I hope, here you will receive answers to all the questions you have regarding the eating habits to reverse diabetes; such as what to eat, how to eat, where (place) to eat, when (time) to eat, who should and should not be in your gut, and finally why you need to follow these steps.
What should you eat (which are the foods you should choose)?
A diet selection should be personalized, but choices include Mediterranean, low-fat, low-carbohydrate, very low-carbohydrate, vegetarian, vegan, and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diets.
Eat real nutrient-rich foods and avoid man-made chemically processed calorie-rich zero nutrient foods.
Being a part of a balanced diet, fruits play a vital role in human nutrition by supplying the necessary growth-regulating factors essential for maintaining normal health. They have been especially valuable in preventing vitamin C and vitamin A deficiencies.
Fruits and vegetables are good sources of vitamins, minerals, flavonoids (anti-oxidants), saponins, polyphenols, carotenoids (vitamin A-like compounds), isothiocyanates (sulfur-containing compounds), and several types of dietary fibers.
Fruits and vegetables also help maintain optimum health through numerous chemical components still being unidentified, tested, and measured. They prevent various chronic diseases like stroke, hypertension, birth defects, cataracts, diabetes, heart disease, cancers, diverticulosis, obstructive pulmonary disease (asthma and bronchitis), obesity, etc.
Fruits and vegetables are high in cellulose of insoluble fiber. Diets that are high in fiber may be able to help in the management of diabetes. Soluble fiber delays glucose absorption from the small intestine and thus may help prevent the spike in blood glucose levels.
Aim for 40 grams of fiber a day, but start slowly. Load up on beans, vegetables, and fruits. Choose whole grains (barley, oats, millet, whole wheat, etc.). Aim for at least 3 grams per serving on food labels and at least 10 grams per meal.
Avoid ALL refined carbohydrates. That means no pasta, rice, or bread (even wholegrain bread will spike your insulin).
Avoid ALL added sugar. If your body is already in a state where you cannot process carbohydrates and sugars properly, then you should take steps to fully eliminate all sugars, at least for the short term.
Avoid ALL sweet drinks. It is best to stick to plain water.
Include good quality, healthy, natural fat – avocados, olives, coconut, ghee, almonds, etc. Don’t worry about this causing you to put on weight. A study published in 2003 showed that people who supplemented their diet with almonds lost more weight than those who supplemented with so-called “healthy, complex carbs”
If you like to snack, keep some high-fat healthy snacks such as olives, nuts, or hummus.
What is a low-carbohydrate diet?
The term “low carbohydrate” is used in various ways. The most widely used are
• Very low carbohydrate: 20 to 50 g/day (≤10% of energy, based on 2000 kcal/day)
• Low carbohydrate: more than 50 to less than 130 g/day (>10% to <26%)
• Moderate carbohydrate: 130 to 230 g/day (26% to 45%)
• High carbohydrate more than 230 g/day (>45%)
One of the most striking findings of the 2011 Counterpoint study was the acceptability of a low-calorie liquid diet for a short-planned period. People with type 2 diabetes in the study achieved an average of over 15 kg weight loss in eight weeks during normal living. Participants initially had high levels of liver and pancreas fat that fell to normal ranges, with decreased hepatic glucose output and improved β cell function, Diabetologia. 2011; 54(10): 2506–2514.
How do you eat (the way of eating)?
Chew the solid food until it becomes liquid by breaking it into smaller pieces mixed with saliva and drinking the food (instead of eating it).
Changing eating habits is the step to help reverse diabetes. Change the way you eat such as not eating with a rush, chewing the food well (recommendation is to chew a mouth full of food 32 times), instead of eating the food drinking it (by turning it into a liquid with the saliva), avoiding sugar, avoiding refined carbs, and eating fewer calories (that too low-carb food).
Eat by applying all the 6 senses - Eat your meals by sitting down in a comfortable posture and using all 6 senses (eye, ear, nose, tongue, skin, and mind). This helps the brain receive all the necessary signals about the food to facilitate the release of hormones or body fluids that help to digest and absorb the nutrients to their fullest.
