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World Diabetes Day: Here's how you can make peace with diabetes

Indian festivals are more than enough to satisfy your sweet tooth. Every month there's an excuse for one to hog on sweet dishes.

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Upon my Type One Diabetes diagnosis in the year 2001, what scared my family the most was some of the doctors' reactions. "How can you let her sugars be so high?" some said. Others said, "Do you know she could die with these numbers?" Of course, they didn't. When one doesn't know about the existence of such a condition, they will certainly do not know of its effects.

But what scared the 7-year-old me was my very first list of "prohibited foods". Rice, potatoes, anything sweet, bananas, chicoos, pineapples and so on. I, however, did not care, particularly when my parents weren't around.

Today, things have changed. I am now my own adult who keeps an eye on herself. But, and I am sure we'd all agree to this, there's a child in us that does show up every now and then. Moreso when you have diabetes and when there's a plate full of, say, jalebis in front of you! This makes me wonder if it could be the moral obligation of hushing this child that only spoils it furthermore. It is said that when you stop someone from doing something, they do it more.

So if you are living with diabetes, whether Type One, Type Two, Gestational or another, and/or are obese, then you are more prone to stopping the child in you. Are you putting a stop to what you have been consuming traditionally before diagnosis? If yes, can a tradition, specifically one concerning food, be stopped just like that one fine day?

The answer in my case remains a no even after 17 years of living with Type One Diabetes. Not that I was particularly used to eating carbs and sweets, but to be specifically told to stop eating them was like a challenge! So, a few years ago, here's how I decided to win over it.

CHEAT DAY

Indian festivals are more than enough to satisfy your sweet tooth. Every month there's an excuse for one to hog on sweet dishes. So, I began planning my daily food routine much in advance so that I would end up with sugar levels in the prescribed range and make room for what I wanted to eat on D-Day. Yet, this wasn't all that easy. I had to constantly keep in touch with my doctors and fellow diabetics so as to be able to keep track and make required changes according to our trials and error.

If you are a diabetic who wants to be excused for your special day, you are no different than any other person who wants to do as they wish. But you can achieve this successfully only with a well-planned decision, which is discussed with your doctor; this will not only give you the freedom to decide but also so much information on how your body cooperates when you cooperate with it.

MIND YOUR PORTION

"It's not much about what you eat as it is about how much you eat." These have been the words by many of my doctors and even friends from my diabetes support groups. Remember how a child who has been hogging on chocolates and candies gets scolded by his elderly? "You'll lose your teeth" is the most common warning (and a truest one at that) that we give them. Food and diabetes come with a similar kind of caution. You may eat whatever you wish to, absolutely, but do not feast on it and especially not an untimely feast.

I apply this mantra in my daily food routine. Instead of filling myself up in one meal, I keep eating in 2-3 hours of intervals. Sometimes it's a fruit, or dry fruits, other times it's a few biscuits, or juice, or tea, a small pack of ragi chips or so (they are really tasty, believe me!). So keep hogging healthy, but in small portions. Simple!

CREATE ALTERNATIVES

I confess. I feel left out when there's sweets but is high on carbs and sugar. Same goes for cakes, drinks and many traditional Indian snacks. But but but, thanks to diabetes, here's what I learnt. If that samosa is made up of maida and aaloo, what is stopping you from making one filled with say green peas stuffing and covered in ragi dough? So don't feel left out and become your own Einstein! I must mention, even those with no diabetes will come running after you for the alternative recipes to the otherwise high carb and sugar-filled Indian snacks and sweets!

Diabetes will always be a challenge, no matter how much we sugarcoat it. But if used to one's advantage, it can become your teacher, educator and inventor and even your doctor!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

  • 120 One does not necessarily need to put a stop to what they eat but rather discipline themselves in this regard 
     
  • 14 How much one eats and when one eats are just as important factors to consider as what one eats
     
  • Food in diabetes needs to be consumed in two very important ways: Balanced proportions instead of hogging everything at once and, as a result, over a period of time throughout the day
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