Last Updated on April 24, 2023 by Dr Sharon Baisil MD
Diabetes is a disease that comes with some other health complications which are dangerous to the patient. Controlling the blood sugar levels with a proper diet and following a healthy lifestyle is vital for diabetes patients.
Increasing body weight is not a favorable situation for diabetes; maintaining a healthy weight helps reach normal blood sugar levels. Complications related to diabetes can also be reduced to a great extent, with a healthy weight.
Losing your body weight is not an easy task; it requires some effort from the patient. Moving out from the unhealthy food habits and regular exercise can help to achieve your goal.
Weight loss must be made with proper care and safety; doing it too fast is may not have sound effects on the body. Expert advice is required to plan an appropriate diet and exercise without being restrictive at a higher extreme.
Considering some factors is necessary for the safer way of losing weight for a diabetes patient. Age, health condition, and weight loss are important matters that the dieticians look into before planning a diet chart for the patients.
Here are the four best diets advised for diabetes patients to lose weight:
1. Mediterranean diet
This diet is derived from the traditional foods of the Mediterranean region, highly suitable for diabetes patients. It is rich in fatty acids, proteins, and other essential elements that promote a healthy body without raising the blood glucose levels.
Mediterranean diet is something well-planned, having elements like more vegetables, whole grains, limited fruits, nuts, herbs, spices, seeds, olive oil, fish, and eggs. Apart from helping diabetes patients to lose weight, it also reduces the chance of metabolic disorder.
__________________________________
⭐ Check out this Flipbook with 30-Day Diabetic Meal Plan based on Foods from Each Indian State ⭐
(click on the ▶ arrow below to scroll the pages and 🔍 button to enlarge)
_____________________________
It is one of the healthy diets that are recommended to avoid many severe health conditions. The main foods of this diet are plant-based other foods taken in moderate amounts, especially red meat, is very limited in this food plan.
The oils and fats used here are healthy, supporting the reduction of even the body’s bad cholesterol levels. Following the Mediterranean diet, along with the medications, will undoubtedly support the weight loss in diabetes patients.
2. Paleolithic diet
The word paleo itself remind us of the olden times when our ancestors lived eating the food they hunted. This diet has tried to adapt from those time’s food habits, the main elements of the diet include proteins, plant-based foods, and healthy fats.
The paleolithic diet is considered useful for diabetes patients, which has the advantages of weight loss, improved insulin sensitivity, and promotes heart health. It is a low-carb diet that depends on fresh foods by eliminating the presence of processed food items.
Diabetes patients are advised to eat a paleolithic diet to lose weight as it gives way to stay healthy by returning to our roots. Supporters of this diet believe that modern foods and lifestyle are the reason for causing diseases that can be avoided by practicing paleo foods.
Weight loss is the important benefit one can get with the paleolithic diet as it gives all the essential elements with the low-carb foods included in the diet. Higher energy levels, the betterment of heart health, and reducing the inflammations are some other advantages.
The main problem with the paleo diet is that even though it offers tremendous benefits, it takes time to adapt to that food habit. Sustaining the diet is more difficult for the people so that they may switch to other diabetes diets.
3. Low-carb diet
This diet has more acceptance for weight loss in people, especially for diabetes patients. This diet’s main aim is to reduce the number of carbohydrates intake by the person through regular food habits.
The basic idea of following the low-carb diet is that with this diet, the body doesn’t receive more carbohydrates. This helps avoid the storing of excess fat in the body, which is the main reason for weight gain.
Higher carbohydrate food items are replaced with proteins, healthy fats, and other essential elements in this low-carb diet. Certain food items like potatoes, rice, sweets, bagels, pasta, and some more have to avoided while practicing this diet.
The low-carb’s major element is the vegetables and the proteins obtained from fish, meat, or eggs. Stored fat in the body is burned rather than intaking more carbs supporting the weight loss in the diabetes patients.
There are specific quantities for serving the foods in this diet; each serving is meant to be with lower carb content but of high nutritional values. In the beginning, it will be challenging to avoid your favorite food items, but this is one of the successful ways to reduce body weight.
4. Vegetarian or vegan
Some diabetes patients will switch their focus to eating vegan products after eliminating meat or similar products from the diet. More nutritional elements are added to the food by considering the food products that have the value of the eliminated animal products.
People following the diet have the chance of being is a smaller number of vital elements like calcium, iodine, vitamin B12, and zinc as they are found more in animal products. A vegan diet should be planned accordingly, including broccoli, kale, or supplements, to get these elements in the diet.
A vegan diet is the best suiting to achieve the goal of reducing weight in people with diabetes, helping them to stay healthy. Beans, legumes, fruits, whole grains, leafy vegetables, and nuts are the typical components in the vegetarian diet.
Changing to a vegan diet has several benefits as it doesn’t cause the excess fat depositions on the body, which is the reason behind increasing weight. This diet is the perfect choice for people with diabetes as they can reduce weight and medications when blood sugar levels become normal.
You can click here to more about their price on Amazon.
Food that diabetes patients should include while planning a diet
Diabetes is a disease coming with many complications, including its impact on heart health. Regulating diabetes to the normal levels is required, and proper diet has a more significant role in keeping your blood glucose at control.
The diet planned must be having less quantity of carbs; it should be focussed more on including proteins, fiber, and healthy fats. Dietician, while preparing your diet chart, will mention the quantities of food can intake, following this properly helps you to achieve your goal of weight loss.
Certain foods should be highly limited in the diet to get better results as it causes unnecessary fat deposits on the body. It can also be the reason for the spiking of blood sugar levels.
Processed food items, fried foods, or anything with high glycemic values is harmful to diabetes patients. Glycemic index is a scale helping the patients to choose the food items that support their health without rising diabetes.
Foods with a lower glycemic index with high protein and fiber content are the best option for diabetes patients. This helps the people to get over the food cravings by giving them the feeling of fullness, preventing the intake of more food.
Following a proper diet reduces the risks of further complications of diabetes with the benefit of weight loss. The diet plan must be made with the help of a dietician; it is also the healthiest way to reduce diabetes medications.
Final thoughts
If you think that only diet is required for weight loss, it may not readily give the desired results. Regular exercise plays a crucial role in keeping a person’s life stable without the interruptions of diseases.
Diabetes control is possible to a more considerable extent with proper diet and workout; medications can be reduced when your blood sugar levels come low. Else you will have to entirely depend on the medicines for a long time, which can have side effects on your body.
Maintaining a healthy weight can help you control the diabetes levels, as the overweight has resulted from unhealthy eating habits. Weight loss should not be made in a hurry as it can have adverse effects on your body.
The process of weight loss is something to be planned safely; it can take some time to come effective. If you are really in need of achieving reducing weight, then you should have the patience to stick on to the diet to a particular time.
Getting advice from the dietician is necessary when you start trying any of the diets. All diets are not right for every person; some may have the difficulty to stick onto some eating habits for a more extended period.
Dietician considers these factors before recommending any of the diet plans to the patients. Follow the instructions properly; you can lose body weight while also controlling the diabetes levels.
References:
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325146#paleolithic-diet
https://www.webmd.com/diabetes/features/diabetes-weight-loss-diet-plan
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325146
https://www.healthline.com/health/diabetes/diabetic-friendly-diets-to-lose-weight
https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/enjoy-food/eating-with-diabetes/whats-your-healthy-weight/lose-weight
https://health.usnews.com/best-diet/best-diabetes-diets
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/in-depth/diabetes-diet/art-20044295
