If you are a diabetic person, having a healthy breakfast without fail every day is essential to keep your glucose or blood sugar levels under control. Skipping breakfast can aggravate the condition.
A new study* reveals – “Fasting” until noon triggers major blood sugar spikes and impairs the insulin responses of type-2 diabetics throughout the rest of the day.
Beta cells of pancreas produce insulin and in diabetics they lose their “memory” due to the prolonged period between one evening’s dinner and the next day’s lunch and it takes additional time after lunch for these to recover and regain their core function, which results in an exaggerated elevation of blood glucose levels throughout the day. In the morning, the body needs the energy to begin the day which it drives from the breakfast. If there is no food intake then it will create its own from the blood sugar stored in the body and release it in the blood stream. As the diabetic patients’ suffer from high blood sugar levels, this action will further disturb the balances.
Fasting until lunch increases the fatty acids in our blood, which renders insulin ineffective in reducing blood glucose levels. After prolonged periods of no food, finally when you eat there will be a tendency to overeat. This will lead to weight gain as the body tends to absorb all the fat from the food and store it. This is very harmful to people with Type 2 diabetes.
Eat healthy breakfast:
While skipping breakfast is bad, equally worse is unhealthy breakfast in case of diabetes. Healthy food choices, correct portion sizes and meal timing are important for controlling diabetes.
Here are tips for the right food for a healthy breakfast for diabetic people:
- Include fibres: Fibre can fill the stomach without having an impact on the blood sugar. This means you can have better control on the blood sugar and calories as well. Including 7 to 10 grams of fibre in the morning will be a healthy breakfast for diabetes
- Carbohydrate and protein rich food intake: To make it a balanced breakfast include food items with carbohydrate of around 15 to 30 grams to provide energy and lean protein to create fullness and prevent heart diseases.
- Vitamins and minerals in the form of fruits and vegetables is a must: Colourful fruits and vegetables are low in carbohydrates and provide the necessary vitamins and minerals for the body.
- Replace juices with whole foods: Most people in a bid to save time, prefer to have smoothies or juices in the morning. Whole foods are better than liquid juices because the later eventually lead to more calories, weight gain and rise in blood sugar
- Say no to food with refined sugar, low in fibre and high in fat and calories: Items like coffee might provide instant energy but spike up the sugar levels and keep them high throughout the day.
Controlling diabetes is in your hands. If you make healthy food choices with food rich in fibre and proteins rather than low protein and high sugar, you can control your sugar level spikes. Also, evenly spacing the meals and carbohydrates throughout the day will keep the blood glucose level under check. Act today by eating right for a healthy tomorrow.
* Study carried out at Tel Aviv University, It was recently published in Diabetes Care and presented at the American Diabetes Association meeting in Boston in June 2015.