Eating a meal by enjoying the food with all 6 senses helps the body support proper digestion and absorption.
When to eat (time of eating)?
Ancestor advice: Eat only when hungry, eat only for 80% of your appetite, avoid heavy meals after sunset, don’t drink (but can sip) water with a meal, don’t eat while stressed, and finish your meal at least 2-3 hours before bedtime.
If you eat 3 meals a day, then preferably take your breakfast between 7 am and 9 am. Lunch between 12 pm and 2 pm. Dinner between 6 pm and 8 pm (preferably before sunset), with no snacking between meals, if possible.
If you eat 2 meals a day, then preferably take your breakfast between 9 to 10 am and 4 to 5 pm for dinner. This provides 16 hours of intermittent fasting widow between meals.
If you are eating 1 meal a day, then preferably take your meals around 10 am to 2 pm, while the sun is at its peak.
People should take at least 20 minutes to eat a meal; preferably 30 minutes so the brain has to know what is put into their stomach and how to handle it. Chew the food until the food is liquified with saliva and ready to drink instead of swallow.
Where to eat?
Eating on the sofa while watching TV, and discussing with friends/family will encourage an impassionate form of eating.
Instead, if you sit comfortably and put your mind on what you’re eating, then you are more likely to enjoy the food’s appeal (eye), smell and flavor (nose), texture (skin and ear), and taste (tongue); this will help your mind feel satisfied early, thus you eat less.
Not only that your brain receives every detail of the food constituents and thus helps it to order the glands to secrete necessary hormones and other secretions for proper digestion and absorption of nutrients. Additionally, it helps to normalize your blood glucose level as well as your overall well-being.
Who should and should not be in your guts?
Your body has 3 times more microbes than the total body cells. So, you need to feed them by encouraging good guys and eliminating bad guys.
FEED YOUR GUT BUGS - Trillions of bugs live in your gut and their health is critical in determining your health. Many studies show links between the state of your gut bugs (your microbiota) and type 2 diabetes.
You are full of bugs, tiny single-celled bacteria you can’t see. They are in your stomach, intestines, lungs, and mouth. During a natural birth, you get some microbes on the way from your mother. As you grow up, you acquire more. For example, new microbes enter you when you play in the dirt or when a family member kisses your cheek.
The microbes in your body are crucial to your health. They routinely produce necessary vitamins for you. They help digest your food and prevent dangerous bacteria from multiplying so you don’t get sick.
Microbes in and on our bodies outnumber human cells by 10 to 1—and may determine how we get sick and stay well. Our body may contain some 10 trillion human cells, whereas there are more than 100 trillion microbial cells, collectively known as the human microbiome. Because of their smaller size, microorganisms have only 1 to 3 percent of the body’s mass.
And while we sport about 23,000 human genes, our microbiome contains some 8 million, making them a far more capable force. Our bugs are us.
In one test, the scientists injected dye into the animals’ blood. In normal mice, the dye stayed in the blood vessels. However, the dye penetrated the blood-brain barrier in bacteria-free mice and seeped into the brain.
In another test, the researchers injected the mice with a protein that harms brain cells. The brain cells of normal mice seemed unaffected, suggesting the protein had stayed in the blood. But in bacteria-free mice, some of the animals’ brain cells died. That suggests the harmful protein had breached the blood-brain barrier.
Braniste and her colleagues then tried to repair the leaky barriers. The scientists fed bacteria from normal mice to sterile animals. After two weeks, the rodents’ blood-brain barriers became tightly sealed. The researchers published their results in the journal Science Translational Medicine in November 2014.
Start improving your gut health by eating five servings per day of different colored vegetables. The non-digestible fiber in vegetables is the preferred food for your gut bacteria. When your gut bugs are happy, you will be. The wider the variety of colors of vegetables you eat, the more phytonutrients you will be.