Diabetics typically have to regulate their blood sugar levels through careful dieting. Determining the right kind of diet can be difficult given the confusing din of fad diets and advice available. One possible diabetic diet to consider may be a Filipino diet. Despite the inclusion of unhealthy dishes such as pork crackling, tripe-cooked chick peas and hard-boiled fertilized duck eggs, the Filipino diet also includes fruits and vegetables that provide healthy eating options for diabetics.
Glycemic Index and Carbohydrate Content
Use the glycemic index to help you select Filipino dishes to include in your diabetic diet. The glycemic index refers to food that quickly elevates your blood sugar levels, the American Diabetes Association says. Food that has a high glycemic index elevates your blood sugar levels more quickly than food with a low glycemic index. Fat and fiber content can generally lower glycemic index. Low glycemic index foods are not necessarily more nutritious than foods with high glycemic index. Also note the amount of carbohydrates in the food and its overall nutritional value when determining whether or not to include it in your diet.
Recommended Types of Filipino Food
Foods that contains healthy carbohydrates such as fruits, vegetables and legumes should be included in a diabetic diet, according to MayoClinic.com. You should also include foods that are contain dietary fiber such as nuts. You may also include fish and monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Filipino foods such as swamp cabbage, bittermelon, cashew nuts and milkfish are examples of foods you can include in your diabetic diet, according to SeaSite.Niu.Edu.
Filipino Food to Avoid
Avoid food that is rich in cholesterol, salt and saturated fats, MayoClinic.com reports. Typical examples of food that contain these harmful substances are sausages, organ meats, egg yolks and shellfish. You should avoid Filipino food such as batsoy, a kind of noodle soup containing liver and the internal organs, SeaSite.Niu.Edu advises. Lechon or spit-roasted pig is another example of a Filipino food to avoid. Bagoong is a kind of fermented shrimp paste to avoid because it is high in salt.
Sample Filipino Meals
Start your day with a Filipino breakfast composed of fresh tomatoes, 1/2 cup of steamed rice and grilled milkfish. Accompany this with a glass of unsweetened juice made from kalamansi, a drink made from Philippine limes that is very similar to lemonade. Cook sinigang for lunch, Alberta Health Services recommends. Sinigang is a kind of sour stew made with cooked meat such as beef or fish mixed with vegetables such as swamp cabbage and bokchoy. Accompany this with juice made from dalandan, a kind of orange popular in the Philippines. Eat a dinner of barbequed chicken, 1/2 cup of rice and laing, a vegetable stew made with coconut milk and taro root. You may include half a slice of mango for dessert.
References
- Alberta Health Services; Healthy Eating with Type 2 Diabetes (Filipino Food); July 2007
- American Diabetes Association: Glycemic Index and Diabetes
- American Diabetes Asssociation: Making Healthy Food Choices
- Diabetes Diet: Create Your Healthy-Eating Plan; November 2010
- SeaSite.Niu.Edu; Filipino Food/Cuisine Glossary; Doreen G. Fernandez
