The dilemma of weight loss hangs on every diabetic patient’s head. Accumulation of excess fat on the body leads to a huge number of diseases both chronic as well acute. Excess weight makes it harder to maintain blood sugar levels. And when you are a diabetic patient then it becomes important even worse because most patients suffer from insulin resistance which makes it even harder to lose weight.
Sometimes the cells stop responding to insulin which can tamper with the absorption of sugar and lead to a blood sugar level spike this can be especially dangerous in the long term and is called insulin resistance.
It can even have debilitating effects on the pancreases and lead to failure in insulin production. A persistent spike in blood sugar levels can lead to dangerous diseases like type 2 diabetes and a myriad of other diseases that are symptomatic of high blood sugar levels.
Today more than 8% of the human population is suffering from the consequences of high blood sugar levels. This cause-and-effect limbo of diabetes and weight loss can be really hard to get out of. Let us discuss the best ways to lose weight when you have diabetes.
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Stop With The FAD Diets
Just because your neighbour’s “juice cleanse” is working doesn’t mean it is a healthy way to lose weight. these days advertising companies come up with the most bizarre ideas to make money off of naive customers.
Using those diet pills and starvation is not going to help you lose weight. They might even slow your metabolism making it even harder to lose weight.
Consuming slimming teas without any knowledge of their nutritional value is extremely harmful. at the end of the day, it’s your body that’s getting scammed of its nutrients. There are many popular diets that actually work and have positive effects but before trying that make sure you consult your doctor and decide which diet is suitable for your body. your doctor will take into consideration all your underlying health conditions.
Diabetes and Weight Loss With Low Carb Diet
Obesity is a complex disease that’s taking over the world like an epidemic. In scientific terms, obesity is known as an excessive accumulation of body fat. Obesity is a double-sided burden of malnutrition, in today’s world more people around the world are obese than underweight except for the sub-Saharan and Asian countries. This can cause serious health condition like stroke, even makes you more susceptible to chronic diseases like Endometrial cancer, liver cancer, kidney cancer, and Gastro-cardia cancer, and of course, diabetes.
Uncontrolled diabetes can have fatal effects like kidney diseases, heart diseases, blindness, and death. This is why diabetic patients must maintain a healthy diet that does not trigger a spike in blood sugar levels and other dangerous consequences.
A low carb diet for diabetes and weight loss has been proven to be extremely effective especially for type 2 diabetes because of its efficiency to decrease high blood sugar levels, pumping up the body’s insulin sensitivity, and lowering weight. Apart from the health benefits, it has effects on epileptic patients and patients with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
Implement A Low Carb Diet
A low-carb diet is quite effective and has been proven to be most helpful when it comes to diabetes and weight loss. It works most effectively by substituting your body fuel from carbs with other macronutrients.
To achieve this nutritional shedding of carbs it’s important to regulate the fueling and dietary methods of your body in such a way that the excessive fats and proteins that your body consumes put it in a state of utilizing them unilaterally.
Having a low-carb diet has been proven to be extremely effective for type 2 diabetes because of its efficiency to decrease high blood sugar levels, pumping up the body’s insulin sensitivity, and lowering weight. Apart from the health benefits, it has effects on epileptic patients and patients with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
Vegetables
Although vegetables are a healthy alternative on any given day while sticking to a low carb diet it’s necessary for you to limit your daily carbohydrate intake. And in order to do that, you must steer clear of all starchy vegetables!
Starchy vegetables might mess with your blood sugar and pour all your hard work down the drain. If any vegetable has more than 5g of carbohydrates per 100gs then it is a starchy vegetable.
Even though it might seem unlikely, a lot of starchy vegetables such as potatoes have high starch or carb content and thus can lead to a spike in your blood sugar levels. All though most vegetables are good for you diabetes and weight loss make it a little complicated to pick the right vegetables for yourself.
Vegetables to avoid Let’s look at the starchy vegetables that you should avoid due to their higher carb content: Sweet potatoes Yams White potatoes Parsnips Green peas Corn Leeks
The good news is that there are several non-starchy vegetables with low carb content. So we advise that you prefer these low starchy vegetables such as:
Romaine lettuce Spinach Swiss chard Bok choy Kale Celery Radishes Cucumber Asparagus Cabbage cauliflower broccoli Kohlrabi Fennel zucchini peppers (especially green) green beans Brussel sprouts Green onions tomatoes
Fruits
While all fruits are delicious it’s important to know their nutritional value. A lot of fruits contain fructose and sucrose which spike up the sugar levels immediately. Some of these can increase your daily carb intake and can bring your weight loss journey to a halt, so you must avoid these at all costs. Some of these fruits are: Bananas Mangoes Grapes Cherries
Low Carb Fruits
Even though most fruits contain high amounts of sugar, berries are an exception with a high amount of fibre berries like blackberries, blueberries, and even strawberries and are suitable for a low-carb diet. Moreover so are coconuts, limes, lemons, rhubarb, and blackcurrant. They also are a rich source of antioxidants that prevent inflammation. They are the best snacks for diabetes and weight loss.
