Start Your Day Right! Healthy Diabetes Living Starts with Breakfast

Living with diabetes requires a positive change in lifestyle. Start your change with Breakfast.

Long established as the cornerstone meal of the day, breakfast confers a host of benefits to those who regularly make it their morning ritual.

For people living with diabetes, a nutritious and healthy breakfast each morning helps regulate their blood sugar level and kick start the metabolism¹. Research indicates, a healthy breakfast is beneficial for the heart, cholesterol level, and reduces the risk of developing diabetes²

So Why is Breakfast so Important for a Person Living with Diabetes?

People with diabetes tend to experience a high blood sugar level in the morning as a result of a hormone surge that the body produces during the wee hours to control the blood sugar level⁴. This phenomenon known as the ‘dawn effect’, affects each and everyone of us regardless of whether we have been diagnosed with diabetes. Unfortunately, people with the condition, are vulnerable to the dawn effect as their body is unable to produce adequate insulin responses to counteract the hormone surge⁴.

A recent clinical trial found that patients with Type 2 diabetes who skipped breakfast recorded blood sugar level readings 37 percent higher than when they consumed breakfast⁵. The study revealed that the omission of breakfast is associated with a significant increase in ‘day-long’ blood sugar spikes⁵.

For the 422 million people worldwide⁶ and 3.5 million Malaysians diagnosed with diabetes⁷, it's important to note that blood sugar surges can be life threatening, and in some cases lead to cardiovascular complications⁸.

Healthy Breakfast Basics

Breakfast is especially important for people living with diabetes. A person living with diabetes has much greater control over their blood sugar level when low glycemic (GI) carbohydrates are consumed. Eating low-GI carbohydrate foods causes a steady rise in the level of sugar in the blood, which in turn leads to a small and subtle rise in insulin⁹. Small increases in insulin keep you feeling full and energised for hours after eating.

Here are some quick tips that will help you plan your breakfast each morning:

Protein and Fibre

Food containing fibre and protein help you feel full faster, and has a minimal effect on your blood sugar level^9,10. Protein helps to break down your food slowly, thus supporting a balanced blood sugar level⁸.

Whey proteinis widely known to for its high protein content which effectively reduces blood sugar spikes after meals compared to other protein sources such as eggs, soy or tuna¹⁵. Essentially, whey protein helps release specific types of hormones in your body, GLP-1 and GIP, to stimulate insulin after a meal. Taken over a period of time, whey protein even helps to reduce your HbA1c.

Fibre is beneficial to diabetics because of its role in decreasing blood glucose and lipid levels. ^11,12 Also known as roughage or bulk, dietary fibre can slow down the absorption of sugar by increasing the thickness of the intestinal contents after a meal. Additionally, soluble fibers produces short-chain fatty acids that help to prevent your liver from secreting too much glucose into your blood during overnight fasting.

Most complex carbohydrate foods contain fiber, and generally takes longer to digest. Due to its slow-releasing nature, complex carbohydrate, have less of an immediate impact on blood sugar, thus help improve glycaemic response and regulate blood sugar level.

Low GI

The Glycemic Index (GI) is a numerical measurement (0-100) for food, which indicates the speed at which carbohydrates convert to sugar in the body. The faster the conversion, the higher the GI number. Foods with a high glycemic index can cause spikes in blood glucose levels, while foods with a low glycemic index results in a more gradual rise in blood glucose levels⁹. 

Examples of low GI food that can complement your breakfast include, raw unsalted almonds, eggs, and fruits such as apples and bananas.

Meal Replacements

Too busy for breakfast? If so, enjoy a meal replacement specially formulated for people with diabetes packed with essential vitamins, minerals and trace elements such as vitamin B, and K, zinc, magnesium, and chromium. Meal replacements that are specially formulated for people with diabetes are foods that you can eat or drink as an alternative to or as part of your meals.

Choose your meal replacement wisely as not all meal replacement products are created equal. It's important to review the ingredient list as well as the nutrition label before purchasing.

Specialised diabetes nutritional beverages are a great source of nourishment as they can provide the right balance of carbohydrates, fats and proteins while offering a slow-release of energy to balance blood sugar. They can be enjoyed as a meal replacement or as a supplement to a regular meal in the event that you are not securing enough nutrition from your meal plan.

If you are considering a specialised diabetes nutritional beverage, select one that has the added benefit of whey protein and has a low GI.

It is also beneficial to look out for a specialised diabetes nutritional beverage that contains 100% soluble fibre, and slowly digestible complex carbohydrates that can improve glycaemic response, and help regulate blood sugar level more efficiently.

Finally, there are many types of specialised diabetes nutritional beverages, choose one which meets the American Diabetes Association (ADA) nutritional targets for people living with diabetes.

Planning is Essential

In order to have better control over what you eat, keep a food diary, or journal to help you monitor your meals and its effect on your blood sugar level. Your journal should consist of mealtimes, the type of food and drinks consumed, its quantity, and your blood sugar reading (before your meal and two hours after). By keeping a journal, you will be conscious to your hunger pangs and satisfaction levels and the emotional triggers that lead you to overeat. It will also provide you a guideline to how your blood sugar responds to different foods. 

There is no doubt of the inherent benefits of a healthy and nutritious breakfast for people living with diabetes. A good breakfast fuels and prepares you for the day ahead. Make breakfast a priority and start your day right.

This article is brought to you by NUTREN^® GLUCOBALANCE™, a sucrose, lactose and frutose free, clinically proven complete and balanced nutritious beverage for people with diabetes. Formulated in accordance to the International Diabetes Guidelines, NUTREN^® GLUCOBALANCE™ meets the latest American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommendations. NUTREN^® GLUCOBALANCE™ has a low GI and contains whey protein and a unique low glycemic fibre blend (100% soluble fibre) to help you stay in control and energised for the day. NUTREN^® GLUCOBALANCE™, Together We Take Charge.