To live a healthy life is a choice made by a wise man. Many of you reading this article die-hard to have a healthy body yet come across as too lazy to do the right thing for attaining good health.
The result of modern lifestyle is an enormous burden and sheer negligence of health that prevents us from accomplishing our health goals, as health usually bears the brunt and takes a backseat in our scheme of major things we set out to achieve.
The increase in blood sugar level can have a fatal effect on our body; hence anyone who has diabetes should take conscious steps to keep it under check. This article provides a detailed list of diabetic foods to avoid for enjoying a happy and nonchalant.
Effects of Diabetes
Before mulling over the conscious steps to be taken to control diabetes you need to know why diabetes is known good as a fatal disease. It is so because of the high level of sugar in the blood that can have a severe effect on the vital organs of the body such as:
- Eyes
- Kidneys
- Heart and blood vessels
- Nerves
- Gums and teeth
- Gastrointestinal tract
The adverse effects of diabetes on such organs can reasonably thwart your life. an enjoyable life on the physical plane, you need to have a good body and sound physical health. Thus, it becomes necessary to adopt productive ways and shed deconstructive lifestyle pattern.
Toxic Foods
It is indeed difficult to control one’s for nfood craving and do calculations regarding what to eat and what not to eat. Well, Diabetic patients need not avoid every kind of food as their body also requires a certain amount of sugar which is necessary for body functioning.
The foods to avoid by people with diabetes are those which lead to instant blood sugar level elevations do not provide any nutrition to the body. In the recent times, there has been a growing trend of diabetic foods and diabetic diets.
While many may consider these foods safe for diabetic patients, the truth is little different. One should always go for natural foods and steer clear of processed foods to control the blood sugar level in the body. Below mentioned is the list of diabetic foods to avoid:
1. Soda and Other Sugary Beverages
Sugar-sweetened beverages(1) are the worst enemies of a person who has diabetes. These are a complete ‘no’ for diabetic patients for the amount of added sugars in them.
Whether it is the soda drink or the iced tea, all such beverages carry a high amount of carbs that are bad for the health of a diabetic patient. Even processed fruit drinks, your favorite lemonade, and the energy drinks have high fructose content.
Consuming such beverages affects the liver of a person. Such beverages are also known to cause excessive weight gain leading to obesity. Drink a lot more water and if possible unsweetened organic ice tea to stay fresh.
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2. Healthy Breakfast Cereals
The ever so favorite breakfast cereals that are known to be quite ‘healthy’ aren’t what they claim to be. While most people have adopted these cereals in their daily routine for less work and more benefit, the thing to note is that most of these cereals are highly processed and thus contain high carb content.
Further, they are deficient in protein which is essential to feel fuller and satisfied. Hence if you have cereals as your breakfast, you would be feeling hungry quick, and that would mean indulging in snacking which is not suitable for health. One should always choose a recipe which is high on protein and low on carbs for breakfast.
3. Dried Fruits and Nuts
Fruits are the best thing to have whether you have diabetes or not. Why? Because, they contain numerous minerals, nutrients, and high water content. However, after the drying of the fruit, all the water content of the fruit gets lost and what you get is a high concentration of nutrients.
While that may sound healthy but the point to be noted is that with a high level of nutrients the dried fruit(2) also has a high concentration of sugar which causes an instant spike in blood sugar level.
Dried fruits are the foods to avoid for a patient who has diabetes. Instead one should choose raw fruits whose carb content is almost three times lesser than that of dried fruits.
4. Packaged Snacks
Packaged snacks are out and out unhealthy. Refined flour is the primary ingredient which is not suitable for your health. Further, these delicious snacks lack in everything that is nutritious.
These have a high content of carbs that are known to increase your blood sugar level instantly. The most important tip for a diabetic patient would be to replace the mid-meal unhealthy snacks with nutritious vegetables that are low on carbs and better for health.
5. Fruit Juices
Yes, fruit juices are an absolute ‘no’ for people who have diabetes. They are otherwise a healthy choice, but fruit juices are not at all suitable for persons with fluctuating blood sugar level.
These are equally bad for you like the other sweetened drinks. Even the 100% fruit drinks are high on carbs and sugar content; hence one need to avoid them. Instead, eat fresh fruits.
6. Honey
To reduce intake of table sugar, people often adopt other alternatives of which honey is the most common. Honey is indeed healthy, but the number of carbs it contains is nothing less than what table sugar has.
However the label ‘unprocessed’of the honey may claim it to be, the amount of carbs in it is still enough to cause instant sugar spikes.
7. Flavored and Frozen Yogurt
Plain yogurt is good for health, but if you are trying to experiment with new recipes of it to satiate your taste-buds, then the result can be harmful.
