India is one of the rapidly growing nations in the world and was known by the name of the golden bird in the past. it is India’s glorious and rich past that attracted Britisher’s to India. But do you know that still there are some facts that are not even known by Indians. In this article we will be having a look at some of these facts:
India has the world’s third largest active army just after the rival United States of America (USA) and China
India has the most number of the mosque in a country even greater than Islamic countries – A secular India.
There is only 3% Indian’s who pay their taxes – All other enjoy running outside country when bankrupt after taking loans.
In terms of countries who have the most number of Guinness world record, India comes at 3 only behind USA and UK.
Chess is one of the oldest game played invented around the 6th century and was invented in India.
The largest Vegetarian population in the world lives in India. And KFC has introduced a vegetarian menu only in India.
India is having the second largest network of the road in the world.
Arybhatta, who invented Zero was an Indian. Indian are great at Invention and you didn’t know that.
It was India where the first diamond was mined and discovered.
First and the oldest university in the world was located in India – it was named “Takshashila”.
Indira Gandhi International airport located in Delhi is worlds second largest airport in the world.
The number of births in India in a year is even more than the total population of many countries even Australia.
It is illegal for any foreigner to take Indian Rupee outside India.
Even though India has Hindi as its official language then also India constitute the second largest English speaking population in the world. 10% of Indian speak English.
The largest gathering of the human being on earth is found in India during Kumbh Mela. In 2013 it was estimated to be around 30 million.
Why food becomes so much importance once you develop diabetes and why everyone talks about diabetes diet often and what actually is a complete diabetic diet? These question are often not given due importance which leads to serious complications. High Level of diabetes (known as hyperglycemia) can set the stage for heart disease, kidney problems, and other several serious diseases on the other hand low level of blood sugar (known as hypoglycemia) can cause fatigue, headaches, mood swing, and dizziness. You can read about diabetes in detail from here.
Diabetes Diet basics
According to several research and studies, balanced diabetes diet not only helps in reducing blood sugar levels but also it even reverses early stage high blood sugar level issues.
Whatever we eat has some form of energy stored in them in the form of carbohydrates, protein and fats. These Macro-nutrient are necessary for Functioning of human organs and systems. Among the three macro-nutrient carbs are broken down easily and quickly into glucose which get mixed with blood. Carbs has direct relation to your blood sugar level.
Carbohydrates are of three types viz. starches, sugar and fiber. Fiber are the only form of carbohydrates which doesn’t raise your blood sugar level like other carbs. Thus diabetes Diet chart must include a sensible combination of foods having an appropriate amount of protein, fats, carbohydrates in addition to dietary fibers.
It is also important to monitor your diet and understand what foods have an impact on your blood sugar. The main source of carbohydrates are grains, bread, pasta, sweets, milk, fruits, and starchy vegetables. These carbs rich food must be consumed in a limited amount as it has faster glucose conversion rate as compared to proteins and fats.
How much carbs is actually required?
Carbs content should be fixed in proportion to your daily calories required according to National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney disease (NIDDK). According to experts and dietitian, carbs diet content should be between 45% to 65% of your total calories.
A different person may require a different amount of calories based on their age, work they perform, lifestyle, sex, and other several factors. For instance, suppose that a person required 2,000 calories a day for his daily routine. And he wishes to derive 50% of his calorie requirement from his carbs. Thus he needs 1,000 calories from his carbs. According to NIDDK 1 gram of carbohydrates provide 4 calories. Thus for 1,000 calories divide by 4. We get the required carbs content of his food to be 250 grams. Diabetes infected person can use this calculation to derive their carbs content or else they can meet a dietitian or certified diabetes expert to get their diabetes diet chart.
Good habits to be included in Diabetic Diet
Diabetic patient not only have meals starting with breakfast, lunch and dinner, but also should have snacks in between these intervals.
Diabetic person should eat within an interval of six hours.
Foods in diabetes plate should include a wide variety ranging from fats, lean meats or proteins, whole grains, and dairy products.
Apart from fruits and vegetable diabetes, people must include whole grains, fiber-rich foods such as brown bread, bran cereal, whole wheat pasta, and brown rice which is good for both diabetes and digestion.
A vegetarian should consider an alternative to meat eat like beans or tofu and lentils.
Sugar substitute should be chosen and also calorie-free liquids like coffee and unsweetened tea should be encouraged.
Never skip any meal and stay away from a heavy and fatty meal containing butter, palm oil or any other saturated fats
The constituents of diabetic diet
Being a diabetic patient doesn’t mean that you have limited food choices but a limited quantity of those choices. You have to be alert on digestible carbs intake and should follow a strict diabetic diet plan. You can choose diabetes-friendly food from these five groups given below:
Vegetables
Grains
Fruits
Milk and its alternative
Meat and its alternative
We will soon be making a detailed post on the above groups.
Diabetes can be defined as a state of a body in which body is unable to process the blood glucose (blood Sugar) which results in excess accumulation of glucose in the blood that can cause harmful complication to a person such as stroke or heart disease.
According to study it is found that the most developed country America has as more as 30% diabetic population and the number estimated to be increasing in near future.
Types of Diabetes.
