Coconut- The misunderstood fruit

 I am a fish eating coastal girl. There is no doubt then  that, Coconut is my favorite fruit. Its sweet  creaminess, adds a different level of flavor to any dish.  And now that it is know to be good for you, I want to  share its benefits with everybody. Somehow, unlike  other fruits, over the past century, it has a got a bad  reputation. In India coconut has always enjoyed the  love and respect it deserves, but the western  brainwashing has made us believe otherwise.

 Coconut has earned a bad name, because of its high  content of Saturated fats. But, what has been over  looked is that there are different kinds of saturated  fats and different ways of classifying them. One such method is by the molecular size of the fatty acids. Most oils and fats coming from plant and animal sources contain Long chain fatty acids (LCFA). But the fat in coconut oil is Medium Chain fatty acid(MCFA), and it is differently metabolized by our body. MCFA does not have the ill effects on our health that LCFA have. It infact, protects us from heart disease and lowers the risk of Atherosclerosis (thickening of the artery walls). 

The coconut tree is superior to all other plantation, as each and every part of the tree comes of use to us humans; may It be the fruit the leaves, bark or husk. Coconut is highly nutritious and rich in fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Traditionally people have used coconut oil to cure a wide range of health problems and now, slowly modern scientists are relearning its powers and unlocking them.

There are many ways of using coconut in your food. Coconut oil has a high smoking point, which means it can withstand higher temperatures without going rancid, as compared to other oils and therefore is a good cooking medium. People from the coast like us, garnish every food with coriander and grated coconut. Coconut milk is a staple in our fish preparations. We use roasted dried coconut in our meat dishes. But, the latest addition to my ways of consuming coconut is Virgin coconut oil. This oil is cold pressed from coconut milk. It is the purest form for gaining the benefits of coconut and it has a host of health benefits that have been discovered. Other than heart problems and increased cholesterol levels, it helps depression, weight, digestion, weak immunity, metabolism, stops sugar cravings and last but not the least, helps manage Type II Diabetes.

Recent studies have found that coconut oil protects against insulin resistance, reducing the risk of Type 2 Diabetes. MCFA fats are small enough to be absorbed into the cells where they are quickly converted to energy. This process not only reduces the amount of fat we pack into storage, but also improves insulin sensitivity. I have started taking 2 tablespoons of Virgin coconut oil in the mornings, to regulate my blood sugar and help with weight loss. If you have found this information useful, please leave a comment.

Some Interesting links: 
http://www.philly.com/philly/health/Coconut_oil_water_milk_Healthy_or_hype.html
https://www.coconutsecret.com/coconuthealthsecrets2.html
http://undergroundhealthreporter.com/coconut-health-benefits/

Walk away from Diabetes

Writing these articles about Diabetes management is also helping me a lot. I am reminded of the do's and don'ts myself. One change that I have made in my lifestyle is, that I have started walking regularly. After dinner I go out for a 30 min brisk walk. We normally have an early dinner, by 7 pm, which works in my favor. Another plus is that my husband accompanies me. It is always nice to have company. I have started checking my sugars more regularly and have noticed that the added activity has significantly lowered my blood sugars. I hope to keep this up.

I cannot stress enough, about how important exercise can be in your Diabetes management. If you already lead an active lifestyle, then you are on the right track, but if not, then I would like to guide you towards managing your blood sugars better, with the least amount of exercise. Let us first look at the benefits of exercise for blood sugar management.

1.  Insulin sensitivity is increased. This helps your cells to better use your insulin. The cells absorb glucose (in your blood) during and after the activity. This process happens easily in the body of a non-diabetic, but us diabetics need to give it a push.
2. Your muscles contract during activity. This mechanism allows your cells to take up glucose and use it for energy, even when insulin is not available.

These two activities in turn, lower/control your blood sugar in a natural way. Enough of the medical jargon now! Loosing, even 5 kgs of weight, can lower your blood sugar levels significantly. The insulin produced by your body may suffice, at a lower weight. I know from personal experience that loosing wt. is not as easy, as it is to prescribe it. So, let us look at ways to walk your way to health.

