry (avoid potatoes)

You could drink one or two cups of unsweetened tea in a day.

Try to include a mid day snack between breakfast and lunch. A bowl of cucumber salad, one or two rusks or a few oats biscuits are great options.

Half an hour before lunch
Grind a small piece of ginger, 7 – 8 curry leaves and1 -2 bird eye chilies. Mix this in fat free buttermilk by adding four times more water. This would fill your tummy and prevent you from overeating rice for lunch. Besides, it helps in reducing fat and sugar levels.

Lunch
Avoid white rice; instead include matta rice or rice with bran in your regular diet. Restrict rice to just 1 – 1.5 cups and increase the quantity of curries. Pulses, small fish (not fried) and vegetables with fibre content could be included.

Evening snack
Green tea or ash gourd juice could be enjoyed instead of oil fried snacks. You could also eat a slice of brown bread or oats biscuits.

Dinner
1 -2 chapathi/ ragi dosa/ wheat dosa/ oats dosa with mixed vegetable curry or boiled vegetables.

You could eat fruits moderately but avoid fruit juices.

Diabetics could be controlled by having healthy food at the right time and by working out.

Information courtesy
Dr. Nayana Raj (Chief Ayurveda Physician and Clinical Psychologist, Punarjani Ayur Clinic, Chemmanthatta, Kecheri, Thrissur)