In this new chapter, we will be discussing how we can manage diabetes with our diet.

Diabetes is part of the top five killer diseases in Ghana. There is genetic component in the develop­ment of diabetes. Notwithstanding, the role of diet and lifestylecannot be over-emphasised.

Signs and symptoms of diabe­tes:Excessive thirst and hunger, frequent urination both during the day and at night and profuse sweating among others.

In this week’s episode, we will be talking about how we can maximise our health against diabetes with staple foods.

Choose whole foods such as un­ripe plantain, wheat, brown rice, oats, yam, corn, cassava, etc. over processed foods like white rice, fufu flour, banku flour, polished corn, and polished kenkey.

Whole foods are rich in fibre, and contain less sugar and complex car­bohydrates which have lower pro­pensity to increase our blood sugar.

On the other hand, processed foods have little or no fibre, contain high amount of sugar and simple carbohydrates, which have a higher propensity to cause rapid increase in blood sugar, leading to diabetes. For this reason, these refined foods should be avoided completely in people with diabetes.

In summary too much of everything is bad. Although it is appetising, much easier and tastier to consume processed foods and refined foods, we must strive to reduce their intake so that we can prevent diabetes as much possible.

The writer is a Dietician and CEO of Holistic Health Consult

“Your diet your health, your health your wealth”

E-mail:

info@holistichealthconsult.org