Tip n°63 : Type 2 diabetes

Diabetes is a major public health issue in many countries, and particularly in Mauritius 🇲🇺, where a large proportion of the population is diabetic or pre-diabetic 😬.

On this World Diabetes Day, isn't it the perfect opportunity to talk to you about this silent disease, often detected only through a blood test?

I'm talking about type 2 diabetes, the most common form, representing approximately 90 to 95% of cases.

And by the time symptoms appear, the disease is often already quite advanced ❗️

Let's start with a brief theoretical overview 🤓:

Type 2 diabetes is characterized by hyperglycemia, in other words, an excess of sugar in the blood 📈.

This blood sugar level starts to rise when insulin, the hormone that regulates blood sugar, isn't doing its job properly anymore 🤷‍♀️: this is called insulin resistance.

At first, the body adapts: insulin secretion increases, which keeps blood sugar within normal limits… but not for very long.

When blood sugar remains high, cells become less sensitive to insulin, which gradually becomes ineffective: resistance develops.

The pancreas becomes exhausted from producing ever-increasing amounts of insulin and eventually can no longer regulate blood sugar: this is type 2 diabetes.

A chronic excess of sugar in the blood is toxic: in the long run, it leads to numerous complications affecting the blood vessels, heart 🫀, kidneys, eyes 👀, and legs.

The goal, of course, is to avoid getting to that point ❗️

You probably know that type 2 diabetes is primarily linked to our lifestyle: unbalanced diet 🤢, overweight and obesity 🙁, sedentary lifestyle 💤, stress 😩, smoking 🚬, etc.

Quite a list, in a world where life is lived in "over-" mode: overloaded, overbooked, overstimulated, over-stressed, overworked… 🥺 in short, over-everything ❗️

It can be very difficult to navigate this and, above all, to find a balance ⚖️ among all these "over-"s ❗️

The good news 😃 is that type 2 diabetes can be reversible when it's not too advanced.

So, let's not wait until it's too late 😉❗️

Let's immediately forget about low-calorie diets, whose long-term effectiveness is less than 5%: no point in feeling down 😢 for such a mediocre result 😉.

Besides, they're not good for your health: these diets can completely disrupt your metabolism 🙈.

Instead, let's opt for a balanced diet, which doesn't mean making a list of forbidden foods 🚫, but rather eating a variety of foods.

There's no single way to eat a balanced diet: we're all different—tastes, culture, family habits, available products—so each menu should be personalized 👍.

That's what I do in consultations: most of the time I ask my patients to add foods instead of removing them… the brain so much prefers addition to subtraction 😆❗️

Anyway, I'm already getting a little off-topic 🙄… let's get back to our subject: type 2 diabetes.

Today I'm going to talk about the ability of certain foods to raise blood sugar levels 📈, sometimes unnecessarily—especially if you have a predisposition to diabetes, such as a family history or being overweight.

Some points will be familiar to you, and others probably much less so.

Let's talk about sugar first: obviously, sugar and all preparations containing it (pastries 🍰, cookies 🍪, candy 🍬, ice cream 🍦, sodas 🥤, processed fruit juices) raise blood sugar levels.

So far, nothing new, you know the drill.

But what's perhaps less well known is that other foods, often salty, also contribute to raising blood sugar levels: these are hidden sugars. And they're sometimes very well hidden!

Among them: white bread 🥖, pizza 🍕, rusks, potatoes 🥔 (especially as fries or mashed potatoes) - I'll explain why in a moment - potato chips, white rice 🍚, processed meats 🐖, couscous (wheat semolina), and polenta.

But that's not all: several factors also modify the impact of a food on blood sugar levels:

✔️ Prolonged cooking or cooking at a high temperature (well-cooked pasta or rice)

✔️ Grain refining (white flour)

✔️ All industrial food processing. Check the ingredient list on the packaging: the longer it is, the more questionable it is 🤨

✔️ Rolling food in flour or breadcrumbs, or frying it

✔️ A meal low in fiber (few or no vegetables) or too high in calories

✔️ Eating a single food that causes a spike in blood sugar (for example, white bread alone)

So what to do? Go in the opposite direction:

✅ Eat raw: a mixed salad 🥗 is an excellent way to start a meal

✅ Let dishes cool slightly before eating them; avoid very hot foods

✅ Choose slightly stale bread over fresh bread (a piping hot baguette will cause a blood sugar spike)... yes, I'm not going to make any friends here 😆.

✅ Choose a firm texture: raw carrots rather than cooked ones, or whole potatoes rather than mashed potatoes.

✅ Add vegetables to every meal; I can't stress this enough 😉.

I can't finish this list of tips without reminding you of the importance of chewing thoroughly 🦷 (see Tip #12). It plays a crucial role.

The more you chew, the less your blood sugar will rise, regardless of the type of food.

The next time you eat a croissant or a dholl puri, take the time to savor it and chew it well: it will taste even better 😋.

Type 2 diabetes is not inevitable: it can be prevented, managed, and sometimes even reversed.

It all starts with a better understanding of the role of food in our bodies and a few simple adjustments to our eating habits.

With that, I'll leave you, but not without wishing you a very good appetite… and I'll see you next month for our last tip of the year 🤗.

Come on, ✨✨✨ MIAM la Vie ✨✨✨ and see you soon my dear readers.

Docteur Sandra Stallaert 

Cabinet de Santé Holistique

Homéopathe - Nutritionniste

Consultation à distance