Meat, Poultry And Seafood
Meat and poultry have been established as a great source of protein for decades, and have therefore been called a staple for a low-carb diet. Almost all grass-fed meat, poultry, and seafood are helpful in diabetes and weight loss and rich in protein.
Fresh meat is a treasure of vitamin B and other nutrients. Fish and shellfish are low-carb foods. Salmon and other fish are rich in B vitamins, potassium, and selenium, yet virtually carb-free
However, it is best to choose grass-fed meat, because grass-fed animals produce ‘omega-3’, Fats and linoleic acid, and antioxidants, which are lacking in most grain-fed animals.
Salmon and sardines, mackerel, and other fatty fish are very high in omega-3 fats, which have been found to lower insulin levels and increase insulin sensitivity, in people who have overweight and obese.
Nuts And Seeds
Most nuts and seeds are low in carbohydrates, yet rich in calorie content. They have extensive amounts of fibre, that can make you feel full early. Apart from benefits to diabetes, frequent nut consumption can also lead to decreased risk of cancer, heart diseases, and more chronic illnesses. Here are some of the nuts you can eat while following a low carb diet Almonds Macadamia Hazelnuts Brazil nuts Pili nuts Pistachio Pecan Walnuts Flax seeds Hemp seeds.
Diary Products
Milk is a staple of many diets. Milk can be an important source of calcium, vitamin D, and protein while contributing to daily fluid intake. But, Milk’s carbohydrate count can impact blood sugar, which might be a concern for people with diabetes.
Grocery stores often offer many types of milk, including cow’s milk, soy, flax, rice milk, and almond milk. We suggest that you take Soy, flax, and almond milk owing to the lower carb content compared to cow’s milk and other milk types.
Another good news is that most other milk products are low in carbs and good for diabetes and weight loss.
For example, there are hundreds of types of cheese and all of them are low in carbs. Cheese also contains Conjugated Linoleic acid which is fat that has been linked to fat loss as well as helps in improved body composition. You can try any type of cheese including cheddar, cottage cheese, cream cheese, and mozzarella.
Other dairy products such as curd and whipped cream can also be included freely in your diet.
Oils
We have been taught to fear fats and oils all our life. But fear no more, This low-carb diet is a fat-friendly diet. What’s more interesting is that fats keep you full for longer, so you might stop feeling hungry between meals while your body is using it as its primary fuel. The main source of fats is usually the cooking oils we use. With a little bit of discretion and knowledge of the low-carb diet, not all fats are useful.
You should cook your food with SFAs (saturated fats) such as Avocado oil, coconut oil, lard/tallow, ghee, and palm oil. Use Monounsaturated such as Macadamia oil, and olive oil for dressing & sauces, in smaller quantities.
However, it is best to steer clear of refined fats with unbalanced omega ratios like Corn oil, Sunflower oil, peanut oil, Canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, and grapeseed oil.
It becomes clear with every trial that a low-carb diet plan works really well for patients with type 2 diabetes and those who are prediabetic because they tend to be overweight or obese.
To summarize, here are some of the common foods that should be part of a low-carb diet plan: Non-starchy veggies Low carb fruits such as berries Fish, Poultry, and Meat Most Nuts and seeds Milk products such as Flax milk and cheese Saturated oils such as Avocado oil, coconut oil, lard/tallow, ghee, and palm oil Here are some foods to limit or avoid in a low-carb diet plan: Grains (including wheat and rice)
Fruit (especially high-carb fruit such as Mango) Sugar in all forms (granulated sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, baked goods, candy Artificial sweeteners Processed food (including crackers, and corn or potato chips)
Diabetes And Unplanned Weight Loss
Unplanned weight loss might sound golden to some people it can be quite harmful and damaging especially when you don’t know the cause. Rapid weight loss is usually seen in type 1 diabetes patients. Due to the lack of information
Type 1 diabetes usually develops at a young age or at adolescence in patients. it is an autoimmune disease where the immune system starts attacking the healthy insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.
With an insufficient amount of insulin in the body, the blood sugar spikes up. and since the carbohydrates are not digested into glucose the body thinks it’s starving and it starts digesting fats to gain energy. Which can lead to rapid weight loss.
A Word From Mantra Care
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