I have borderline diabetes, what changes should I make in my diet?

In case of borderline diabetes, the rapid oscillations of insulin secretion are lost and the amplitude of large pulses are decreased. Excess carbohydrate-containing meals show spikes and to plateau them out, one needs to make changes while matters are still under your control.

It’s also the time when you should understand the food’s glycemic index, which indicates how fast a carbohydrate-rich food raises the blood sugar. A glycemic index of 55 or below is considered low, 70 or above is considered high. Cooked or processed food has a higher index, fibres lower it. There is also a measure called the glycemic load, which is determined by multiplying the grams of carbohydrate per serving by the glycemic index and dividing by 100. A glycemic load of 10 or below is considered low; 20 or above is considered high. Research has shown that this mathematical management of the glycemic load has helped people lower their HbA1c levels by 0.5 percentage points.

• Meal patterns: Small and frequent portions with controlled intake. Eat non-starchy vegetables and fruits, lean meats, healthy fats, less root vegetables and whole grains. Should you have a sweet craving after meals, you can have a slice or two of tropical fruits as they tend to have a lower glycemic index than typical desserts.

•Food selections: Should be with adequate proteins, fibres and complex carbohydrates. Try out unbroken grains like our millets, wheat and brown rice.Cut out breads. Avoid processed foods of all kinds. If you are a fruit juice addict, cut down or stop it immediately, have the whole fruit instead. Drink plenty of water to kill the thirst for other drinks.

• Keep fixed meal timings. Many studies on mice have shown that time-restricted eating can improve blood glucose levels, even when they had a diet high in fats.

•In case the individual is overweight, losing five to 10 per cent of excess body weight can make a huge difference. Also working backwards, try to keep all your body markers on the lower side of a normal range. That way you can escape the galloping sugar tendency.

•Exercise: Muscle-strengthening resistance training helps in correcting the insurance resistance and can help reverse the issue as well. Besides, if 30 minutes are recommended for everybody else, you should push it up to 60 minutes. Losing five to 10 per cent of body fat can improve your blood sugar level and reverse pre-diabetes.