There is a popular saying as health is wealth which means the most precious and valuable thing for an individual is his health. For every person to attain good health and live disease-free should be one of the most important goals in his life and can be achieved by the individual with the help of healthy food, diet and regular exercise. Eating healthy and using energy in the right way can lead to a healthy life. The energy acquired from food consumed should be utilised by doing some work so that the body does not accumulate fat.
We gain weight if the intake of calories is more than the dissipation. The excess calories that are not expended are stored in the body’s different parts and make us weigh more. This fat is stored in specialised tissues known as adipose tissues. One way of not letting the calories accumulate and make us overweight is to spend the energy in work or exercises. The other way can be by keeping a check on the amount and type of food intake.
To keep the body fit and healthy one must eat healthily and avoid junk food. Junk food should be strictly avoided so that we don’t harm our health ourselves. Children should be kept away from chocolates and toffees as these can lead to tooth problems, and excess sugar may cause obesity. Overweight and obesity lead to severe heart attack conditions, high blood pressure and many fatal diseases.
Having excess sugar in the bloodstream, if not treated, can cause severe health disease known as hyperglycaemia. In hyperglycemia, that is extra sugar content in the body; there is damage to the blood vessels carrying blood to vital organs. In this condition, a person has higher chances of getting a heart stroke, kidney problems, vision-related problems and nerve problems. Naturally, our bodies reabsorb glucose by the help of kidneys. Still, when there is a diabetic person due to excess sugar, the kidneys fail to reabsorb the glucose and hence the person has the tendency to urinate more. Now, as the person is urinating more, he /she will automatically feel more thirsty.
There are some foods that a diabetic patient should avoid. A person should not drink sweet drinks or beverages if he has diabetes, drinks life soft drinks and alcohol should always be avoided.
Food that contains trans fats should be mainly avoided. These are made by putting hydrogen in fatty acids which makes the food worse for sugar patients. These types of food consist of peanut butter, baked food etc.
People with sugar should always avoid foods like rice, pasta, and white bread because they consist of many carbohydrates. These types of foods containing high amounts of carbohydrates increase the blood sugar level. People with diabetes face a reduction of cholesterol level in their body.
Another type of food is Flavoured yogurt. Plain yogurt cannot cause any damage, but If artificial flavours are added to it, it can cause sugar patients’ problems. It is made up of low-fat milk and added sugar. People having diabetes should not have sweetened cereals for breakfast. Grains have a large number of carbohydrates in them. So not good for sugar patients, the amount of protein is also less.
Coffee drinks with flavour should also be avoided. Without sugar, in coffee, it causes no harm. But with taste in it, it acts as a desert which is very harmful to sugar patients. So to keep ourselves away from diabetes, plain coffee is recommended.
Diabetic patients should also avoid honey and maple syrup. Nowadays, people think that preventing table sugar and having natural sugar can help them reduce diabetes. But they are unaware that love itself contains as many carbohydrates as there are in white sugar.
As fruits are essential for every person, they contain a considerable amount of minerals, vitamins, and nutrients and contain a balanced amount of sugar that is not harmful to diabetic patients. But when fruits are dried, they lose a lot of water and the nutrient concentration increases, leading to an increased sugar amount in fruits. So it becomes harmful for people having sugar problems.
Packed foods like chips etc. should also be avoided because they contain many carbohydrates in them that get digested much quickly. So it increases the level of sugar inside the body much rapidly.
People with high sugar always think that fruit juices are healthy for them, but they don’t know that it has a similar effect as sodas. Because making the juice of fruits leads to the increase in the concentration of sugar and carbohydrates in a single glass. This can be more dangerous for diabetic patients. So avoiding fruit juices is also essential foods to help control diabetes.
There is a need to educate children about the benefits of eating healthy. At homes, the parents need to act wisely so that they don’t get into the habit of eating toffees, chocolates, pizza, burgers and all the other junk foods. Adults should also keep a check on their diets and do not take it leniently. It might be possible that it’s not harming them now, but it can prove harmful in the future. The awareness regarding the foods mentioned in the above points should be increased, and this can be done by writing articles in newspapers and conducting small demonstrations and campaigns.
Doing exercises and physical activities do help a lot in maintaining sugar level inside our body. So with a good and healthy sugar-free diet people should also do a lot of exercises, play outdoor games. And last but not the least people should avoid eating food in abundance, fast food and sweetened beverages should be avoided. More fruits and vegetables should be consumed. Variety of food like whole grains and food with less sugar are necessary.
