Today the lifestyle that we lead has resulted in many health issues. Adding fuel to this is the wrong food advertising that has lead to a significant rise in the number of cases with diseases like diabetes. Finally, to cure these diseases, we consume medicines made from ingredients which can potentially have long term health implications.

With the increase in dissemination of knowledge of ancient Indian healthcare practises, there is a paradigm shift seen towards discovering nutritional supplements that not only helps lower blood sugar naturally but also assists in preventing the onset of diabetes.

Simple lifestyle changes coupled with regular intake of natural nutritional health supplements help in not only stalling Diabetes but also strengthens the internal body functioning practically eliminating the forced need to consume chemical ingredients which have short term benefits but with potential long term serious implications on your health

WHO has reported, about 422 million people worldwide have diabetes, and about 1.6 million deaths are directly attributed to diabetes each year.  For people who don’t know what diabetes is all about, here are some details.

Diabetes is a medical condition which impairs the body’s ability to process blood glucose, also commonly known as blood sugar. The pancreas is primarily responsible for generating insulin in the body. Insulin is responsible for ensuring that the food we eat is passed from the bloodstream into the cells that help produce energy. The proper functioning of the internal bodily functions utilises the energy produced.

All the carbohydrates that we consume breaks down into glucose in the body. Finally, it is the insulin that helps the glucose get into the cells in the body. However, when the body stops producing insulin, the glucose levels in the blood increase, thus creating high sugar levels in the body.

Having too much sugar in the blood for long periods of time can cause serious health problems if it’s not treated. Hyperglycemia can damage the vessels that supply blood to vital organs, which can increase the risk of heart disease and stroke, kidney disease, vision problems, and nerve problems

Depending on the intensity of the level of diabetes, the patients often find themselves taking various dosages of insulin at times, even multiple times a day. This process can become very tedious for the patient.

Hence, there is a considerable demand for how to cure diabetes naturally without medication; and for supplements to prevent diabetes or even diabetes supplements at work.

The viability of various nutritional supplements for diabetes is being considered and tested. Now let’s talk about some of the natural ingredients that have known to help in controlling blood sugar levels.

Fenugreek

Fenugreek seeds are part of our ancient traditions that help with various health ailments and even behaves as one of the best supplements for diabetes. they are also known as one of the best supplements for prediabetes.

It contains fibres that help in lowering the blood sugar levels. The chemicals and fibres in fenugreek seeds help by slowing down the digestions of nutrients like sugar and carbohydrates.

The intake of fenugreek seeds have seen –

• Higher levels of insulin in the body.
• Reduction in the blood sugar levels
• Reduction in the cholesterol levels

Foxtail Millets

Millets, or specifically foxtail millets, are not only healthy as far as a nutritious diet is concerned.

Other than this, Foxtail millet also helps as a blood sugar control supplement for diabetes. Due to the lower GI scores of Foxtail Millet, the speed of rising in blood glucose levels is lowered.

Studies have shown that foxtail millets can be considered Blood sugar control supplements, due to the following reasons.

• It helps increase concentrations of leptin, the satiety hormone.
• Helps in decreasing the insulin resistance
• Helps in reduction of inflammation

Flax Seeds

As mentioned earlier, the insulin generated by the pancreas plays a significant role in the regulation of blood sugar.

Insulin resistance is when high amounts of insulin are required to lower the blood sugar levels. Insulin resistance can be a risk factor for type 2 diabetes. While discussing the insulin resistance, we also need to talk about insulin sensitivity. Insulin sensitivity informs us about how sensitive the body is to insulin. Increase in insulin sensitivity is a must for the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes.

Flax seeds are potent antioxidants, due to the presence of lignin in high quantities. Antioxidants help in improving insulin sensitivity and thus slowing down the development of diabetes. Hence flax seeds can be excellent supplements for diabetes type 1.

Jowar

Another standard recommendation for a person who has diabetes have rotis made of jowar, instead of the standard wheat rotis. Jowar acts as a nutritional supplement for diabetics for the following reasons –

• The low GI or the glycemic index ensures that the glucose is released slowly into the body. They are thus preventing any spikes in the blood sugar levels.
• The antioxidants present in Jowar help reduce inflammation and presents any free radical damage in diabetics. Also, the antioxidants present in Jowar are known to be beneficial when it comes to fighting obesity or even further worsening of the diabetics condition.

Black Rice

Again black rice is another supplement for diabetes type-2.

