Diabetes can be a complicated disease which becomes all the more difficult if you are not careful about what you eat and what you do not. It is of primary importance that you be careful about food. in this article, we shall understand if it is safe enough for a diabetes patient to eat chapatis.

Recommended Food Habits of a Diabetes Patient

When you have diabetes, you need to be really careful about what you eat and what you not. Maintaining a healthy diet is the best and the most-recommended way of controlling the disease. Some of the recommended food habits for a diabetes patient is as stated below:

• All the green leafy vegetables, fiber-rich foods should be included in the diet of a diabetes patient
• All kinds of preserved or processed food, canned food, colas, fruit juice, and other artificial food drinks should be avoided to a maximum possible extent
• Avoid food with a high glycemic index
• Ideal meal plan for a diabetes patient will be:
• Eatinga mixture of soaked fenugreek seeds, cinnamon powder, water, almonds, etc. after you get up in the morning.
• Eating something like a vegetable sandwich made from brown bread or a couple of idlis, chutney, etc, for breakfast
• A couple of chapatis, brown rice, curry cooked in as little oil as possible, daal, and curd made from skimmed milk for lunch
• A handful of roasted gram without adding any salt for snacks
• Dalia, daal or a couple of chapatis for dinner

Although the above is a highly recommended meal plan for those with diabetes, it is not an exhaustive list and you should chalk out a meal plan for yourself after consulting your diabetes specialist to keep your diabetes under control.

Glycemic Index and Diabetes:

In order to understand how chapatis can affect your diabetes, it is of utmost importance that you first understand the relationship that exists between diabetes and glycemic index. Foods that have a high level of glycemic index are known to digest quickly and breakdown into glucose rapidly. The result of this is that the blood glucose spikes in the body are much higher than in the normal circumstances. This is not great for those with diabetes. On the other hand, if the glycemic index level of the food is low, the food is digested gradually. This means that the spike in the blood glucose levels is not as rapid as in the case of food that has a very high glycemic index level.

A glycemic index of 55 or less is considered a low score and is safe for a diabetes patient to consume within the recommended levels. On the other hand, foods that have a glycemic index score of around 56 to 69 is considered to be medium. Anything above that is very high and should be avoided to the maximum possible extent.

Chapati Types and Glycemic Index:

Chapatis is an item that can be made from different varieties of flour such as the traditional wheat flour or even the ragi flour, plain flour, or the gram flour. Different varieties shall impart different levels of glycemic index to the chapatis and you should be really careful and mindful about the same.

Chapati can be made from a variety of ingredients. However, you need to keep in mind the glycemic index of different types of chapatis that are made. The most common type of chapati is the one that is made from the whole ground wheat. This chapati has a glycemic index of around 62.

Chapati can also be made from maida. If chapatis are made from maida, the glycemic index of the same is about 89. This chapati is the one that should completely be avoided by a person who has diabetes. This is considered to be a very high value of the glycemic index and as such, you will definitely want to avoid the same.

Chapatis, on the other hand, can safely be eaten if it is made of chickpea or even besan. This variety of chapatis have the lowest glycemic index amongst all different types. The glycemic index of this particular variety is 52 which is considered safe for consumption by a diabetes patient is consumed within the recommended levels.

Ragi chapati is also considered to be a good alternative to various other types of chapatis. Ragi chapati is known to not spike the blood glucose levels in a diabetes patient.

Thus, as is clear from the above paragraph, chapati is safe enough to eat if you are eating the variety that is made from a flour which has a safe glycemic index score. This includes chapati made from chickpea and besan. However, you should avoid eating those variety that is made from a flour which is unhealthy for a diabetes patient.