Tips for diabetic patients

[Shashank Shekhar]

Dear All,

I attended Yoga Teachers training program on Diabetes Management conducted by AOL & SVYASA and supported by AYUSH (Government of India) last week. Followings are few important points:

1)      Diabetes is a signal that our life style is not correct. Let’s not blame only on genetics. Most important that we accept that it’s because of life style disorder and correct it.

2)       In Lifestyle there are four major factors i.e. Wrong diet, Lack of exercise, Bad habits and emotional tension/stress all traceable to the mind and therefore it’s important to handle the mind.

3)      Diet:

a)      Eating sugar does not cause sugar unless you are diabetic nor because of lack of insulin. It’s because the insulin receptor is not working/insensitive/sleeping.

b)      Take 2/3 meals a day. Have each meal properly. Frequent meals put more pressure on pancreas and other organs.

c)       A meal should contain 25% raw vegetables or salads; 25% cooked vegetables; 25% whole grain and 25% pulses or sambar

d)      Vegetarian food is anytime better than non-vegetarian.

e)      Rice – use unpolished/brown/red rice. Prefer long grains and it should not stick after cooking.

f)       Wheat – Use full grain wheat/ organic. While making chapatti use proportion as- whole wheat flour – 800 gms; black gram powder – 200 gms and Methi seeds powder – 25 gms

g)      Pulses – Unpolished/organic. Plant protein is recommended over animal protein.

h)      Oil – Unrefined. Whatever parents or grandparents have been using. Our genes are used to that oil like mustard/coconut/etc. Don’t heat oil beyond smoking temp. Recommended qty – less than 500 ml per person per month. If possible use different varieties of oils in different meals prepared during the day to get maximum benefits.

i)        Vegetables & Salads are highly recommended. Some vegetables like bitter gourd and fenugreek are very effective in diabetes.

j)        Fruits – 3 fruits per person per day. Seasonal fruits are highly recommended. Diabetic patient can avoid water melon.

k)      Avoid sugar. Use unrefined/black color jaggery.

l)        Ghee – one teaspoon per person per day is advisable.

m)    Poha – red & thick

n)      Seeds – flex seeds, methi seeds, jamun seeds, amla and cinnamon powder are recommended.

o)      Water – Drink water as much as you need. If you feel thirsty or the urine is not clear, it’s a signal to drink water. Drinking water frequently and unnecessarily puts more pressure on the functioning of body organs.

p)      Milk – Only desi cow milk. Around 200 ml per person per day.

q)      Sugar and Maida are like poisons. Use salt as low as possible.

r)       Sugar free foods or packed foods are not recommended.

s)       Eat slowly feeling the food in the mouth and body. Full focus on the food. Chew properly. Don’t watch TV or talk while eating.

t)       Never tell anyone NOT to eat anything. It becomes a craving for them. Instead tell them to eat that thing in little quantity and very slowly (like eat half gulab jamun in 15 minutes) and when they are unhappy.  Also on that day they should eat lots of vegetables/fibrous items in their meal.

4)      Exercise –

a)      Walking – Minimum 2.5 hrs per week

b)      Yoga – chair yoga if you are not able to do standing or sitting on ground.

 

5)      Bad Habits – Strict NO to Alcohol, Smoking, Drugs, Tobacco, Junk foods and fried items. Eat vegetables, vegetables and vegetables…

6)      Stress - Silence your mind. Do things at your comfortable pace. How Stress generate diseases? In stage 1- it leads to sleeplessness/restlessness/irritability/emotional outburst /indecisiveness/ depression. Stage 2 – Nervous system arousal. Stage 3 – Acts on organs such as heart, stomach, brain; immune system and cellular level (diabetes, arthritis). Stress needs to be relieved at various levels and can be done by:

a)      Intellect – education, notion correction.

b)      Mind – Meditation technique, emotional culture, chanting

c)       Nervous system – breath regulation, relaxation technique

d)      Muscles/Organs - Exercise, Yoga, Pranayama, Kriya, Diet  

Diabetes is a Psycho- somatic disease means mind & body disease and root cause is mind. If there are things that we can’t handle, surrender to the divine. Thinking about that thing continuously builds lots of stress in system.

Also had amazing session on Yoga, Cyclic Meditation and Kriya that would be very helpful for diabetic patients. Interested people can contact me for further details.

Above are recommended for type 2 diabetic patients. However it needs to be individualized considering patient’s age, gender, severity of illness, capacity, presence or absence of other complications like hypertension, obesity, arthritis & so on and status of dosha.

Hope above would help.

Regards

Shashank Shekhar

Mobile: +919900712555