Why beans, plantain diet are not good for diabetics

A plate of beans Diet is important in the management of many diseases such as diabetes. A case where the diet is not balanced or revolves round particular food items like beans and plantain, experts warn, can cause other health problems, reports Sade Oguntola.

You may have been cut in the web that diabetes is a disease that can be treated with just eating appropriately. However, Dr. Williams Balogun, an expert in diabetes management said that the notion that diabetes, a condition associated with poor regulation of blood sugar level, could be controlled only with diet is not as straight forward as many people may think.

“The truth is that diet is important in the management of people with diabetes, irrespective of the type of diabetes the individual may have; but a time will come when diet alone will not be effective to control the sugar level.

Dr. Balogun from the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, explained, “There are some people that right from their first day of commencing treatment require to take drugs. Such people cannot use only diet to control their blood sugar level.”

“Those we manage with diet fall in the proportion of about one in 10. This is because in diabetes, the course of the disease is progressive. For instance, even when you commence treatment for diabetes, the amount of insulin produced by the body may keep decreasing in quantity. Even when it is still available in the same quantity, it may be of a quality that the body cannot use, what is termed insulin resistance. Therefore, with time, diet and insulin may not work. What this means is that with their treatment, as time goes on, diet alone may not be effective in ensuring proper control of the blood sugar level.”

Insulin, a hormone produced in the pancreas, is essential for converting sugar, starches, and other food into energy that the body draws upon for daily life.

In addition, as part of information provided to people with diabetes, they are cautioned not to take certain foods such as carbonated soft drinks and sugar and to eat balanced diet, all type of foods but in a balanced form.

However, he said the quantity of food they can eat is based on certain parameters such as the individual’s level of activity, weight and other health problems such as kidney disease, the individual may have.

Moreover, timing is important in diet. “Some eat haphazardly, once diagnosed with diabetes, the time the individual eats is important. If you eat at 8.00 a.m., stick to it. This becomes very more critical when the individual is on insulin.”

In those that are on medications, he declared that the body would have adjusted to a different physiological state and so eating haphazardly introduces a measure of confusion to the body system and create other problems such hypoglycemia, a situation in which the blood sugar drops too low to provide enough for the body’s activities. Its symptoms include hunger, nervousness, dizziness or light-headedness and feeling weak. A regular occurrence of low sugar level in the blood however does not help in proper management of the disease.

Whether they are on drugs or insulin, the expert also said they should learn to exercise and be physically active. “Everybody should exercise and it is more important in these patients because physical inactivity makes the blood sugar control worse, it does not help it,” he declared.

“We actually discourage sedentary lifestyle. In addition to being activity, we ask them to take some exercises like 30 minutes brisk walking everyday once the doctor says it is okay for their heart.

Dr. Balogun stated that assessing the state of their heart is important in determining what type of exercises they should take and for how long it should be carried out. He said, this is important because some may have had other health conditions that could have injured their heart.

The myth that diabetes patient should eat only beans was also dispelled as untrue. According to him, there is no justification for this. “The diet a diabetes patient takes is actually the diet someone without diabetes should also take, what could only be different is the portion. In fact, they only have a stronger reason to ensure that they stick to taking a balanced diet.”

“The idea of eating beans and other bean products alone is wrong, same goes for unripe plantain. This practice has no scientific basis. What is crucial is that their diet must be balanced and within the prescribed limits recommended by their doctor.

Dr. Balogun stated that all the nutrients in a balanced diet are important for proper body functions. Even though of the three major, constituents of a balanced diet (protein, carbohydrate and fat), the carbohydrate affects blood-glucose levels the most, he said this does not however mean it must be avoided altogether. That is nearly impossible—and dangerous.

Even with diabetes, some carbohydrate is vital to maintain a steady supply of glucose to cells in the body, particularly to the brain, for fuel. The brain needs about 130 grammes of glucose from carbohydrate each day to function well. Moreover, carbohydrate-containing foods are important sources of vitamins, minerals and fibre.

Even though honey contains less glucose, Dr. Balogun said persons with diabetes should be careful how they take it. “It is true that honey contains less glucose but it has more of fructose, also a type of sugar. Taking too much of honey can still result to poor glucose control.”

In addition, a nutrition expert, Mr. Tunde Ajobo, from UCH said maintaining an appropriate diet is highly essential for all persons with diabetes, irrespective of its type.

“All must maintain the appropriate diet and the food they eat must be that which is appropriate for the amount of insulin they take or their drugs. There needs to be a balance between food and drugs intake for proper utilisation of food in the body.

However, he said, “some may have, to stay away from some certain foods items as part of their treatment while some may require to eat moderately smaller healthy portions.

Meanwhile, there are many ways that individuals can control diabetes and continue to live a normal, long and fulfilling life. Some of these include:
- Eat lots of fresh vegetables and fresh fruit
- Drink plenty water
- Adopt a low carbohydrate diet by weaning out refined breads, pizza, cakes and candies
- Stop taking all fried and fast foods
- Drink lots of fresh green vegetable juices to curb sugar cravings
- Eat healthy proteins like nuts, seeds, beans and fish
- Enjoy low glycemic foods like lemons, limes, oatmeal and grapefruits, which can be combined with any green vegetables and flavourful spices
- Choose whole grain foods over processed ones. For example, select brown rice instead of white rice
- Cut down on the size of your food portions
- Eliminate all high-calorie snacks.

However, the most effective way to control diabetes is combining proper nutrition with daily exercise.