Last Updated on March 12, 2024 by admin
Festivities and food are closely related. The festival season means reunions, fun, décor, but all the get-togethers during festivities involve food and a lot of it. However, for diabetics this is the beginning of stress as excessive uncontrolled eating can cause elevation of their blood sugar level.
However, that does not mean that diabetics cannot enjoy the festivities and of course the delicious treats that are associated with it. They just need to maintain a balance in their food intake. Says Melissa Thompson of Diabetes 365 “
While navigating family time while keeping the sugar levels in check can become a challenge for diabetics but some minor adjustments can make it happen.
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Making diabetes-friendly festival treats
There are many ways in which you can alter your family’s traditional recipes and create a diabetes-friendly feast for yourself and other family members who suffer from insulin resistance as well. Some of the tips that can help you are:
Include more protein:
- Make little twists to the way you cook food.
- Instead of using corn flour, refined flour, or rice flour for making a frying batter, use chickpea flour which has higher protein content.
- Add sprouted lentils to the mix and you will give your body a chance to heal and stabilize your blood sugar levels.
- Grab a portion of grilled fish or lean meat rather than red meat or fried stuff.
Add fibrous vegetables:
- The benefits of adding fiber to the diet cannot be underestimated.
- Fibers keep us full, regulate our bowels, and also lower the glycemic index of the food.
- Grab a plate of salad full of fibrous vegetables before filling your plate with the main meal.
Make the cake with whole flours rather than refined ones and add natural forms of sugar:
- Use whole flour to prepare sweet treats.
- Add naturally available sugars like those found in fruits instead of adding heaps of refined sugar.
Ditch the alcohol and embrace flavored water:
- Alcohol can quickly create an imbalance in your body and raise your blood sugar level. Ditch alcohol for good.
- Flavored non-sweetened water is not only delicious but will also keep you hydrated.
Read the labels:
- Every food packaging that states it to be healthy is far from what it claims.
- Read the labels and avoid high sugar and highly refined foods.
- Corn syrup, maltose, high-fructose syrups are all misleading terms and must be avoided.
Never miss your meals and your medication:
- Take all your medicines regularly. This is extremely important when applying for life insurance for diabetics.
- Missing meals can cause hypoglycaemia, which is as dangerous as uncontrolled level of glucose in the blood.
- Keep munching on healthy vegetables and fruits.
Make a habit of routinely monitoring your blood glucose levels:
Check your sugar levels daily especially during the holidays.
Lastly, don’t punish yourself. If you are keeping your diabetes in control, you can still enjoy a small piece of your favorite apple pie during the most awaited family get-together of the year. Be active all day and keep monitoring your sugar levels so that you can make changes before it gets worse.
Have fun and enjoy the festivities, don’t let diabetes take away the fun elements from your life.
