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How to Manage Diabetes Naturally with Diet: Smart Eating Tips for Better Blood Sugar Control
Jun 2, 2025
Learn how to manage diabetes through diet with practical tips on healthy eating, portion control, and balanced meal planning. Discover the best foods to stabilise blood sugar and support long-term wellness.
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0:00
so why nutrition someone would ask you
0:03
you know i want to go to the hospital i
0:05
want to see a doctor the doctor
0:07
prescribes drugs for you
0:08
medication you start taking your drugs
0:10
but why is nutrition
0:12
important so 14th of november
0:16
every year is world diabetes day
0:19
and i'm sure a number of you have very
0:22
many questions about diabetes
0:24
what is diabetes am i at risk of getting
0:26
diabetes
0:27
okay when i have diabetes what signs and
0:30
symptoms would i have
0:32
okay if my father had diabetes would i
0:35
get diabetes
0:37
all these questions will be answered in
0:39
this video so please if you're
0:40
interested
0:41
keep watching hello guys welcome back to
0:44
my channel thank you so much for tuning
0:46
in
0:46
if you're new here please consider
0:48
subscribing this is a nutrition and
0:50
lifestyle channel
0:51
this is where we talk about nutrition
0:53
these are talk about health
0:55
we promote healthy lifestyle every
0:57
single day
0:58
and every week i post a video with tips
1:01
and tricks and which are very very easy
1:04
to follow
1:05
that will help you keep a healthy
1:06
lifestyle so without further ado
1:09
why don't we dive in so the most
1:12
common question about diabetes is what
1:15
exactly is diabetes
1:17
so a simple definition of diabetes would
1:19
be
1:20
a diabetes is a condition where your
1:23
body produces
1:24
very little insulin or the insulin being
1:27
produced
1:28
is not being used effectively by your
1:30
body okay
1:32
and therefore if insulin is not being
1:34
produced or is not being used properly
1:36
that means the sugar that you the sugar
1:39
that you get from food
1:41
will not be able to enter into your cell
1:43
so that it can be used for energy for
1:45
your body
1:46
and therefore the sugar remains in your
1:48
bloodstream and that is what we call
1:50
high blood sugar levels because all the
1:53
foods that you eat eventually become
1:56
sugar they get broken down to glucose so
1:59
that
2:00
and they enter into your bloodstream
2:02
from your bloodstream
2:03
with the help of insulin they enter into
2:06
your cells and from your cells it
2:09
produces energy
2:10
that are necessary for your normal
2:13
day-to-day
2:14
body activities so the next uh
2:17
common question is am i at risk of
2:20
getting diabetes
2:22
there are several ways you can know
2:24
you're at risk
2:25
number one is if your family
2:28
history has someone with diabetes
2:31
especially for type 1 diabetes
2:33
okay if someone in your family has
2:35
diabetes of her diabetes
2:37
whether it's your mother your sister
2:39
your brother your grandparents
2:42
you are at risk of getting diabetes
2:45
another reason is that you're
2:46
physically inactive if you're physically
2:49
inactive
2:50
okay that means the sugar in your body
2:53
you're not using the energy
2:54
in your body that means sugar is
2:57
meandering in your body it's not being
2:59
used
2:59
okay it's not being used for energy and
3:01
that excess sugar that excess glucose
3:04
is what causes your blood sugar levels
3:06
to go up
3:07
another reason why you'll be at risk of
3:09
getting diabetes is if you have a
3:11
history of gestational
3:13
diabetes that is if you have diabetes in
3:16
pregnancy
3:16
okay if you're over 45 years of age
3:20
especially for
3:21
type 2 diabetes type 2 that is normally
3:23
developed
3:24
later in life at old age when you're 45
3:28
years old
3:29
age and above so if you are 45 years age
3:31
and above
3:32
uh you are at risk of getting diabetes
3:36
and if you have been diagnosed with