We have all had our doctors tell us how walking is the best form of exercise for diabetics. It is easy, can be done at any place, does not require any equipment and is safe at any age. 30 minutes walking a day is more than enough for us. And the great thing about this is, that this activity can be broken down into parts during the whole day. So, it is up to you, if you want to do 3 parts of 10 min or 2 parts of 15 min or a 30 min walk at one time. Let us look at how we can incorporate it into our daily life. I have a few suggestions, in order to efficiently exercise with the focus of controlling your blood sugar.

•  It is a good idea for every Diabetic to buy a glucometer. That way you can not only keep track of your blood sugars but also identify what works for your body.
• Once you have a glucometer, check your blood sugar levels before and after your workout.
• The best workout for a diabetic is any aerobic activity. The easiest of which is walking. Considering that, most of the diabetic population is middle aged or older people, who do not work out regularly; walking is an easy and gentle option.
• The best times to walk are: about 30 minutes after your meals. Blood sugars tend to peak 1 hr after a meal. This is the most challenging time. You want your sugars to stay in the normal range in this period as much as possible. Therefore, a brisk walk immediately after a meal is the best time for a walk.
• Walk as fast as you can. Even a slow walk will bring your sugar down a certain amount. Check your blood sugar after the walk and you will know how beneficial it is.
• Break your 30 minutes a day routine into 3 parts. Walk immediately after Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. This is the best way to put your mild workout routine to work for you. If you can walk more, it will be even more beneficial. 

Ideally you want to be surrounded by nature. It not only has physical but mental benefits too. It has meditative powers. But, for those of us living in the cities, walking in the wild is a distant dream. So grab a friend and go for a walk. IT will keep you motivated. Even better, find somebody with medical background just like you and support each other in your journey. But, remember to walk. Leave a comment if you like my article.

Diabetic meals the Indian way

In my previous article I have written about my personal journey from the point of having a vague idea about this disease to knowing how to be in charge of it. Here I would like to write specifically about diabetic meals in the Indian context. Most medical research happens in USA and therefore there is more information available online about American meals and lifestyles to control diabetes. But, slowly India has become the diabetes capital of the world and sometimes we have our Indian doctors to thank for it. Diabetes is a lifestyle disease and there is very little information provided to us about the changes one needs to make in the lifestyle and food habits in order to live healthy with the disease.

There is a lot of general information available about this online, so I am going to try to stick to information specific to Indian food habits. Before that, let me cover some of the basics of diabetes management. In simple words your blood sugars surge up when your body has not produced enough insulin to manage the carbohydrate intake (not sugar alone) that you took in the previous meal.  In addition our liver produces sugar, which can only be controlled by medication. We will not talk about that here. We will stick to the part that we can control or manage.  Let me point out that along with diet and exercise constant touch with your doctor to manage your medication is very important.

When I say that the insulin produced is not enough to manage the carbohydrate intake, you either, need to increase the insulin produced, or lower the carbohydrate intake. Increasing insulin means taking stronger drugs. So, why not try and reduce the carbohydrate intake. What is the recommended carbohydrate intake during the day? Let us call 15 gms of carbs = 1 unit.

Breakfast – 2 unit.

Lunch – 3 unit.

Snack – 2 unit.

Dinner – 3 unit.

Carb Counting:

This is a healthy intake for everybody. But non-diabetics can afford some cheating, not us.  Here comes the next question, How do you know how many carbohydrates a meal has. Let me cover all the commonly consumed food groups by Indians that have carbohydrate and this may surprise a lot of us.

