Diabetes is not always about avoiding sweets

Riya Chakraborty
Deputy Editor

Diabetesa word that is a legal restriction for sugar makes your tongue handcuffed or ‘tongue-cuffed’ when you come near a sweet dish. Being a sweet tooth, it is a real pain to see your beloved ice-cream or roshogolla roaming with someone else and all you can do is, stand in the corner and, with your enticed eyes, sing ‘Channa Mereya’ (the famous heart-breaking song).

ButDiabetes is not always about avoiding sweets, today I am going to introduce a new truth before you. There is a common myth that almost all of us adhere to is that ‘Sugar Causes Diabetes’. Yes, it is a myth because as Dr. Subhashish Biswas, the medicine specialist of AMRI Medical Centre says, there are two types of Diabetes – Type 1 and Type 2.

In Type 1 diabetes, the insulin producing cells in your pancreas are destroyed by your immune system and no amount of sugar in your diet has caused or can cause you to get Type 1 diabetes. 

For Type 2 diabetes, you are more likely to get it if you are overweight. You gain weight when you take in more calories than your body needs, and sugary foods and drinks contain a lot of calories. So you can see Type 2 diabetes is complex, and sugar is unlikely to be the only reason the condition develops.

But, any nutritionist says, a diet should always be balanced. And hence eating too much sugar can have adverse effects. But as it has been said, when there is a will, there is a way. So here I have came up with 4 sweet dishes that your taste buds with relish the sweetness but your blood cells won’t.

1. Jamun Mousse: Wash the Jamun, remove as much pulp as you can and blend it to a fine puree. On a bowl, take 400ml cold whipping cream and whisk it. Add 1/3 cup condensed milk to it. Stir well. Now add portions of Jamun puree to it and mix it. Adding almonds and other nuts can be a great option.

2. Gur Phirni: Soak ¼ cup of Basmati rice for 30-45 minutes and drain the water and make a fine paste. Heat 3 cups of milk till it comes to a boil. Add the rice paste stirring continuously for 3-5 minutes with a metal whisk or spatula so that the rice does not form lumps. This will take around 3 – 5 minutes. Stir well and add 4 tbsp Jaggery powder, 2 tsp cardamom powder and 2 tbsp (soaked overnight) Almond paste. Mix well and take off heat .Cool to room temperature and add Rose/Kewra water.

3. Milk Thistle Smoothie: Add 1/2 cup frozen blueberries, 1 large frozen banana, 1 tsp Maca powder, 1 tsp Milk Thistle Seed Powder, 1 tsp Chia Seeds, 1/2 of milk and handful of fresh mint leaves to a mixer grinder and mix it into a smooth puree. Refrigerate it and enjoy.

4. Cinnamon Apple Cake: Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas 6. Sift 100g plain flour into a bowl; add jaggery powder, 6g baking powder and 1tsp cinnamon powder into the flour and mix. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add 3 eggs and 3 tsp skimmed milk. Whisk and add in 75g melted butter. Peel and core the apples (1kg) and remove the seeds. Cut them into large slices. Add the apple slices to the mixture and fold in gently. Grease a cake tin with the knob of margarine. Pour the mixture into the tin and bake in the oven for 35 minutes. Turn out onto a cooling rack. Leave to cool and serve.

With these four dishes I think we can wish A happy World Diabetes Day to all!

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