5 Foods that Diabetics Should Avoid!

Diabetes mellitus, also known as diabetes, is a metabolic condition that raises blood sugar levels. When your blood glucose which is commonly known as blood sugar, is too high, you develop diabetes. Your body’s primary energy source is blood glucose, which is obtained from the food you eat. The pancreas produces the hormone insulin, which facilitates the entry of food-derived glucose into your cells for energy production. Your body occasionally produces insufficient or no insulin, or it uses insulin poorly. After that, glucose remains in your circulation and does not enter your cells.

What to eat and what not to. People with diabetes frequently have this question on their minds. So Sugar-sweetened beverages, Fruit-flavoured yogurt, Sweetened breakfast cereal, Honey and maple syrup, White bread and other “white” foods are some of the foods that diabetics should surely avoid

Sugar-sweetened beverages are considered to be high in carbohydrate content and so are the worst enemy of diabetics. They are also high in fructose which affects insulin resistance. This leads to increased belly fat and increased cholesterol levels (LDL). 

This could be replaced by:

• Water
• Unsweetened beverages
• Less sugary drinks

Fruit-flavoured yogurt is a delicious combination of thick, plain yogurt, fresh or frozen fruit, and sugar. The non-fat milk used in its production and the high sugar and carbohydrate content is the main cause of it being not a good option to consume for diabetics. A lot of people think that frozen yogurt is healthier than ice cream. However, in reality, it may have more sugar than ice cream.

This could be replaced by:

Whole milk yogurt has no sugar.

Sweetened breakfast cereal is full of added sugar. You receive no nutritional benefit from added sugars, and consuming too many of these empty calories can cause weight gain and, over time, may even aggravate chronic illnesses like diabetes and heart disease. Most cereals as we might not know are highly processed and contain far more carbs. Additionally, they offer very little protein, a nutrient that can help you feel content and full while maintaining stable blood sugar levels throughout the day.

For people with diabetes, even the supposedly "healthy" breakfast cereals are not ideal.

This could be replaced by:

Protein-based low-carb breakfast options like baked oats, chia pudding, and avocado and egg toast.

Most people use honey as a substitute for white sugar. Sugary foods like candies, cookies, and pie, as well as white table sugar, are frequently discouraged from diabetics' diets.

But other types of sugar, such as brown sugar and natural sugars like honey and maple syrup, aren't any better. These sweeteners have not undergone a lot of processing but they still have about the same amount of carbohydrates as white sugar. The majority have much more.

The number of carbs in a one-tablespoon serving of certain common sweeteners is as follows:

• White sugar: 12.6 gm
• Honey: 17 gm
• Maple syrup: 13 gm
• Agave nectar: 16 gm

This could be replaced by:

Stevia: 3 gm carb/packet and its glycemic index (GI) is 0.

Quite frankly, white bread has a well-deserved poor reputation. White starchy meals, like white bread and white rice, are easily absorbed by the body and turned into glucose, raising blood sugar levels almost as quickly as pure sugar.

An average-sized white bread roll has about 30g of carbohydrates.

Having a white bun will therefore elevate your blood sugar at a rate that is comparable to consuming seven tablespoons of sugar.

This could be replaced by:
Whole grain bread: More fibre

People who have diabetes are more likely to carefully analyse their eating choices. This will be easy if we keep in mind a few items that are high in sugar. White bread is a starchy food that is high in carbohydrates. Around 17g of sugar is included in one teaspoon of honey. Fruit-flavoured types of yogurt are also not the best thing to try out. So to be on the safer side, it’s better to avoid some of the things.

1. https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/diabetes/overview/what-is-diabetes
2. https://www.verywellhealth.com/sugar-replacements-for-diabetics-1087191
3. https://healthprep.com/diabetes/7-foods-to-avoid-if-you-have-diabetes/
4. https://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/5-foods-to-avoid.html
5. https://www.insider.com/high-protein-breakfasts-that-wont-spike-blood-sugar-recipes-2022-3#:~:text=To%20keep%20your%20blood%20sugar,and%20eggs%20on%20wholegrain%20toast.