3:38
pre-diabetes pre-diabetes is a condition
3:40
where your blood sugar levels are high
3:42
but not high enough to become type 2
3:45
diabetes
3:46
therefore if you have pre-diabetes that
3:47
means you're showing signs and symptoms
3:49
of
3:50
diabetes therefore you are at risk of
3:51
getting diabetes in future
3:54
and so now that you've known you who
3:58
is at risk of getting diabetes why don't
4:00
we discuss
4:01
some of the common signs and symptoms of
4:04
diabetes
4:05
how do you know you might have diabetes
4:07
okay
4:08
and um in most cases you won't really
4:11
know you have diabetes because you might
4:13
not show any symptoms especially
4:15
for pre-diabetes okay but if you start
4:18
having frequent urination
4:21
frequent tasks you're always hungry
4:23
hunger all the time you feel like eating
4:25
something
4:26
you feel like you have to take some
4:27
water you are irritable
4:30
like a silica like you don't want people
4:32
to disturb you
4:34
you feel tired you're just tired you're
4:36
fatigued you don't have energy you're
4:38
lazy just sitting around
4:40
blood vision sometimes you cannot see
4:42
clearly none it's not like you have uh
4:44
you have had a problem with your eyes
4:46
sometimes you just have a blood vision
4:48
you can't see things so clearly another
4:51
thing is
4:51
frequent infections okay and sometimes
4:54
you might have wounds or cats and they
4:56
take too long to heal okay so
4:59
watch out for these symptoms okay
5:01
sometimes it you might be
5:02
so busy or doing other things and not
5:04
really
5:05
be able to see these signs and symptoms
5:08
early
5:08
and therefore bring more problems in
5:11
future or develop diabetic problems
5:14
quickly so pay attention to your body
5:16
okay
5:17
frequent urination frequent tasks
5:21
frequent hunger you're always hungry
5:23
okay you are irritable
5:25
you don't want people to disturb you
5:27
sweaty and then you're like ah
5:29
okay goodness you know unexplained
5:31
fatigue and explain fatigue
5:34
you're always energetic you're always up
5:36
and down always active but all of a
5:37
sudden
5:38
you don't have energy to walk around you
5:40
don't feel like
5:42
uh you know walking and therefore i know
5:45
i know some of you are wondering like
5:48
okay explain why insulin why glucose
5:51
sugar why are you talking about these
5:52
things
5:53
so can we talk about how insulin works
5:56
okay first of all insulin gets produced
5:59
by a
5:59
pancreas okay pancreas pancreas produces
6:03
insulin
6:04
and that insulin works by lowering
6:08
your blood sugar levels by enabling the
6:10
sugar to enter your cells
6:12
so that they can be used for energy okay
6:15
insulin helps the sugar from your
6:18
bloodstream
6:19
to enter into your cells so in a
6:22
scenario when you have not eaten
6:24
okay there is a glycogen stored in your
6:28
liver glycogen glucose excess glucose in
6:30
the body gets stored
6:32
as glycogen in the liver okay
6:35
so when you have not eaten anything that
6:37
glycogen
6:38
gets broken down and used for energy
6:40
okay
6:41
but suppose you've eaten too much and
6:43
maybe your body has a problem producing
6:45
insulin
6:46
or there's no insulin enough insulin to
6:49
to remove that sugar from your
6:50
bloodstream through the cells
6:52
that means there's some sugar lingering
6:54
around in your bloodstream
6:55
then high blood sugar levels okay
6:59
and so in extreme scenarios when you
7:01
have maybe an accident or your pancreas
7:03
is damaged or
7:04
your cells are resistant to insulin
7:08
that would mean the sugar remains in
7:10
your bloodstream
7:11
and therefore high blood sugar levels
7:14
okay i don't know if that is simple
7:17
enough for you guys to understand but if
7:19
you have any questions
7:20
comment down below in the comment
7:21
section so that i can elaborate
7:24
more so why nutrition someone would ask
7:27
you
7:27
you know i want to go to the hospital i
7:30
want to see a doctor the doctor
7:31
