Chapatis can keep your diabetes in check — fact or myth? Well, it's a myth. A nationwide study on dietary habits of Indians to understand why the country is plagued by diabetes found that high carbohydrate intake in diet is the reason behind blood sugar problem.
The study, which had 796 participants, has been published in the recent issue of the prestigious British Medical Journal. Participants were enrolled from 10 speciality endocrinology centres from five regions of India.
"There was a need to conduct a dietary survey considering the diverse dietary food habits in various parts of India. The objective of this study (STARCH: Study To Assess the dietaRy CarboHydrate content of Indian type-2 diabetes population) was to assess the total and complex carbohydrate (CHO) contents in the daily diet of T2DM participants," said Dr Shashank Joshi, a Mumbai-based diabetologist who spearheaded the study.
High carbohydrate intake in diet is the reason behind blood sugar problem in Indian population. Dr Joshi further that this study neutralises the myth that only the south Indian population consumes high carbohydrates in their diet (rice, idli and so on). "We found the north Indian population have an equal percentage of carbohydrate intake in their diet. We think having chapati (wheat) can control blood sugar. It is a myth," said Dr Joshi.
According to the study, the carbohydrate per cent intake in the east region was 65, in west it was 60.9, north was 62.7, south is 62.3 and central is 67.2. "The national average of carbohydrate intake in Indians was found to be 64.1% which is above the upper limit of 60% than that recommended by the guidelines," said Dr Joshi.
"Dietary requirement 55 to 60 per cent carbohydrate, 10 to 15 per cent protein and 20 to 25 per cent fat," said Dr Shilpa Joshi, registered nutritionist and co-author/researcher of the study.
Doctors say that high intake of carbohydrates increases the risk of diabetes, hypertension and cancer too. "Indian diet is always high on carbohydrates and low on proteins and fibre which is not a healthy sign. High intake of carbohydrates with sedentary lifestyle is the reason why an increasing number of Indians are getting blood sugar problem. If we can't restrict carbohydrate, we should exercise," said Dr Joshi.
The year-long study also checked on dietary habits of non-diabetic people from all the regions and found the same amount of carbohydrate intake.
While the study has underlined the fact that Indians consume high carbohydrate than the western population, the good news in the study is that diabetic people are aware that they have to restrict consumption of carbohydrates in their daily diet.
Nitisha Naik, a nutritionist from Khar, said, "We have observed that our patients don't take the right combination and that is a major problem. Often, our patients complain that they can't avoid rice/chapati. Simple solution to this is increase vegetable intake which will minimise the impact of carbohydrate. Also, we should avoid taking big meals as dinner. Having more carbohydrate intake in daytime is better as it gets digested with the entire day's activties."
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}