The crucial factor for diabetics is to keep the blood sugar in the normal range. One of the best ways to achieve this, without insulin, is to consume foods higher in protein and fibre. Regular white rice has a high carbohydrate content vs the protein content. Thus it works on sending the blood sugar level rocketing within a short span.

Also, the protein forms one of the critical nutritional supplements for the body in the case of bodybuilding, as well as cutting down on the sugar spikes that are experienced due to the intake of carbohydrates.

All of this makes black rice, one of the best supplements for diabetes.

Speaking of black rice as a nutritional supplement for diabetics, it contains 8.5 grams of protein in a 100-gram serving; while, on the other hand, for the same 100-gram serving, red and brown rice contains 7 grams and 8 grams of protein respectively

.White rice on the other hand contains only about 4.2 grams of protein along with the potential to cause a significant spike in your blood sugar levels.

Conclusion

The perfect combination of such natural ingredients coupled with medicinal herbs is the solution to manage and control your diabetes, encouraging your body to perform the way it is meant to, while strengthening the internal body functioning. Diab’O’vita by Holin is one such nutritional health supplement for managing and controlling your diabetes.

References

• National Diabetes Statistics Report, 2017: Estimates of diabetes and its burden in the United States. (2017). http://www.diabetes.org/assets/pdfs/basics/cdc-statistics-report-2017.pdf
• Statistics about diabetes. (2018). http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/statistics/
• What is diabetes? (n.d.). https://www.cdc.gov/media/presskits/aahd/diabetes.pdf
• What is diabetes? (2016). https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/diabetes/overview/what-is-diabetes
• Alternative therapies useful in the management of diabetes: A systematic review (nih.gov) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3249697/
• All about the grains group. (n.d.).https://www.choosemyplate.gov/eathealthy/grains
• de Munter, J. S. L., et al. (2007). Whole grain, bran, and germ intake and risk of type 2 diabetes: A prospective cohort study and systematic review.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1952203/
• Diabetes diet, eating, & physical activity. (2016).https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/diabetes/overview/diet-eating-physical-activity
• Diabetes superfoods (n.d.).https://www.diabetes.org/nutrition/healthy-food-choices-made-easy/diabetes-superfoods
• Eating doesn’t have to be boring. (n.d.).https://www.diabetes.org/nutrition
• Glycaemic index and diabetes. (n.d.).https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/enjoy-food/carbohydrates-and-diabetes/glycaemic-index-and-diabetes
• Millet, cooked. (2019).https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/168871/nutrients
• Patil, B. P., et al. (2015). Glycemic index and quality evaluation of little millet (Panicum miliare) flakes with enhanced shelf life.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4554602/
• Ren, X., et al. (2018). The glucose-lowering effect of foxtail millet in subjects with impaired glucose tolerance: A self-controlled clinical trial.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6213109/
• Sluijs, I., et al. (2010). Carbohydrate quantity and quality and risk of type 2 diabetes in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition–Netherlands (EPIC-NL) study.https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/92/4/905/4597588
• The lowdown on the glycemic index and glycemic load (n.d.).https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/the-lowdown-on-glycemic-index-and-glycemic-load
• Understanding carbs: Find your balance. (n.d.).https://www.diabetes.org/nutrition/understanding-carbs
• Flaxseed and Diabeteshttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26561065/

What does a balanced diet means?

Balance diet is simply a diet that helps your body work smoothly; without you facing any disease, your body functions properly. The importance lies in the intake of adequate calories. Everything should be taken as per our body’s balance for staying fir a healthy and balanced diet is essential.

Let’s know about calories:

Calories are considered indicators of energy calories consumed when you walk, run, or breathe an average person needs 2000 calories to maintain a healthy lifestyle in a day. It is also that calories may depend upon gender, age, physical activity. It is also that men need more calories than women.

Importance of a balanced diet:

Eating healthy is very important because you feel great energetic, boost your mood, and stay fit.

Good nutrition, physical activity are part of healthy living.

A balanced diet always prevents diseases, and if we don’t take a balanced diet, we may be prone to many diseases like diabetes.

If we take a balanced diet, we are active physically, and being active physically can reduce many problems like stress, high blood pressure, etc.

What falls under a balanced diet?

Taking a balanced diet is very important so let’s see what some food items fall under it:

Green leaves, eggplants, starchy vegetables, beans, and peas.

Fruits, of course, fruits are essential. They contain many vitamins that are good for our health.

