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How to Manage Diabetes with Diet - Simple Nutrition
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Jun 2, 2025
#diabetes #healthyeating #nutrition With the increasing numbers of COVID19 cases and deaths, you really wanna take care of yourself, and follow the guidelines, because underlying conditions like diabetes can lead to complications. . SUBSCRIBE for new videos every week. . ❤️For Business inquiries. EMAIL: marriamakiru@gmail.com . ❤️ FIND ME. WEBSITE: https://simplenutrition.co.ke/ FB: https://www.facebook.com/MirriamAkiru/ INSTAGRAM : @mirriam_akiru . ❤️Videos you may Enjoy. . "This channel is intended for educational purposes only. Contains knowledge I have gained over the years in my practice as a nutritionist, and I'm glad to share. It's always a happy learning experience here." SUBSCRIBE and Turn on your notifications button to never miss out. ❤️
View Video Transcript
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
#Blood Sugar & Diabetes
#Health Conditions
#Nutrition
#Obesity
#Special & Restricted Diets
#Weight Loss