Diabetes in Today’s Society
Diabetes is so common in our everyday lives but why should it be a disease we don’t take nearly as serious as many others and turn a blind eye to?
There are many ways to prevent diabetes and maintain good blood sugar levels by dealing with it naturally. The statistics on diabetes released for the year 2020 by the CDC have stated that 1 in 10 Americans are diabetic. If you don’t know how it exactly affects your body, well it cannot regulate sugar properly and insulin which leads to sugar spikes and inflammation in the body. There are two types of diabetes; Type 1 you are born with low amounts of insulin, Type 2 is resisting insulin in your body. Type 2 is caused by lifestyle factors and is so prominent now that it is causing larger complications in the body. Covid for instance can cause so much harm to people who have diabetes and the way to prevent that is to lower inflammation in your body so that your body can cope once toxins enter.
Healthier eating is the first place to start before all of these forms of medication are introduced into your body. The root of the problem is food and the healing has to start from inside and with a healthy holistic relationship that could be possible. Staying away from frozen, processed, and fast food is the best way to start because it limits the excess sugar that you are consuming from all of these meals. The overconsumption of animal products, alcohol, and overloads of white sugar such as you guessed it fast-food french fries are doing the most harm and causing spikes in insulin levels. Our bodies aren't meant to break down all these toxic additives and excess sugars in our bodies. The overconsumption and sedentary lifestyle with the overloads of stress on top of that are causing these issues. If you know someone or you have been dealing with diabetes here are a few healthy eating and lifestyle swaps. It starts from within to make a change for yourself and by integrating these foods and Traditional Chinese Medicine principles, it is a simple guide for a better you.
The main goal is to lower inflammation in your body and it has to do with excess heat which is causing dampness and we want to prevent that. This kind of body type will be more of a yang constitution since we are dealing with heat and as we know red meat is a very yang food so they counteract.
What to integrate into your diet:
Portion Control: Yes, this will be a hard one but this is a start, by eating smaller portions throughout the day will not have you reaching for the largest portions for your meals. Eliminating all the bad foods in your life won’t be helpful so start small you want this to be part of your every day, not a one-time diet so one step at a time.
Integrating Breakfast: Making sure you are eating something in the morning. If you aren't a breakfast person eat something more appealing such as brown rice and a soft boiled egg with pickled daikon or kimchi, or a warm amaranth porridge with a hot tea.
Fatty Fish: Swapping out your red meat to more fish in your diet is great for people with diabetes and a good source of omega-3’s. Eating fish such a salmon, tuna and sardines are great for your health, make sure you’re buying wild-caught fish, the conventional ones can have high amounts of mercury and other pollutants.
Foods for Healing:
Fresh Food: Let's start with the basics, this might seem easy enough but slowly eliminate the number of times you eat out, replace boxed and processed food with whole grains, fruits, and veggies. If frozen works for you, make sure you are staying away from excessive amounts of additives and when reading the ingredient list they are clean and simple.
Vegetarian Diet: I know cutting out meat is hard but if you eat a mostly vegetarian diet and integrate meat and fish sparingly this can help.
Best Options: Foods to always incorporate into your meals such as legumes, grains, carrots, kale, cabbage, broccoli, spinach, and coffee (but without all the sweeteners). When thinking of sugars fruits are fine don’t exclude those, just limit the portion and eat seasonally.
Foods to Avoid:
White Rice: It's a starch that will spike your blood sugar but also this grain is stripped from all the good nutrients. If you want rice make sure it's coming from a whole and sprouted grain like brown rice or barley.
Noodles: Similar to rice. If you want a pasta dish, eat sparingly and make sure it is organic and sourced well.
Red Meat: Meat is very yang because it’s very warming in the body. If you already have inflammation in the body due to diabetes you want to stay away from this. Eat this at most once or twice a week if you can’t eliminate it together.
Alcohol: Limit alcohol consumption especially if these are mixed drinks because then you are consuming more amounts of sugar that can cause insulin spikes. We also know alcohol affects your liver and we all want good liver chi. A good swap is a low sugar kombucha with probiotics and some are even alcoholic.
Cured Meats: Stay away from cured meats they have high amounts of salt and preservatives and the meat itself is very harmful to the body.
Pastries: The sugary pastries everyone loves from the coffee shop or packaged from the grocery store stay away. Those can be detrimental if eaten frequently due to the amount of sugar, white flour, and unhealthy oils that can all affect your blood levels.
I hope this was helpful insight on diabetes and that you find your path of eating well even if it’s one simple change to your life.