Diabetes is caused because of excessive glucose in the blood and its ineffective utilization. The pancreas provides insulin, which helps in the internalization of glucose, in most of the body’s cells, especially those of the muscles, liver and fat.

Type 1 diabetes, the less common type, is insulin dependent, as it results from a lack of insulin production by the pancreas. With type 2 diabetes, while there is adequate insulin available, it cannot be effectively utilized and therefore leads to a rise in blood glucose levels. Type 2 diabetes is more common and the good news is that it is a condition that can be resolved with healthy eating regular exercising and living a relatively stress free life.

Diabetics should live to eat rather than eat to live

Diabetics may often be described as obese, fat, overeaters, lovers of food, gorgers and hogs… in short, food addicts, It therefore goes without saying, that what a diabetic eats is of crucial importance to the alleviation of the disease. A diabetic must adopt an attitude of “eating to live” rather than one “living to eat” to dramatically convert his ailing profile to a robust and healthy one.

The get well soon program for diabetics

The primary concern of a diabetic is to control blood sugar levels. While medication and exercise help to great extent, healthy diet forms the backbone of a diabetic’s “get well soon” program.

Any diet must have about 55-60% carbohydrate, 25-30% fat and 15-20% protein. Carbohydrates, found in a majority of plant foods, give us immediate energy. Fats are our reserve energy and are found mainly in oils, nuts, seeds and meats. Proteins build body tissue and muscle and are found mainly in animal foods, soy products, lentils like dals and legumes like rajma and chana. Such a proportion allows each of these classes of nutrients, proteins; fats and carbohydrates do their own specialized work and what they are good at. And this is important for good health. For example in the absence of adequate carbohydrates, proteins will be forced to take on some of the responsibility of providing adequate glucose and thus its own job building body tissue will suffer.

How does a healthy diet maximize nutrition?

A healthy diet maximizes nutrient benefits by following the principles of:-

• Moderation, as over –consumption leads to overweight problems.
• Variety, which gives us the benefits of the rich array of nutrients available in

Innumerable foods.

• Balance, which helps us to get enough of all the foods that are good for us.

How much exercise should a diabetic do?

Exercise and activity through the day she excess glucose in the body and make cells more sensitive to insulin.

For those of you enjoy walking then try to make at least 8 km per day over a period of time.  Focus on the mileage more than the time and keep that as a goal.  Start with 3 km and then move on to much more

If you lack time then you could use a pedometer which counts the number of steps you take in a day, 10,000 is a good number to do every day

Gym training, yoga and pilates basically any physical activity is advisable, and exercising is one of the best ways to help the body learn how to handle stress better

The best news about type 2 diabetes is that changing your lifestyle is the best way to combat and cure diabetes and free.

Happy healthy living !

Madhuri Ruia is an internationaly trained nutrition specialist, functional health and Pilates expert, and founder, HALF, Mumbai's first functional health studio. Read more at www.halfstudio.in