prescribes drugs for you
7:33
medication you start taking your drugs
7:35
but why is nutrition important
7:38
okay we are talking about sugar
7:42
and therefore we are talking about food
7:44
okay
7:45
and as i've said before sugar all the
7:47
foods that you eat
7:49
end up being glucose and the glucose
7:51
that you're talking about
7:52
is the one that enters your bloodstream
7:54
is the one that goes to your cells for
7:56
energy so nutrition is important because
8:00
a nutritionist will help you select the
8:02
most appropriate
8:04
foods that you can take in order to help
8:06
you manage your blood sugar levels
8:08
okay and nutrition is to take you
8:11
through the foods that have a lower
8:12
glycemic index
8:14
the foods that will help you get satiety
8:16
so that you don't have
8:17
hunger all the time foods that will help
8:20
you keep hydrated foods that will help
8:22
keep your blood sugar levels
8:24
on a normal range okay maintaining a
8:28
healthy weight
8:29
like i mentioned on the previous video
8:30
but if you haven't watched that video
8:32
please go ahead and watch
8:33
the previous video i talked about how
8:35
you can achieve and maintain
8:37
a healthy body weight a healthy body
8:39
weight will help you manage your diet it
8:41
is
8:41
very very easy okay when you're obese or
8:44
overweight
8:45
it's very hard for you to manage your
8:46
blood sugar levels at a normal
8:49
range and so uh there is something that
8:51
we call the medical
8:53
nutrition therapy and the three most
8:56
important reasons why medical nutrition
8:59
therapy is important
9:00
especially in patients with diabetes or
9:03
those people who are at risk of
9:05
developing diabetes so number one
9:08
medical nutrition therapy helps you
9:10
prevent the occurrence of diabetes
9:12
if you have a proper diet if you eat a
9:14
balanced diet if you're avoiding added
9:16
sugars
9:17
okay you're eating well that means your
9:19
risk of getting diabetes goes
9:22
low and i'm not saying it's sugar that
9:23
causes diabetes okay
9:26
there are many results that causes
9:27
diabetes that are like i've mentioned
9:29
before but a proper diet
9:31
proper lifestyle changing lifestyle
9:33
physical activity
9:34
will help you prevent occurrence of
9:37
diabetes
9:38
number two nutrition helps you manage
9:42
your blood sugar levels i've explained
9:43
that very well
9:45
the the foods that you choose to eat
9:47
will deter
9:48
will affect your blood sugar levels okay
9:51
and the nutritionist can take you
9:52
through all the
9:53
good foods all the good choices that you
9:55
can make i also did a video on food
9:57
choices if you guys can remember
10:00
it's very important to make wise
10:02
decisions when choosing
10:04
your foods okay also the third reason is
10:08
you already have diabetes
10:10
but proper nutrition therapy proper
10:12
medical nutrition therapy
10:14
will help you prevent occurrence of
10:16
diabetes complications
10:18
okay diabetes has many complications
10:21
like i'll mention later in this video
10:23
so proper medical nutrition therapy will
10:25
help you prevent
10:26
uh early or uh even
10:29
any diabetic complications in the future
10:32
so medical nutrition therapy is very
10:34
important
10:35
besides you going to the doctor to get
10:36
your medications also see a dietitian
10:39
also see a nutritionist
10:40
talk about food okay and therefore
10:44
what does a nutritionist recommend
10:47
there are specific dietary
10:48
recommendations that a nutritionist will
10:50
take you through when you have diabetes
10:52
you know after you get out of the
10:54
doctor's office the doctor will tell you
10:56
oh go to the next room
10:57
go talk to your dietician and then what
10:59
does the nutritionist say
11:01
i did a video on the food pyramid and
11:04
the food
11:05
pyramid talks about five
11:08
food groups okay when it comes to
11:11
diabetes
11:12
fruits and vegetables should be your
11:14
friend okay
11:15
and when it comes to fruits you know
