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There are many food for diabetic patients in Nigeria, and in this article, you will know all the likely food that someone with diabetes should eat to remain healthy.

Diabetes, (a condition of high blood sugar or glucose) is also commonly called diabetes mellitus, is a long-term condition that causes high blood sugar level. This condition occurs when the pancreatic cells can no lonnger produce enough insulin or perhaps the body cells do not respond properly to insulin. Common symptoms include frequent urination, unusual weight gain or weight loss, intense thirst and hunger, fatigue, male sexual dysfunction, and numbness in hands and feet.

According to WHO reports of 2019, an estimated 1.5 million deaths were directly caused by diabetes. And another 2.2 million deaths were attributable to high blood glucose in 2012.

Since diabetes has to do with high sugar in the blood and foods high in carbohydrates (CHO) tend to worsen the condition, it’ s only logical to reduce intake of foods with high calories of CHO. But that doen’t mean you have to stay away from CHO containing foods completely. You only need to reduce the concentration.

List of Food for Diabetic Patients in Nigeria

So, what then is the food for diabetic patients in Nigeria, or in Ghana, or a typical African country? We are going to separate this write up into the list of foods to eat as a diabetic patient and foods not to eat for a better explanation.

Foods for Diabetic Patients

• Plantain: The type of pantain that a diabetic patient shoud eat is the unripe plantain. Plantain is rich in Iron porridge plantain, plantain with beans, roosted plantain with fish source, all with unripe plantain.
• Green Vegetables: are rich in essential vitamins, minerals, & nutrients. They also have very little impact on blood sugar levels. Examples include; spinach, cabbage, broccoli, pumkin leaves, water leaves.
• Beans: is a plant protein that satisfies the appetite of people while helping them to reduce the intake of carbohydrate in the body.
• Wheat Meals: wheat bread, wheat containing foods are ideal for diabetics
• Sweet Potatoes
• Whole Grains: E.g
• Swallow: Semovita, Wheat flour, plantain flour
• Soups: Bitter leaf soup, Vegetable soup, Ogbono Soup, Edikan Ikong, Editan Soup, Egusi soup, Afang soup.
• Fruits: Citrus, golden melon, berries, nigerian pear,
• Walnuts: coconuts,
• Drinks/Teas: Probiotic Yougurt, vinegar, powerlife kuding tea, zobo without sugars, kunu ( guinea corn and millet, amstel malt low in sugar.
• Low Carbohydrate containing foods: cocoyam, pounded cocoyam, brown basmatic rice, stew, wheat bread.
• Snacks: akara, tiger nuts
• Meat: Snails, cow skin or kponmo

Foods to Avoid as a Diabetic Patient

• High carbohydrate containing food: poundo, yam whether porridge or pounded yam, ripe plantian
• Meat: red meat, cow intestines
• Fatty foods: avoid eating fatty foods
• Swallow: Eba (garri and fufu)
• Drinks: dry gin, spirits, liquor, sugary drinks like coke, sprite, fanta, seven up, pepsi, mirinda
• Salty foods
• Refined sugar containing foods or drinks

In summary, a diabetic patient should try and eat a balanced diet but with very minimal consumption of carborhydrates containing meals or meals with high sugar contents.