Grains such as whole grains that also keeps our diet maintained.

Protein diet such as chicken, fish, egg.

Dairy products such as curd, cottage cheese.

There is a wide variety of selection of food choices from the above five groups; they are significant in maintaining health.

These above five groups provide your body micro and macronutrients both so they are essential.  A balanced diet contains 50 to 60% carbohydrates, 12 to 20% protein, 30% fat.  All the body organs need proper nutrients; tissues need proper vitamins to repair so that every ingredient in the right amount is essential.

A proper diet is complete when you take breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks and have appropriate and balanced meals. All you need is muscle mass and blood cells, which bring oxygen and muscle to your body.

Always eat healthily, maintain balance in your diet.

Pro tips :

It is not just that you should eat healthily, but it also depends upon your eating practices:

Smaller portions: feast in a smaller bowl rather than in a big.

The gap in eating: give time after one meal let your body also rest always eat in little time lapse

Cut down the snacks: you should mostly avoid eating junk; it is not at all good for your body, and if you are a junk addict, eat it in less portion that doesn’t bring any harm to your body.

No emotional eating: never do binge eating, you should never eat when you feel sad, angry, or on any of the emotions because we eat unhealthily.

Always stay healthy, eat healthily.

A well-balanced diet and healthy life go hand in hand. As a person starts aging, the degenerative mode gets activated in the body leading to low immunity, poor digestion, weakening bones and muscles, and fatigue.

Therefore, the need for more nutrition and a healthy diet becomes an integral part of your age. But the requirement of vitamins, proteins, minerals, fluids, and carbohydrates for the body must be sourced from easy-to-digest and easy-to-absorb meals as you age.

So without wasting time, Let’s dive into Top eight foods for senior citizens, which can significantly help maintain health and remain energized throughout the day. These food items will also lower the risk of developing many chronic health conditions, such as heart disease and diabetes.

Green leafy vegetables

Dark green leafy vegetables enriches the body with a large number of health benefits and offers protection to bones against osteoporosis and thus prevent the aged people from inflammatory diseases. The presence of the large amount of Vitamin K in green leafy vegetables like kale, spinach, dandelion greens, and arugula ensures blood clotting and reduces bone fragility.

Apples

They are rich in fiber, vitamins, and minerals; apples serve to be the best antioxidants and provide endless benefits to the body. With high chances of heart problems in old age people, apples act as the all-rounder and thus promote the heart’s health in several ways. The presence of fiber and polyphenols lowers cholesterol level, blood pressure, and reduces stroke risk.

Eggs

Being inexpensive, readily available and easily digestible, eggs are the lean source of high-quality protein and contain a right proportion of leucine, an amino acid, which is essential for muscle synthesis, also many other nutrients of significance for aged people, along-with vitamin D, and omega-3 fatty acids. Eggs help to prevent sarcopenia in senior people and thus regulates functional capacity.

Nuts and seeds

Nuts like almonds, walnuts, Brazil nuts, and peanuts(legumes) are a good source of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, fiber, vitamins, and minerals which bless an aged person with a graceful, longest and healthiest life possible. Seeds like sunflower, being a lean source of vitamin E and folate, prevents various heart diseases and regulates good overall health.

Greek Yogurt

Rich in calcium and protein, Greek yogurt significantly improves bone health and prevents osteoporosis(a type of bone disease). Eating greek yogurt regularly boosts the metabolism in aged people and regulate the blood pressure.

Whole grains

Whole grains are the complete package for senior citizens regarding their excellent health. Whole grains are the best energy booster and enrich the body with B-vitamins and minerals like iron, magnesium, copper, and zinc. Consumption of whole-grain can significantly lower the cholesterol level, prevent certain cancers, and reduces the inflammation. Whole grains serve to be an ideal choice for breakfast for aged people.

Seafood

Seafood like fish, nuts, leafy greens, and vegetable and flaxseed oils that contain the right proportion of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids lead to healthy aging. Being low in calories and high in protein and minerals, fish can significantly lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of a heart attack or stroke.

Berries and dark skinned fruits

Berries comes with many health benefits packed in with memory loss reduction properties. Berries and other dark-skinned fruits play a crucial role in boosting memory and preventing many other aging problems like heart disease and cancer.

Final Word

I hope these food items would help you fight aging problems and live your life healthier and more robust. When your body feels good, ultimately, you think food and can live your life to the fullest.