How to Intermittent Fast If You Have Diabetes: What to Eat

So you have watched a few youtube videos and have read some articles about intermittent fasting. Now you have agreed to give it a try. You might wonder; what should I eat when intermittent fasting? This is an essential question because believe it or not, you can practice intermittent fasting for as long as you want.

But if you are not eating right, then the purpose for your fast would become irrelevant. If you have diabetes type 2, you might even end up with serious complications. That’s why you have to know enough about what to eat.

What is intermittent fasting anyway? For those of you who don’t know yet, let me explain it in simple terms.

Intermitted fasting is simply the deliberate avoidance of food within a specific window of time. It is mostly done for weight loss and other health benefits.

This is different from starving. With starving, there is nothing to eat when you are hungry, whereas, with intermittent fasting, you decide to eat at a specific time and avoid it within a period of time.

Intermittent fasting could be practiced by various kinds of people. In this post, I’ll explain intermittent fasting for those who have type 2 diabetes.

Researchers have found that fasting intermittently when you have diabetes can help reduce your glucose levels and also help you lose weight.

However, just going without food isn’t enough to make you derive all these benefits. The timing for food as well as what to eat when intermittent fasting is important.

In this post, I’ll explain in detail what you need to eat or drink when you’re in your fasting period to suppress your cravings, what to eat to break your fast, and a few rules you should take note of when intermittent fasting, especially when you have diabetes.

I’ll start with what you need to when you feel hungry in your fasting period. Let’s get to it.

How to survive your fasting period

Truth be told, we are still humans, and our food cravings can become a bit difficult to handle, especially when you start fasting intermittently.

This is so normal because you’ve been eating as and when you feel like it until you recently when you decided to go without it. Definitely, your body would demand it.

So, what can you do when you feel for food while fasting?

The most common and easiest thing to do is to drink water. John (I mentioned him in a previous post), drinks a lot of water when he’s fasting.

This is necessary because keeping hydrated would make it easier for you to complete the fast.

According to Krista Varady, people tend to think they’re hungry when they are really just thirsty. Therefore, whenever you’re craving food, just drink a glass of water, like my good friend John did.

You’ll feel a lot better after that.

Water isn’t the only thing you can drink.

If you think plain water is too boring, you can drink black coffee or plain tea. These won’t break your fast. Instead, they’ll give you the endurance you need to carry on with your fast throughout your day.

(If you want more information about the intermittent fasting methods, please check this link)

Now, you have finished with whatever fasting method of your choice. What should you eat to break your fast?

What to eat to break your fast when intermittent fasting

Breaking your fast simply means stoping the fast and eating. At this time, what your body needs is good nutrition.

You need to eat foods that would nourish your body.

Foods like whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, avocados, and other nutritious foods I couldn’t remember to mention would provide you with good nutrition that has less dangerous fats and calories.

I’m really not a nutritionist. Hence I can’t give you specific advice on your meals. It’ll be a great idea that you ask your nutritionist to help you select the exact foods to eat based on your needs.

Another option is to choose your own meals from the list of foods I mentioned above. It’ll even be more fun to create your own combinations and recipes from healthy food groups. Whatever works for you, you can just go ahead with it.

One thing you should note is that you must break your fast slowly. What I mean is, don’t start your eating period with ‘heavy’ food.

Start with water and then maybe a broth or something similar. Afterward, you can add your yummy proteins and carbs.

When you break it too quickly, then you’re going to have problems with your stomach.

Another thing you need to take note of is overeating. Overeating during your eating window would only make your fasting pointless. Why?

Because eating more than you normally do would give your body extra work to digest the food. It’ll also refill the glucose stores which have been emptied during the fast, hence your fasting becomes useless.

During your eating time, you only have to eat your normal rations. The only difference would be that you avoid junk foods, avoid eating in-between meals, and foods that are high in bad calories.

Rules to follow when intermittent fasting if you have diabetes

If you have type 2 diabetes, you are more delicate than any other person who wants to practice intermittent fasting. One reason is that you have the risk of hypoglycemia.

When you don’t fast the right way, you may end up in the emergency room. So how can you fast safely and effectively when you have diabetes?

There are a few things you need to take note of. I’ll put them in bullet points for you so that it becomes easy to scan through.

• Be very vigilant about hypoglycemia. It is best to carry glucose tablets with you, just in case your sugar level decides to drops too low.
• Visit your doctor more often than not. At a time like this, keeping close contact with your doctor would ensure that you’re safe throughout your fasting period.
• About your diabetes drugs. Ask your doctor the adjustments you need to make in the doses, lest your glucose becomes too low. Even if you’re only on metformin, you still need to see your doctor, because fasting can cause diarrhea and stomach upset.
• Be very mindful of what you eat. Make it a point to eat only a balanced diet at all times.
• It’ll also be beneficial to you if you watch the rations. Too large portions at a time would cancel the benefits of your fast. Just take your normal rations and be fine with that.

Conclusion

Intermittent fasting really helps in various ways. However, it could get trickier especially when you have constant food cravings.

Therefore, drink a lot of water during your fasting period. If you want, you can drink black coffee or herbal teas instead of water. When you decide to break your fast, stick to more balanced diets with whole grains and nuts. Avoid junk food as much as possible.

And finally, let your doctor watch over you and direct you throughout your fasting journey.

If you keep all these points in mind, you’ll have a smooter journey in your entermittent fasting.

Did I leave anything out? Please let me know how you have managed to continue with your intermittent fasting without any problems.