11:17
fruits have sugar okay
11:19
and they're not those fruits which have
11:20
too much sugar and those fruit that
11:22
don't have too much sugar
11:23
so when you don't talk to a nutritionist
11:25
you're not going to be able to
11:26
understand that fruits and vegetables
11:29
are important because first of all
11:31
they are low in calories full of
11:33
vitamins
11:34
full of minerals okay and fiber
11:38
and why is fiber important you know
11:40
fiber is important because
11:42
it helps you maintain
11:45
a normal weight okay
11:48
how eating foods that are rich in fiber
11:51
gives you some sort of satiety you're
11:53
not going to get hungry often so
11:55
therefore you don't have to eat all the
11:56
time
11:57
therefore you're able to maintain a
11:58
healthy weight another thing
12:00
fiber helps slow down digestion
12:04
and when the addition is slowed down
12:05
that means sugar enters into your cells
12:08
in a model in a moderate manner polypoly
12:11
polypoly
12:12
therefore there's no rash the your blood
12:14
sugar levels not go high
12:16
so quickly okay and moreover fruits and
12:19
vegetables provide
12:21
flavor into your food they add flavor
12:23
into your food you know
12:25
always make sure you have fruits and
12:26
vegetables in your diet every time
12:28
and the recommended amount of fruits and
12:31
vegetables is five portions per day that
12:33
is very easy
12:34
include that food for your breakfast for
12:36
your snack for your lunch
12:38
for your meal snack between light and
12:40
supper and also for supper include a
12:42
fruit and a vegetable
12:43
okay and a tip i'm going to give you
12:45
guys is that if you're diabetic
12:48
and you're provided for our food it is
12:50
ways to divide that fruit
12:52
into pieces you know into hers into
12:54
quarters don't just
12:55
munch on the fruit hole okay
12:59
divide it into into pieces so that you
13:01
can eat it now
13:02
and then later and then later okay
13:06
small frequent meals is very very
13:08
important
13:09
the next food group is touchy foods and
13:11
this is where they they
13:13
the questions always come like
13:15
nutritionist always recommend that oh go
13:17
for brown bread
13:18
not white bread brown rice not fried
13:20
rice and then people are like
13:21
i think these things are the same
13:23
eventually they are all carbohydrates
13:25
why should i care but the secret here is
13:28
uh
13:29
why do we recommend whole grains when it
13:31
comes to diabetes
13:32
i have mentioned before about fiber
13:34
whole grains contain
13:35
not enough fiber okay they contain um
13:40
enough minerals okay so when you go
13:44
for whole grains they are less processed
13:47
and therefore digestion
13:50
is slowed down there's too much there's
13:52
enough fiber so you're able to maintain
13:54
your weight eventually
13:56
healthy weight is very very important
13:58
i've said that
13:59
so many times okay like i've said uh
14:02
stretchy foods
14:03
all the they become glucose and it's
14:05
that glucose that is broken down and
14:07
goes into your cells and for energies
14:09
india
14:11
but taking foods that are uh whole
14:13
grains
14:14
whole grains are less processed that
14:16
means your digestion will go slow
14:18
the sugars will go slow into your cells
14:19
and you're able to maintain a normal
14:21
uh blood sugar level that's why you
14:24
always go for brown bread you know
14:26
antarctica party from whole wheat
14:28
you know less processed foods the less
14:31
you eat
14:32
processed foods the better it is for you
14:35
the next food group is proteins you know
14:37
i always
14:38
advocate for healthy proteins i've
14:40
mentioned this in the video i did about
14:41
healthy eating
14:43
less processed meats less processed
14:46
meats all the processed meats
14:48
we talked about sausage you talk about
14:50
bacon status you know when
14:51
people love these things and these
14:53
things are very
14:54
very have very very many bad effects to
14:58
