In 21st century, diabetes is one of the major disorder that has a high mortality risk. However, most people think that diabetes can be cured by its medication. With my successful efforts in handling numerous cases of diabetes in the past couple of years, it has made me realize how therapeutic diet and lifestyle modification play a vital role in preventing the disease.
Let me give you a very simple example. There was a client who came to me and his HbA1 c level is extremely high (HbA1c -12%), he was on diabetic medication as well as insulin for many years but unfortunately, his sugar level never came down. Finally, his doctor suggested him to meet a dietitian in order to change his eating habits. Upon referral, I took care of the counselling, and planed a personalized nutrition plan which he followed for three months. The result was significant. His sugar level dropped from 12% to 7%. Hence, his doctor reduced his insulin and other medications’ prescriptions. There’s a proverb that states – “When diet is wrong, medicine is of no use. When diet is correct, medicine is of no need.” It posits that a healthy diet is very important to keep the disease away
On the other hand, there are genuine cases of type 1 diabetes that requires a long term usage of treatment and medicines. However, with effective lifestyle management strategies, it can be managed well, ultimately reducing medicine dosages.
The following is a comprehensive pre/diabetic dietary guidelines