Foods                                                                                                                    approx. Carbohydrate

Starchy or sweet veggies: potatoes, peas, carrots,  corn etc.        15 gms in ½ cup

Beans: Rajma, Chole, Moong, Chauli, etc.                                            15 gms in ½ cup

Pulses or Dals: Arhar(toor), Moong, Masoor, etc.                             15 gms in ½ cup

Milk: Milk, Curd (yogurt),  etc                                                                    12-15 gms in 1 small cup

Grains:

Chapti/Roti                                                                                                         15 gms in thin 6” round

Paratha                                                                                                                25 -40 gms 8” round

Naan                                                                                                                      22-25 gms one standard triangle

Tandoori Roti                                                                                                     25-30 gmsin 6” round

Rice                                                                                                                        15 gms in 1/3 cup cooked

Meats: Goat meat, Chicken, Fish, Shrimp, etc.                                    0 gms

Starch free veggies: Bhindi, Baingan, Karela, Doodhi, etc..           0 gms

The 0 gm carbohydrate foods can be eaten in unlimited quantities but the other foods have to be accounted for. Juices although may seem healthy are not recommended for diabetics as ½ or 1/3 rd cup of fruit juice contain 15 gms.(i.e. 1 unit) of carbs each and there is no fiber. Eat a fruit instead.

Substitution:

 I decided to write this article not only to help manage diabetes, but also to happily manage it. What I mean by it is, if you account for the carbs that you are eating, you can actually eat what you want once in a way. You can have 1 cup of juice if you do not mind letting go of your 2 units of carbs(2 rotis) during one of the meals. Have your juice and the veggies and dal. So you are substituting your foods but still staying in the allowed limit of cars. Since, carbs are the actual culprit, it is important that you carefully count and substitute them. Miscalculations will show up in your sugar levels. Minor ups and downs are ok. Diabetics are not expected to and should not control their sugar levels to those of non-diabetics. It can be dangerous.

Substituting your healthy meals for a treat once in a way is ok. But, you should avoid doing this often. Not all carbohydrates are created equal. Fruits have sugars and therefore carbs, but they are a far better choice than eating rabdi. When you eat fruits you get vitamins, antioxidants, fiber etc. whereas rabdi is full of saturated fats.

Make choices for a healthy body in the long run. Side effects of diabetes can shock you, since there are rarely any obvious symptoms. So, count your carbs and plan your meals. Avoid being spontaneous. Occasional cheating is totally acceptable.

My Diabetes

I would like to share with you, my journey as a diabetic, in short. I was diagnosed with borderline high blood sugar at the age of 18. At that time I did not believe the numbers and was told that, it may be an error in reading. I ignored it for a few more years until, I had a blood test again and realized that it was not a mistake in the first place. I visited several Diabetologists in India, but somehow even with medication, I was not able to bring my sugars completely under control.

Finally, after my marriage I moved to USA and for the first time I realized that blood sugars can be controlled. I attended a course that introduced me to carbohydrate calculation. It was covered by medical insurance and advised for every diabetic. They shared with us information about carbohydrates in all foods, including common Indian food preparations. We were given guidelines about how many grams of total carbohydrates were to be eaten at every meal and how to plan/calculate them. They also told us the importance of walking/aerobic activity and the significance of the time to do it.

I lost weight, strictly maintained my carbohydrate intake at Breakfast- 30 gms., Lunch- 45 gms, Snack – 30 gms, Dinner – 45 gms, as was advised, I walked daily for 30 min, after dinner and managed my diabetes perfectly for 7 years. Two healthy babies later, we moved back to India. On my return, I saw that the doctors only prescribed medication and advised people to walk, and cut down on sweets, rice and potatoes.

Diabetes management is much more than that. I had learned a lot and managed my health and pregnancies well, that I wanted to offer this course to Diabetics in India. I approached a doctor and he said that people were not informed enough to find value in a course like this. I don’t know how true that was, but I got discouraged. Now years later, I have found a way to share my knowledge with my dear fellow Indians. A diet meant for diabetics, is actually an ideal diet for everybody to follow. In my next article I share information about, the significance of carbohydrate counting and how to’s of it, from an Indian Diabetic’s perspective.