your body
14:59
okay so less processed meat less red
15:02
meat
15:03
replace these meats these are animal
15:06
proteins with plant
15:07
based proteins okay plant-based proteins
15:11
also come along with fiber and acid
15:13
fiber is very very important
15:15
you get your protein you get your fiber
15:17
you get your minerals
15:19
once in a while eat your meat but don't
15:21
make it a habit of eating too much meat
15:23
too much processed meat because also
15:25
your risk of obesity goes high your risk
15:28
of heart
15:29
attack stroke and all these
15:30
cardiovascular diseases
15:32
increase when you you have that
15:35
lifestyle of eating a lot of meat and a
15:38
lot of processed meats
15:40
and when it comes to diabetes you really
15:41
need to watch out on how much meat you
15:43
eat
15:44
and the next category is uh the dairy
15:47
foods dairy foods is a milk
15:48
okay milk is essential because it
15:50
provides the proteins and the calcium
15:52
you need this okay
15:54
but when you're buying your milk from
15:56
the supermarket
15:58
check for added sugars as you know
16:00
there's a meals that are added uh with
16:02
flavor the added sugars
16:04
i i totally don't recommend okay because
16:07
you need uh the calcium for your bones
16:09
for your teeth you need uh
16:11
proteins for for for growth and
16:14
development
16:14
so it's just ways to choose milk that
16:17
has low fat
16:18
no added sugars just to be on the safe
16:21
side
16:22
the last category is oils and fats oils
16:25
and fats
16:26
saturated fats and unsaturated fat
16:29
i've said this so many times saturated
16:33
[Music]
16:34
fats you need to to make a habit of
16:37
using unsaturated fats and unsaturated
16:39
fats are from nuts and seeds
16:41
okay and lastly this is not a food group
16:44
and i'm not going even to to put it in a
16:46
food group
16:46
is a junk say no to added salts
16:50
say no to added sugar say no to adding
16:53
fat
16:53
and most junk foods have these things in
16:56
plenty
16:58
if you start making a habit of avoiding
17:00
junk
17:01
foods you prevent junk addiction because
17:03
when you get to junk addiction it is
17:05
very very hard
17:06
for you to come out of it so preventing
17:09
its occurrence is better than managing
17:11
the consequences i had mentioned about
17:14
complications related to diabetes there
17:16
are very very many and then the first
17:18
one is cardiovascular diseases
17:21
heart attack stroke okay proper
17:24
nutrition helps you prevent this because
17:26
you'll be able to
17:28
eat well maintain a healthy weight and
17:30
when you have a healthy weight every
17:31
other thing is very easy to
17:33
to manage another complication is
17:35
nephropathy
17:37
nephropathy is kidney damage okay
17:40
and uh kidney damage may lead to kidney
17:42
failure so preventing occurrence of this
17:44
is very very important another
17:46
complication is neuropathy neuropathy is
17:48
a
17:49
nerve damage and that damage can even go
17:51
to to the extent of
17:53
erectile dysfunction okay diabetes can
17:56
cause erectile dysfunction as especially
17:58
high blood sugar levels can really
17:59
affect
18:00
your your nerves and therefore extremes
18:03
like erectile
18:04
dysfunction another complication is
18:07
retinopathy eye damage okay like i've
18:10
said blood vision and sometimes even
18:12
blindness
18:13
that is just diabetes okay
18:16
and then foot damage when you get uh
18:19
that's why i always advise uh
18:21
people living with diabetes protect your
18:23
feet
18:24
protect your hands when you're going to
18:25
the garden and you're going to do manual
18:27
work
18:27
wear gloves put on gumbo so that you
18:29
don't have to want to have cards and
18:32
and wounds because i've said cats and
18:34
woods take a very
18:36
very long time to heal especially when
18:37
you have diabetes so preventing the cats
18:39
and wounds is very very
18:41
important and other skin in conditions
18:44
hearing issues all these are
