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.