We’ll be discussing Nigerian Diabetic Meal Plan in this post. However, the first step is to gain some basic understanding around diabetes so the meal table that follows makes sense. Let’s get right into it.

What Is Diabetes?

Diabetes is a common disease that occurs when your body can’t make insulin, your body can’t properly use the insulin your body makes, or both^. This causes your blood sugar levels to be too high.

Insulin is a hormone made by your pancreas. It helps to control the storage of carbohydrates, protein, and fat.

Without diabetes, insulin levels increase after eating and the insulin helps to transport blood sugar into body cells; this gives your cells the energy they need.

With diabetes, insulin isn’t available or isn’t working properly. This means that insulin doesn’t transport enough sugar into your body’s cells; too much sugar stays in the blood and is filtered out in the urine.

Risks of Unmanaged diabetes

High levels of blood sugar over time can damage the kidneys, eyes, blood vessels, nerves, and other organs. This can lead to heart attack, stroke, kidney disease, nerve damage, erectile dysfunction, blindness, and amputation.

Cure for Diabetes

There is currently no cure for diabetes [ref], although changes to your lifestyle, such as eating well and exercising can help you to manage your blood sugar levels. There are also medications and insulin injections if necessary. However, having a suitable Nigerian diabetic meal plan can help manage the situation.

Types of Diabetes

There are three main types of diabetes:

• Type 1 diabetes,
• Type 2 diabetes,
• gestational diabetes.

There are other types, but they are rare.

Type 1 diabetes

Type 1 diabetes used to be called insulin-dependent or juvenile diabetes because it often develops during childhood or adolescence, although it can develop at any time. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease where the body attacks the cells that make insulin in the pancreas. People with type 1 diabetes need to inject insulin because their body is incapable of making it.

Type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes used to be called adult-onset diabetes because it often develops in adulthood, although it is becoming more common in children and adolescents. In type 2 diabetes, either the body can’t properly use the insulin the body makes (they have insulin resistance) or the pancreas doesn’t make enough insulin to keep blood sugars in a healthy range. Type 2 diabetes can be treated with a mixture of lifestyle modifications (healthy eating and exercise) and medications or insulin. Not everyone with type 2 diabetes will need medications or insulin to manage their diabetes.

Gestational diabetes

Gestational diabetes is different from type 1 and type 2 because it is temporary. Gestational diabetes is when someone develops diabetes during pregnancy. Although it’s considered temporary, having gestational diabetes increases your risk for developing diabetes later in life and increases the risk of the child developing diabetes as well.

Although not an official type of diabetes, prediabetes is a condition that often occurs before someone is diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Prediabetes is when your blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. It is important to know if you have prediabetes because it increases your risk of developing type 2 diabetes and diabetes complications.

Nigerian Diabetic Meal Plan for Diabetes Management

When it comes to diabetes, math is important. Your age, your current weight, your height, medication consideration are essential to developing a meal plan that is tailored to you. LIN is here to help.

Managing diabetes isn’t just about counting carbohydrates, your overall nutrition matters. Therefore, a Nigerian diabetic meal plan can help.

Here are essential factors to consider when building a diabetic Nigerian diabetic meal table.

Nutrient and calories work together

You want to choose foods that are high in nutrients and low in calories, fat, and added sugars. A good example is choosing goat meat over beef. Goat meat is nutrient dense but also lower in calories and fat when compared to beef.

Vegetables are critical

When managing diabetes, vegetables need to be a part of every meal that you consume. A variety of dark leafy greens like efo-tete, efo- shoko, ugu etc should be part of every meal. So instead of plain yam and egg for breakfast, think yam and vegetables sauce. Instead of rice and stew, Think rice with mixed vegetables like Carrot, tatashe and cabbage sauce.

Whole grain is king

Not all grains are created equal when it comes to managing diabetes. You want to eat whole grains like whole guinea corn pap, whole-wheat bread, 100% unpolished Ofada rice, whole grain millet, oats etc. The less processed the carbohydrate is, the better it is for blood sugar management.

Not just Protein but lean protein

Your diet for managing diabetes on Nigerian food should be filled with lean proteins sources such as beans, Wara soya (tofu), chicken, skinless goat meat and fish.

Non-lean protein like beef, pork, lamb, fried meat, sausages, wings meat should be avoided.

Say no to processed foods in a diabetic meal plan

Processed foods are everywhere, from white bread, to noodles, to meat pie, to cakes and cookies. when managing diabetes on a Nigerian diet, it is critical to avoid these foods.

Healthy snacks options can include baked green plantain chips, coconut, unsalted nuts etc. Be mindful that quantity matters, and your recommended quantity will depend on your personal statistics.

Portion size matters for diabetes

Aside eating the right kind of food, how much you eat is extremely important too when managing diabetes on a Nigerian diet, the volume of food you eat will have implication on your blood sugar spikes. For example, even though unpolished ofada is healthy, eating one cup will have a different implication than eating two cups.

The portion you need is unique to you.

Water, water, water

Staying hydrated by drinking plenty of water throughout the day is extremely important. Water should not be substituted with minerals of any kind. Malt drink is not medicinal or adaptable to diabetes management as it is high in added sugar. Drinks like zobo, pito, kunu are only good when they are unsweetened. Even sweeteners like honey, date syrup etc are not ideal.

The most important drink is water, it should be the only drink you have regularly in your diet.

Sample Nigerian Diabetes Meal Table

Conclusion

Managing Diabetes on a Nigerian diet does not have to be about eating beans and green plantains alone. You can enjoy a variety of meals including rice, bread, yam etc. The critical factor for nutrition management is knowing how much you can eat and getting details on the right way to prepare and pair up your favorite meals.

Nutrition management should be as unique as you are, book a consultation with the Loseitnigerian team of experts to have a customized menu with detailed recipes designed for you.