18:47
complications
18:48
that come with diabetes so do you see
18:50
the importance of preventing occurrence
18:52
of diabetes if you don't have it
18:54
and help using nutrition to manage
18:58
using nutrition and your medications to
19:00
manage diabetes so that you don't have
19:02
to get into
19:03
diabetic complications okay
19:06
and even before i forget sometimes
19:08
diabetes also gets some people to
19:10
depression and if that is not
19:12
very very okay so what am i saying
19:16
this video is a bit uh short but there's
19:19
so much talk about
19:20
diabetes and um
19:25
your health is wealth okay
19:28
when you hear about these things when
19:29
they tell you avoid too much of this
19:31
avoid taking alcohol think twice sit
19:35
down and think about it because you want
19:37
to live longer you know
19:39
you're out there going to work
19:40
collecting money becoming financially
19:42
rich but you're not watching on your
19:44
your health you want to enjoy these
19:47
things
19:48
watching your health health is wealth
19:50
invest in it
19:51
okay so i had posted in my social media
19:54
you asked me anything about diabetes
19:56
unfortunately not so many people
19:58
um posted their questions but i have
20:00
three main
20:01
questions that i'm going to answer today
20:03
the first question was
20:06
my father had diabetes will i get
20:08
diabetes too
20:10
the thing is not it's not guaranteed but
20:13
there's a possibility because i've said
20:14
diabetes sometimes is
20:16
runs in the family family history if
20:19
someone in your family had diabetes
20:20
their heart chances of yourself
20:22
getting diabetes but if you don't have
20:23
diabetes yet
20:25
lifestyle changes physical activity
20:27
proper nutrition
20:28
will help you prevent the occurrence of
20:30
diabetes even later
20:32
in life uh the question number two is
20:35
brown bread or white bread i've answered
20:37
that already
20:38
brown bread it is preferred because as i
20:42
said whole grains are preferred
20:45
as compared to processed grains because
20:47
we are talking about fiber talking about
20:49
more minerals
20:50
most processed foods exist have been
20:51
snatched away these things they have
20:53
been removed of
20:54
fiber they have been removed of some
20:57
minerals in the process of processing
20:59
and even another thing that i need to
21:02
eat that you don't necessarily need like
21:03
added fat added sugars you don't need
21:05
that
21:05
so brown bread it is preferred
21:09
compared to white and same applies to
21:12
brown rice
21:13
and white rice i i eat too much
21:18
junk i love sugar i eat too much candy
21:23
will i get diabetes this is obvious yes
21:27
i'll say this because lifestyle changes
21:30
is very important in managing diabetes
21:33
you're eating these things you're eating
21:34
junk your risk of being overweight your
21:36
risk of getting to obesity is very very
21:39
high
21:39
so yes if you continue doing this
21:42
there you're just putting yourself at
21:44
risk of developing
21:45
diabetes okay
21:48
i just want to say thank you so much for
21:51
watching till the end when you get to
21:52
this part
21:53
makes me very happy your support is very
21:56
important
21:56
i love to answer questions so you can
21:59
put your questions down in the comment
22:00
section below
22:01
and then if you watch this video and you
22:03
feel like it has been helpful to you
22:05
why not give it a thumbs up and share it
22:08
to the
22:08
to your family and friends
22:12
thank you so much remember to subscribe
22:15
if you're new here
22:16
feel feel uh very much welcome i
22:19
really appreciate and thank you so much
22:21
guys for your support
22:22
we are going up you're going places and
22:25
it gives me pleasure knowing that i can
22:27
reach so many people
22:28
through your support till next time
22:32
bye
#Weight Loss
#Health Conditions
#Blood Sugar & Diabetes
#Blood Sugar & Diabetes
#Obesity
#Nutrition
#Special & Restricted Diets