What is diabetes? It is a chronic disease where the pancreas is no longer able to produce insulin. Or doesn’t produce enough to meet your needs.
Excess sugar circulates in the blood and is unregulated. Monitoring and controlling blood glucose levels can be difficult. Diet and exercise can help, but this may not eliminate the need for medication.
Following a strict diet for diabetics can make all the difference when it comes to diabetes management. But the misinformation out there can be difficult to navigate.
With diabetes comes a healthier food list and a stricter diet. You need to eat less sugar, or you will have a reaction in your pancreas. You need to avoid certain foods. Your digestion is affected, so it is important to eat foods that are high in fibre to protect your digestive tract. A proper diet is a difference between death and survival.
So, in this blog, we will be reading about the 10 foods and drinks to avoid for people with diabetes –
Foods to Avoid for People with Diabetes
Dried fruits
As healthy snack dry fruits may make, especially for quick bites, it is not good for people who have diabetes. Dry fruits can dehydrate you which causes natural sugars to get concentrated. It will increase your blood sugar. You can instead snack on fruit like strawberries or grapefruit.
Full-fat dairy products
Full-fat dairy products contain saturated fat which is bad cholesterol (LDL). It is one of those dairy products to avoid for diabetic patients. But as human beings, we crave yoghurt, ice cream and cream cheese. But these are sadly made with whole milk. There are similar products made with low-fat or fat-free dairy. So change to that for a healthier body.
Eating bad carbs
If you are a diabetic patient, make sure not to take low-quality carbs like rice. Avoid eating products made with white flour like bread and pasta. Once you begin with the digestive process, it acts like sugar. Meaning that it will get involved with the body’s glucose levels. Instead switching to whole grains food like oatmeal, barley, and brown rice will keep the bad carbs away.
Fatty meats
Like whole-milk products, meat consisting of fats can increase cholesterol, therefore cause inflammation. Any meat that is high in saturated fats is not good for people with diabetes. It puts diabetic people more at risk and vulnerable to other problems. Instead change your protein intake to lean proteins such as pork tenderloin, skinless chicken and fish.
Fried foods
In general, fried food is bad for your body. And if you have type 2 diabetes, consider it a bad decision to eat french fries, fried chicken and potato chips. These foods are dipped in oil which contains a lot of calories. Most fast food restaurants use hydrogenated oils to fry food which contains high trans fats.
Sweet pastries
Savoury pastries are a temptation, hard to resist. But sweet products like pastries, muffins and doughnuts are made from processed white flour. These products have high carbs, fat and sugar which come under foods to avoid for a diabetic category. Any products made from processed white flour have high quantities of sodium which contains trans fats.
Drinks to Avoid for People with Diabetes
Alcohol
Drinking alcohol can interfere with the levels of your blood sugar. Even though a little bit of alcohol is accepted but consult with your doctor first. Oftentimes, the social gathering includes alcohol and as polite, you accept drinks.
Flavoured water
Flavoured water tastes better than plain water, so they are oftentimes on demand. But despite their taste, flavoured water contains small amounts of sugar and carbs. These ingredients are best avoided by those who have diabetes. Although, flavoured water is better than soda, the less sugar you take, the better for your health.
Packaged fruit juice
Often packaged fruit juice contains certain percentages of added sugar. Although juice is more nutritious than soda, its sugary content in them makes it a bad drink for a diabetic. Drinking packaged drinks can spike your blood sugar leading to complications. It is best to get fresh fruits and juice them at home yourself.
Blended coffees
Everybody’s favourite beverage is coffee. Blended coffees are delicious but they contain syrup, sugar and whipped cream which are heavy on sugar and fat. Thus making it a drink to avoid for diabetic patients. So when you get the urge for a coffee, stick to a simple cup of coffee sugar-free with low-fat milk.
Other Foods and Drinks to Avoid for People with Diabetes -
- Cereal containing the the artificial sweetener
- Any Sugary Foods
- Frozen/Commercial Pizza
- Nachos
- Restaurant Hamburgers
- Chinese Food
- Packaged Smoothies
- Processed Meat
- Energy Bars
FAQs
Any food products that contain sugar must be avoided. There are sugar-sweetened beverages and artificial trans fats which are unhealthy. Like white bread, rice, pasta, flavoured yoghurt, dried fruit, sweet coffee drinks etc.
Food products like sugar-sweetened beverages and processed foods can degrade a person’s health who has diabetes.
Foods to avoid for type 2 diabetes are high-fat meat, full-fat dairy, sweets and sugar-sweetened beverages.
The best drink to lower blood sugar is plain water. As it can regularly hydrate the blood and lower blood sugar levels.