Flavored yogurts are nothing similar to their healthier counterpart,i.e., the plain yogurt which is good for digestive health. The fruit-flavored yogurt has a high content of carbohydrates and sugar which make it harmful for a person who has diabetes.
The frozen fat-free yogurts available in the market are often considered healthier alternatives for ice-creams. But such fat-free yogurts contain high sugar and causes instant sugar spikes.
[Also Read: Yogurt For Diabetes]
8. Flavored Coffee
Coffee is known to have many benefits of which a significant advantage in controlling the glucose level in the blood. However, like flavored yogurt, flavored coffee is not at all suitable for those who have diabetes.
Flavored coffee is more of a dessert than a beverage. Packed with carbs and sugars, it leads to an increase in blood sugar level.
Further, it is a drink that does not satiate hunger, so people end up eating something else with it which means more calories intake. Thus, this high on calorie and carbs beverage is also known to cause weight gain.
9. Fat-free Salad Dressings
A Salad is the healthiest thing to include in your diet, but that ‘healthiness’ gets destroyed when you add a flavorsome dressing to it.
Such dressings do add flavor to your salad but ruin the very purpose of it which is to be ‘healthy’; especially the fat-free dressings are known to kill the nutritive value of the salad.
To compensate with the low amount of fat such dressings are added with “other substances” that are nothing but sugars and starch which are harmful to your health.
10. Fried Foods
Fried foods are bad for health and diabetic people should especially take care to avoid such foods as they are even worse for them. Anything fried whether that be the juicy chicken or your favorite French fries, it is not healthy for those who have diabetes.
It is because besides causing an increase in cholesterol levels, such foods are known to be high on fats and carbs. The high amount of fat makes it difficult for the body to absorb them. It causes an increase in blood glucose level that remains high until the fats get consumed thus posing a significant threat on body mechanism.
11. Gluten-Free Foods
Like ‘fat-free,’ ‘Gluten-free’ foods aren’t always healthy. Skip purchasing the food that has a label of gluten-free. Why? It is because gluten-free foods have more carbohydrate content than the regular baked foods.
Gluten is known to provide volume and elasticity to the grilled foods, but in its absence, the food is much denser. It means that the amount of carbohydrate it would contain will be more than that in food made using gluten.
12. Diet Sodas and Drinks
The diet soda that you had been drinking for long thinking it to be safe and healthy is one such thing that you should stop consuming this very moment. Such drinks do not contain sugar but are sweeter than the table sugar you eat.
This sweetness signals the pancreas to release insulin. You may not be consuming sugar, but still, your body is being indicated to carry out a particular task hampering your body functioning. Thus, diet sodas are one of the most toxic diabetic foods to avoid.
13. Artificial Sweeteners
Switching to artificial sweeteners is another popular trend among patients who have diabetes. These do not provide carbs like table sugar but are known to increase your craving for sweet foods.
It is because the artificial sweeteners(3) are much more generous than table sugar regarding sugar content. Regular consumption of these tunes your taste-buds to more sweet food.
Even the daily fruits and vegetables may seem bitter to people consuming artificial sweeteners as such their desire for sweet foods increases. To satiate their willingness, they may end up eating more sugary foods than that they would have usually taken.
14. Flavored Oatmeal
Oats are healthy and nutritious. They are rich in fiber and other nutrients that promote a healthy body. However, in the present era when foods need to be delicious, oats have got revamped too.
They come with added flavors to soothe the taste-buds. However, such flavored oats are nothing but sweet candies. These oats are processed and packed with sweetness enhancing ingredients that add an unnecessary amount of sugar in your body.
[Also Read: Benefits of Oatmeal]
15. Popcorns
However, unbelievable it may sound but yes; your favorite pass-time snack popcorn also comes in the list of diabetic foods to avoid.
Why? Because popcorn is made from corn that has a high glycemic index which means that consumption of it causes an instant spike in blood glucose level which can be threatening for a person who has diabetes.
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Further top it with butter, caramel sauce and other ingredients that are unhealthy for your body. Most of the packs of well-known brands have trans-fats that are known to be dangerous for persons who have diabetes.
The foods mentioned above are the diabetic foods to avoid for a happier and healthier life if you have diabetes. Please note that every meal is not bad for your health.
Avoid the food that is of little nutritive value and causes an instant spike in blood sugar level can affect the vital organs of your body. There are many other delicious options available, but you need to train your taste buds to enjoy those foods as well.
Besides, you need to follow a healthy lifestyle to keep your diabetes worry at bay. Along with eating healthy foods, one should follow a proper exercise routine that helps keep your vital organs functioning at their best.
