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Apart from feeling hungry and craving to eat something sweet, symptoms for insulin resistance are dark patches on the neck, skin tags around the neck and under the arms, feeling tired all the time and frequent thirst and urination, warns rediffGURU Niharikka Budhwani.
Can diabetics eat rice?
How to manage untimely cravings for snack and savouries?
rediffGURU Niharikka Budhwani is a registered dietician and the co-founder of Health Hatch, a wellness company.
She specialises in lifestyle management and has been guiding individuals of all ages about lifestyle-related health disorders including diabetes and obesity.
Aravind: Hello Madam, I am a 47-year-old male. I am fit and walk for 30 minutes daily.
My problem is that I crave snacks after lunch and dinner, especially sweets and khara (savouries).
Despite my efforts to satisfy these cravings with fruits and dry fruits, I still tend to look for other things to eat. As a result, I end up eating both!
How can I stop this? Please advise.
Hey Aravind, I know how frustrating this can be. But definitely we can improve.
1. Work on balancing your meals. Having nutritionally deficient meals (foods not including protein and fibre) can make you feel hungry soon after a meal.
Instead, take a portion of protein, one portion of salad, one portion of cooked vegetables and one portion of carbohydrates. If you are a vegetarian, you can have two portions of proteins.
2. Avoid eating only fruits. Club them with a handful of nuts or a portion of protein (hung curd). Eating only fruits will make you feel hungry soon due to their fructose content.
3. Go for a quick walk/jog after a meal. This will sensitise insulin and the cravings will be curbed.
4. Include 30 to 45 minutes of exercise daily to help you curb overall cravings too.
Also, you can check for HOMA IR index (requires eight to 10 hours of fasting) -- this tells you if you are insulin resistant.
Apart from feeling hungry and sweet cravings, symptoms for insulin resistance are dark patches on the neck, skin tags (small, harmless growth) around the neck and under the arms, feeling tired all the time, frequent thirst and urination.
The tips I mentioned will help you reverse insulin resistance too. :)
Devaraj: I cannot avoid eating rice.
I want to know how to keep blood sugar under control despite eating rice?
Hi Devaraj, You can definitely eat rice and yet keep your blood glucose levels under control by keeping these two things in mind:
1. Eat stale rice
This means, you cook and cool rice in the refrigerator for eight to 10 hours before consuming it.
Most of my clients consume rice the next day after cooking. You can reheat the rice in the microwave for a minute before consuming it.
This process of overnight refrigerating produces resistant starch (RS) in rice.
Like the name suggests, this starch is resistant to digestion therefore it will not spike your blood glucose levels.
2. Low glycaemic load
Along with rice, make sure you have enough proteins and fibre to lower the glycaemic load of that meal. If you manage your portions, it will not spike your blood glucose levels.
Hope this is helpful :)
Anonymous: I am 49, I want my six packs instead of a tummy.
I have started going to the gym.
Is it possible to have this before the year ends?
What should I do?
Hi, firstly it is important to understand fitness and six-pack abs are different things.
Staying fit and having a lean body with the right nutrition and lifestyle is enough to keep you healthy and disease-free.
Coming to your goal, it depends on various factors like: What is your current fat percentage around the abdomen?
How many hours of exercise you're able to clock in to create a deficit?
How consistent and disciplined you are with the changes?
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