Diabetes Prevention Diet

To prevent diabetes through diet, the key is never to completely quit sugar and eat whole grains every day, but to stabilize large fluctuations in blood sugar while avoiding long-term caloric surplus - this is a core principle recognized by major chronic disease guidelines and different dietary schools around the world.

I met a 52-year-old aunt while doing a chronic disease screening in the community a while ago. She was diagnosed with pre-diabetes six months ago. When she came back, she threw away all the white rice and flour at home. She ate waxy corn and drank thick multi-grain porridge. She didn't even dare to touch an apple. As a result, her sugar tolerance was still not up to standard this time. She took the report sheet and felt very aggrieved: "I haven't tasted sweetness in half a year. Why can't I do it?"

To put it bluntly, she has stepped on a misunderstanding: the glutinous corn she chose has a higher amylopectin content than ordinary rice, and the glycemic index (GI) can reach more than 70. Moreover, she gnawed two corns in one meal, which calculated the calories were higher than eating a bowl of white rice. Of course, her blood sugar could not be stabilized.

When it comes to how to eat staple food, there are actually two mainstream views. There is no absolute right or wrong. The key is to adapt to your own living habits. One is the "whole grain replacement method" recommended by traditional endocrinologists. Instead of completely abandoning white rice and white flour, replace 1/3 to 1/2 of refined staple foods with slow-glycemic whole grains such as oats, quinoa, and mixed beans, which can ensure the supply of carbohydrates without causing blood sugar to spike too much. The other is the low-carb diet trend that has become popular in recent years. It is recommended to reduce the proportion of refined carbohydrates to less than 20% of the total daily calories and rely on high-quality fats and proteins to provide energy, which can also stabilize insulin levels. I met a salesman before. He couldn't make whole-grain rice when he was out for dinner, so he took 1/3 less rice every time he ate, and put in two more pieces of steamed fish and half a plate of vegetables. In 3 months, his fasting blood sugar dropped from 6.3 to 5.4. It was much more effective than forcing himself to eat whole grains that he didn't like.

Many people think that as long as they don’t eat sweet food, they will avoid pitfalls. In fact, the invisible blood sugar killer hidden in salty food is the most difficult to guard against. For example, the sucrose-free soda biscuits you pick up when you are hungry after working overtime do not taste sweet at all. The first ingredient on the list is refined wheat flour, with a large amount of palm oil added. The digestion and absorption speed is not much slower than drinking sugar water; Now when I go to the supermarket to buy packaged food, I don’t look at anything else. I turn to the back and look at the ingredient list. If the first three items contain fructose syrup, maltodextrin, and refined wheat flour, take less of them no matter how delicious they are. Then I look at the nutritional label. If there are more than 20 grams of carbohydrates per 100 grams, you have to weigh them carefully when you eat them. Don’t eat too much accidentally.

There is another question that everyone asks the most: Can I still eat fruit in the early stage of sugar consumption? There is actually no standard answer to this matter. Mainstream dietary guidelines recommend eating 200-350 grams of low-GI fruits, such as strawberries, apples, and oranges, every day to supplement vitamins without placing too much burden on blood sugar. However, supporters of the ketogenic diet recommend completely avoiding high-sugar fruits such as watermelon and lychee, and eating less apples. I have a friend who is in the early stage of diabetes. He heard others say that he should not eat fruit and he was too greedy. Later, he bought a fingertip blood glucose meter. Every time he ate half an apple, he measured his blood sugar after a meal. He found that it only rose to 6.8, which was lower than when he ate a pack of soda crackers when he was hungry. Now he dares to eat a small orange every afternoon to satisfy his craving, and his blood sugar has been very stable. But a word of warning, never beat the fruit into juice and drink it. It takes you 10 minutes to chew an apple, and drink it in two mouthfuls. After the dietary fiber is broken down, the blood sugar rise rate can be more than 2 times higher than eating it directly. It is really not worth the gain.

In fact, in addition to what you eat, how you eat is also very important. In order to measure the impact of the order of meals on blood sugar, I conducted a controlled experiment for a week. For the same amount of food, if I ate the staple food first and then the vegetables, my blood sugar could reach 7.2 two hours after the meal. Later, I changed to eating half a plate of green leafy vegetables first, then fish and eggs, and finally less than half a bowl of staple food. After the meal, my blood sugar dropped directly to 5.8, a difference of almost 1.5 points. The effect was particularly obvious. Also, don’t eat too fast. I used to be able to finish a meal in 10 minutes when I was in a hurry. But later I learned that if you eat too fast, your stomach will not have time to send out the signal that you are full, and you have already eaten too much, and your blood sugar will spike accordingly. Chew slowly, and eat a meal for 20 to 30 minutes. You can feel the aroma of the food and your blood sugar will be stable. Why not?

After all, there are really no golden rules that must be followed in the diet to prevent diabetes. There is no need to make yourself like an ascetic, not daring to eat this or touch that. Everyone's gastrointestinal absorption rate and insulin sensitivity are different. If someone else eats something that raises blood sugar, you may be fine. If you are really unsure, spend tens of dollars to buy a fingertip blood glucose meter and test it after eating something you are unsure about. It will be more effective than reading 10 popular science articles. Oh, by the way, don’t just stare at your food. Don’t just lie down on the sofa and check your phone after eating. Stand for 10 minutes or walk downstairs twice. Muscles can help you consume a lot of blood sugar. It’s easy to test it yourself.