One of the biggest causes of severe diabetes, especially in the UAE is excessive weight gain. That’s why the one thing you need to lose most quickly is your excess weight…to gain diabetes-free health!
Remember, losing just 5% of extra body weight can help you control your blood sugar levels much better. The more weight you gain over time makes it challenging to lose it early as your body metabolism slows down as you age, which in turn makes it difficult to control diabetes.
That’s why the earlier you get into the habit of maintaining a healthy weight (and of course an early check-up to gauge your condition), the more prepared you can become to stay diabetes-free.
Watch out: Weight gain means gaining Diabetes!
Excess weight caused by consuming excess sugar, can lead to diabetes making it difficult to maintain blood pressure within range. It also affects your eyes, feet, and kidneys. Here’s how diabetes slowly starts attacking your body’s 3 key vital functions:
- Eyes: High levels of blood sugar harms your eye’s blood vessels, resulting in blurry vision or blindness.
- Feet: Diabetes can damage your body’s nerves preventing you from feeling pain on your feet. Poor blood circulation makes it tough for an infection to heal which is not treated early, can lead to amputation.
- Kidneys: Kidneys function best in filtering out waste and extra fluid. Over time, high blood sugar clogs the blood vessels of your kidneys. As your kidneys get less blood, less waste is taken out of your body, seriously damaging it. Those with diabetes should track kidney health with a kidney health check-up done and albuminuria urine test once a year. Get to know more about your kidney health!
But Wait, it’s not just Weighty issues!
The causes of diabetes are many. But there are other personal lifestyle factors you might be ignoring that may be contributing to causing diabetes which in turn, also affects your overall health:- Increased levels of stress, usually caused by excessive workloads, too much caffeine intake, and taking on additional responsibilities beyond your control and remit, all of which work together to increase your blood glucose level and worsen diabetes.
- Did you know that dental issues can cause it too? Do not neglect bleeding gums and bad breath. Diabetes is known to increase the risk of periodontitis (gum disease) that can result in loosening of teeth. Talk to any of our dental experts right away!
- Diabetes can also cause skin infections. That’s why it’s important to report any kind of early skin infection, and persistent itching, dryness or blisters to your doctors. You can speak with our skincare specialists to know more!
- If you ever have nausea, vomiting, confusion, or experience the sensation of a fruity smell along with a blood sugar level of more than 240mg/dL, it could be due to ‘Diabetic Ketoacidosis.’ It is a severe health condition, and you should immediately consult with any of our healthcare experts at HealthHub Clinics.
When overcoming diabetes becomes a challenge.
About 75% of the UAE’s elderly population in the UAE have at least one chronic disease or the other. Our team of expert internal medicine specialists and family medicine doctors study a diabetics’ lifestyle patterns.
Apart from their expertise, they follow defined medical practices, to help them design customized programs with clearly defined goals for our patients at HealthHub Clinics by Al-Futtaim.
At HealthHub Clinics, our team of endocrinologists, internal medicine specialists and family doctors cover the following functions:
- Clear understanding of the illness through interactive discussions
- Guidance and tips about nutrition
- Monitoring blood glucose
- Appropriate Medication Management
- Regular check-ups
What’s the best food for a diabetes patient?
- The Basic Diet: The obvious suspects to clearly avoid are fried foods, sweets, sugary and syrupy drinks and sauces, and anything salty or fatty. Swap these for greens, grains, low-fat dairy, skimmed milk and fiber-rich fruit! It’s the classic diabetes diet!
- Try the Mediterranean Diet: Studies have proven time and again that Mediterranean food keeps blood sugar levels well under control as it’s extremely heart-healthy with fruits and veggies as well as fish, grilled chicken, nuts, olive oil, legumes, and whole grains. It smartly leaves out the usual suspects that speed up diabetes: Red meat, butter, and salt. Studies have shown that this kind of nutritious diet can help keep blood sugar levels under control.
- There’s something called the ‘Zone Diet’, where your food covers 40% carbs, 30% protein and 30% fat. Based on the glycemic index, carbs are ranked as good or bad. Before signing up for this one, we would recommend you speak to our doctors for a customised solution.
- The Paleo Diet harks a thousand years back, but it’s on trend and the food on the menu is the ‘natural approach’ when we humans were like hunters, way before modern farming took over! It avoids artificial or harmful food such as dairy-based products, refined sugar, grains and zero processed vegetable oils. Fiber-rich fruits and veggies and lean meats sourced from grass-fed animals are the focus here, as studies reveal they help improve blood sugar and diabetes.
Try our Diabetes Diet Plan!
Remember, half of your issues with weight gain isn’t just the diet itself, it’s also the timing (eating schedule), and the quantity that determines your vulnerability to this chronic disorder. Here are some healthy suggestions that have worked in beating diabetes, if included in your schedule for a healthy diabetic diet plan to lose weight:
– Aim to lose up to 4 kgs of your body weight over 3 months (if not sooner)
– Walk for half an hour every morning
– Skip the lift, take the stairs!
– Drink up to 8 glasses of water every day
– Eat small frequent meals
– Try out this ‘meal schedule’:
• Breakfast at 07:30 am
• Light snacks at 10:30 am
• Lunch at 12:30 pm
• Snacks at 16:00 pm
• Dinner at 19:30 pm
• Snack-2 at 21:30 pm
Remember: The healthier your lifestyle, the healthier your family life.
There’s no instant fix to get rid of diabetes. Taking early control of your diabetes means taking care of a family who depends on your well-being.
An early check-up for diabetes can help in preventing yourself from developing health complications. We can help you beat it with
Our exclusive Diabetes Comprehensive Care Package @ just AED 199 that covers:
– Fasting blood sugar
– HbA1c
– Cholesterol
– Triglyceride
– Urine analysis
– ECG
You also have the option of a Basic Care Package @ AED 99*.
To know more or to book an appointment immediately, click here
To talk to our internal medicine specialists at HealthHub Clinics, call 8002344.
*Conditions apply.
Article reviewed by:
HealthHub Clinics by Al-Futtaim