There are three main classification of diabetes, they are as follows:
Type 1 Diabetes
Type 2 Diabetes
Gestational Diabetes
Type 1 Diabetes:
This type of diabetes is also known as “Juvenile Diabetes”. It is a state in which pancreas is unable to produce Insulin. Juvenile Diabetes is an autoimmune condition. In which immune system itself destroys the beta cells mistakenly that produces insulin in pancreas. Diabetes type 1 patient have to rely on external insulin for their daily insulin requirement for processing glucose.
Type 2 Diabetes:
Type 2 Diabetes is also known as “Diabetes mellitus”. It starts as an insulin resistance. In diabetes type 2 unlike type 1 Diabetes body is able to produce insulin itself although the cells in the body do not use insulin efficiently as in normal state. This is the most common type of diabetes occurring in the world as per the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease. Obesity is one of the major cause of diabetes type 2, other contributing factors are lack of exercise and genetical inheritance.
Gestational Diabetes:
This type of Diabetes affects some of the women during pregnancy when the body become less sensitive to Insulin. It is mainly because of Insulin blocking hormone produced during pregnancy. Gestational diabetes is not common in all women and is also found to be resolve after giving birth. But stillthese patient must be careful in future.
Diabetes Symptoms
Major symptoms of Diabetes are as follows:
Excessive feeling of hunger and thirst.
Frequent urge to urinate.
Fatigue and drowsiness.
Dry and itchy skin.
Blurry vision.
Slow healing of wounds.
Some special Diabetes symptoms of diabetes type 2 are dark patches in the folded skin of neck and armpits, pain or numbness in feet. Diabetes type 1 special phenomena for self-diagnosis is sudden weight loss irrelevant of eating habit and food style, this is called as Diabetic Ketoacidosis. Type 1 Diabetes is more common in children’s and young adults whereas type 2 diabetes is found more in person above 45 years of age.
Prediabetes
Prediabetes is a term coined to define those individual patients who have their blood sugar level diabete range of 100 to 125 mg/dl (milligram per deciliter) which is considered to be on the border line of Diabetes. It can be considered as a stage between a normal person and a person having type 2 Diabetes.
Risk factors for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes are as follows:
Becoming overweight
Inherited to family
High blood pressure
Gestational diabetes in females
How does diabetes occur
Although the exact occurrence of type 1 diabetes is not known, type 2 diabetes has some traceable origin, it is described below:
It starts when a person’s genes are not able to cope up with the demand of insulin raised by the body on account of glucose one has consumed.
Extra insulin is required all the time and at one-point pancreas is unable to cope up with the demand and supply ratio of insulin.
Thus excess unprocessed blood sugar starts to accumulate in the blood which further causes complications.
And as time passes insulin becomes less effective in processing glucose causing blood sugar level rise.
Complications in Diabetes
Diabetes complication increases over time and if not controlled or taken care of at the appropriate time, it’s complication can prove to be fatal. Some of the dreaded complications of this disease are as follows:
Vessels disease: ultimately resulting in heart attack and stroke.
Eye problem called retinopathy.
Nerve damage or neuropathy.
Amputation because of neuropathy and vessels disease.
Kidney damage or nephropathy.
Skin infection.
Type2 diabetes can increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
Diabetes during pregnancy or due to gestational diabetes can create complications for mother as well as the child such as:
High blood pressure
Preeclampsia
Miscarriage
Birthdefects
Treatment of diabetes
Treatment of diabetes is not a one time activity or some medications for a month or two like any other common disease but it is a lifelong treatment process. Diabetes can never be completely cured or treated. It can only be controlled with some medications or insulin dosage along with diabetes Exercise and controlled diabetic diet.
Treating type 1 Diabetes
People with type 1 diabetes have to completely rely on insulin for processing insulin in their body. Insulin is injected just below the skin and not directly into the blood. Insulin are available in different forms some are rapidly acting while some have intermediate effects while other are long-acting insulin. Nowadays insulin pumps are commonly used by people having type 1 diabetes, which regulate specific dosage of insulin at appropriate time as they are programmed for.
Continuous monitoring of diabetes in type 1 diabetes is critical for adjusting the dosage of insulin required by the body. For this purpose, one can use continuous blood glucose monitors available for the same.
Treating type 2 Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes can be well maintained with the help of balanced diabetic diet and exercise if diagnosed at an early stage or during prediabetes. Type 2 diabetes can also be treated with various diabetes medications to lower the glucose level in the blood. Many diabetes drugs have been discovered to control diabetes although a specific drug is given based on the blood sugar level, age, lifestyle and several other factors.
Frequent monitoring of blood sugar and following a balanced diet and exercise along with prescribed medicines can only help to control diabetes. Blood pressure and cholesterol levels should also be taken care of in case of diabetes.
Diabetes Prevention
There is no prevention for type 1 Diabetes. Although the risk of developing type 2 diabetes can be lowered by
Avoiding smoking, alcohol, high triglycerides and low HDL cholesterol level.
Summary
Diabetes can never be cured completely once it happens. Thus it is highly advisable to follow the preventive method and stay away from this lifelong disease as it is rightly said that “prevention is better than cure”.
Type 1 diabetes is not curable but with proper monitoring and adhering to treatment one may avoid complication in future. Type 2 Diabetes on the other hand is manageable with proper diabetes medication, balanced diabetes diet and exercising on a regular basis. Gestational diabetes is often resolved after giving birth but one must follow strictly preventive measures to avoid diabetes in later part of the life.
