Diet and Exercise Tips for Type II Diabetes

We came across this article by Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumbar this week and we needed to repost. The best way to manage diabetes Mellitus IS nutrition and exercise.  Stay educated and stay healthy! Thank you Dr. Mazumbar for the tips!

The best way to manage Type II Diabetes is strict Diet control, regular physical exercise and if required Hypoglycemic drugs (drugs that bring your blood sugar down). Hypoglycemic drugs usually are not prescribed in the initial 3 months of diagnosis of Diabetes Mellitus. The idea here is to attempt to control disease with diet restrictions and regular physical exercise. The way to monitor the control of blood sugar levels over the long term is through Glycosylated Haemoglobin levels (Hb1AC).

Diet tips in Diabetes Mellitus

1. Have shorter and frequent meals at regular intervals.
2. Strictly follow a diet chart which includes low carbohydrates, low fat, and limited amount of protein.
3. Have lots of vegetable salads before every meal to fill your stomach and satisfy your hunger.
4. Avoid food items which have high glycemic index like sugar candies, rice, sweet corn etc.
5. Avoid consumption of alcohol and smoking.

Exercise tips in Diabetes Mellitus

Any exercise which helps in burning the calories will help.

1. Brisk walking: It’s considered as one of the best exercises. For best results, walk at a speed of five kilometers per hour or 12 minutes per kilometer. Start with 15 minutes per day and gradually increase it to an hour.
2. "We need people with diabetes up and moving," Dr. Griffing (MD, professor of endocrinology at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine in St. Louis) says. "If you can finish your exercise in one 30 minute stretch, fine. But if not, break it up into increments you can manage and the increments should add up to at least 30 minutes a day."
3. Warm up for 5 minutes before the exercise and cool down for 5 minutes after exercise. This will help in increasing blood flow and warming up your joints.
4. Drink plenty of water before and after the exercise to stay hydrated.
5. Take care of your feet by wearing shoes and clean socks. Check if the shoes fit you well and are comfortable. Check for any blisters, redness or signs of inflammation before and after the exercise.
6. Increase the activity in general – such as climbing stairs, cleaning furniture. However, don't rely on housework or other daily activity as your sole exercise. Too often, people overestimate the amount of exercise they get and underestimate the amount of calories they consume.
7. Have a friend or mentor who is going to motivate you regularly and set attainable goals.
8. Check blood sugar levels regularly and note them in a diary.

Almonds, Can they Help Protect Against Diabetes?

We all know that almonds pack a pretty impressive nutritious and delicious punch. They offer a wonderful supply of nutrients such as biotin, vitamin E, manganese, copper and magnesium along with high levels of protein. They are also high in the good fat that your body needs and thrives from.

But, did you know that almonds are a great defense against Diabetes and Cardio Vascular disease? 

According to an article posted on whfoods.com:

Lessening after-meal surges in blood sugar helps protect against diabetes and cardiovascular disease, most likely by lessening the increase in cholesterol-damaging free radicals that accompanies large elevations in blood sugar. This is one reason why low- glycemic index diets result in lower risk of diabetes and heart disease.

Almonds appear to not only decrease after-meal rises in blood sugar, but also provide antioxidants to mop up the smaller amounts of free radicals that still result. (Jenkins DJ, Kendall CW, Journal of Nutrition)
Researchers fed 15 healthy subjects 5 meals providing a comparable amount of carbohydrate, fat and protein: 3 test meals (almonds and bread, parboiled rice, and instant mashed potatoes) and 2 bread control meals. Blood samples, taken before each meal and 4 hours afterwards, showed levels of protective antioxidants increased after the almond meal, but decreased after the other meals. And not only did the almond meal increase antioxidant levels, but unlike the other foods, almonds also lowered the rise in blood sugar and insulin seen after eating.

Further research shows that eating almonds along with a high glycemic index food significantly lowers the glycemic index of the meal and lessens the rise in blood sugar after eating. (Jones AR, Kendall CW, Metabolism)

In this study, after an overnight 10-12 hour fast, 9 healthy volunteers were randomly fed 3 test meals and 2 white bread (high glycemic) control meals on separate days. Each meal contained 50 grams of carbohydrate from white bread eaten either alone or in combination with 1, 2, or 3 ounces of almonds. To check subjects' rise in blood sugar, blood samples were taken for glucose analysis immediately after eating, and at 15, 30, 45, 60, 90 and 120 minutes.

Eating almonds reduced the glycemic index (GI) of the meal and subjects' rise in blood sugar in a dose-dependent manner—the more almonds consumed, the lower the meal's GI and the less the rise in subjects' blood sugar after eating.

When one-ounce of almonds was eaten along with white bread, the GI of the meal (105.8) was comparable to eating white bread alone, but when two ounces of almonds were consumed with the white bread, the GI dropped to 63, and when 3 ounces of almonds were eaten, the GI was only 45.2—less than half the GI of the white bread only meal.

Subjects' blood sugar rose 2.8 mmol/L after eating only white bread. When one ounce of almonds was eaten with the bread, blood sugar rose 2.2 mmol/L. Eating two ounces of almonds with the bread resulted in a rise in blood sugar of 2.0 mmol/L, and eating three ounces of almonds caused blood sugar to rise only 1.6 mmol/L—less than half the rise seen after eating white bread alone.

So what are you waiting for? We are lucky that almonds are not only good for you; they taste good too. So next time you reach for a snack, don’t hesitate to spread a little almond butter on your toast or down the center of a stalk of celery.  Or add a handful of lightly roasted almonds to your salad. When eating foods with a higher glycemic index, including almonds in the meal can help keep your blood sugar under control.


And don’t forget, Serious Oats packs 4 grams of almonds into every delicious serving!

For more information on the benefits of including almonds in your diet, head over and check out the whfoods.com article that provides a comprehensive summary of how seriously nutritious nuts are.