Author: Angela Swaan – Nutritional Therapist, Ambassador of the World Healthy Living Foundation

How many people around you are diagnosed with diabetes, prediabetes, insulin resistance or hyperglycaemic?  That’s a question and straight forward answer at the same time?
How many of them is taking this disease seriously?

Like in one of the songs:

“Behind closed doors, there’s never any light

Behind closed doors, there’s never any light

Mix a little bit of love and violence

Mix a little bit of truth and lies…”

Let’s talk about it for a while.

Diabetes is a serious condition where your blood glucose level is too high. There are two main types, Type 1 and Type 2.

• Type 1: The body’s immune system attacks the cells that produce insulin.
• Type 2: The body is resistant to the action of insulin and fails to produce enough of this hormone to compensate.

There is another type of diabetes called gestational diabetes, which only affects pregnant women and usually resolves after they give birth.

Insulin resistance is when cells in your muscles, fat, and liver don’t respond well to insulin and can’t use glucose from your blood for energy. To make up for it, your pancreas makes more insulin. Over time, your blood sugar levels go up. Hyperglycaemia or high blood glucose, occurs when the level of sugar in your blood is too high. This happens when your body has too little insulin (the hormone that transports glucose into the blood), or if your body can’t use insulin properly. The condition is most often linked to diabetes.

And why is it so important?

After hearing from one of my clients that “diabetes it’s not a serious condition” I literally could not believe it, especially because that what she heard from her GP.

Let’s make it clear: diabetes can have a severe effect on the body. Many different complications have links to diabetes, including:

• eye problems, which can be very grave
• kidney disease
• high blood pressure
• stroke
• heart disease
• neuropathy
• bone and joint disorders
• digestive problems
• sexual dysfunction
• tooth and gum problems
• skin problems

In some cases, diabetes can be fatal. The WHO Trusted Source estimate that diabetes was the direct cause of around 1.5 million deaths worldwide in 2019.

Type 2 diabetes is a serious, lifelong condition that can lead to significant complications. Treating diabetes with a combination of medication (if necessary) plus diet and lifestyle changes is possible. People with a healthy body weight may still develop the condition.

Eating a healthful diet, which may still include some forms of sugar, and remaining physically active are effective ways to minimize the risk of diabetes.

Another myth often repeated is that People with diabetes can’t eat grapes, mangoes, or bananas. People sometimes think that if they have diabetes, they can’t eat grapes and bananas as they taste sweet. But if you eat a diet that includes these fruits, you can still achieve good blood glucose control. In fact, grapes, and bananas, like all fruit, make a very healthy choice.

Fruit is high in fibre, low in fat and full of vitamins and minerals. It helps to protect against heart disease, cancer, and certain stomach problems.

In fact, these fruits have high Glycaemic Index (GI) so E.g., it’s better to eat bananas when they are not very ripe, make sure it hasn’t so many brown marks on the skin.

Living with such a condition may feel tough at first. You may think that no sweets are allowed for you when everything around seems to scream ‘Eat me’. You ask yourself how you survived the next summer party, next BBQ, family garden reunion, going out with friends etc.

There is good news. Everything is possible. It will require a few changes, but still, everyone who is struggling with glucose problems may have a normal life without many restrictions. It’s all about understanding the system.

Like, e.g. by going to Starbucks, most people are aware of how many sugars (and calories) are inside a simple coffee. To make it healthier and still enjoy the great taste, there is a tip below. All you need to do is bring a pocket-size sweetener of your choice and reduce the amount of sugar by swapping the syrup with the sweetener.

I will not recommend this for everyday use as this still contain some sugar. Still, for occasional meet-ups with friends, it’s a perfect choice.

Alternatively, you can order regular coffee with milk of your choice and add sweetener instead of sugar. The drink will be sweet as with regular sugar without messing up with your sugar level.

Another example is this cake you can try to bake. It’s super delicious and simple!

This healthy sugar–free cherry cake is mind-blowing! The filling only takes a few minutes, and the moist cake is topped with a sweetened buttercream frosting which is delicious. The whole cake is 16 servings.

Ingredients

cake

• 3 ¼ cups / 450 g rye flour,
• 2 ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
•  ½ cup rapeseed oil
•  ½ cup / 100 g granulated sweetener (my recommended one is erythritol)
• 4 eggs, at room temperature
• 3 vanilla beans* (or 3tsp vanilla extract)

filling

• 2 cups / 400 g fresh cherries, pitted (when frozen thaw first)
• ½ cup / 100 g granulated sweetener
• 1 ½ tablespoon corn-starch
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• ¼ cup / 60 ml water

frosting

• 1 cup / 250 g unsalted butter, room temperature
• ½ cups / 100 g sweetener
• 2 vanilla beans* (or 2 teaspoon vanilla extract)
• 2-4 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
• pinch of salt

TIP:

If you wish to go one step forward and upgrade the recipe for even more diabetic’s suitable version, there is how. We will reduce the amount of some saturated fat which in this case is butter and heavy cream. So there are frosting recipes which you can use instead of the frosting originally made of buttercream. This option is also vegan:

TANGY CASHEW “CREAM CHEESE” FROSTING

• 1 1/2 cups raw cashews (soaked in hot water 1 hour or cool water 6-8 hours)
• 2/3 cup Coconut Yogurt or Coyo Coconut Yogurt (OR sub 1/2 cup (120 ml) plant-based milk)
• 3-4 Tbsp maple syrup (sugar free)
• 1/4 cup melted coconut oil* (adds richness and helps firm up)
• 1 1/2 – 2 tsp apple cider vinegar (more for tangier frosting)
• 1/4 tsp lemon zest
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp sea salt

Then mix everything and put into the fridge for at least 30 minutes and you ready to go.

(Recipe inspired by minimalist baker from the website: https://minimalistbaker.com/cashew-buttercream-frosting/)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C. Line the bottom and the sides of two 8″ (20cm) baking pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt and stir to combine. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl add butter, oil, and sweetener – mix it until creamy for about 2-3 minutes. Add one egg at a time and mix until fully incorporated. Add vanilla* and stir to combine. Add dry ingredients with the rest from the second bowl and stir just until combined and put everything into the baking moulds. Bake for 30-33 minutes or until a toothpick in the centre comes out clean. Don’t overbake or the cake will be dry. Let cool to room temperature.
4. Place the cherries, sweetener, corn-starch, lemon juice, and water in a large saucepan and bring over medium heat to a boil. Cook for 5-8 minutes until the cherries get soft. Stir constantly. Blend the cooking cherries with an immersion blender and cook for another 5-8 minutes or until the filling has thickened and reduced by about ⅓ of liquid. Stir constantly. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. It will thicken as it cools.
5. In a large mixing bowl beat butter on medium speed until super creamy, about 2-3 minutes. Add sweetener at the time and beat on low speed until combined. When all the sweetener is in, beat on medium speed until the sweetener is dissolved. Mix in 1 tablespoon heavy cream at the time until you reach your desired consistency. The buttercream should be creamy and fluffy but firm enough to spread. I added exactly 3 tbsp. Add a pinch of salt and stir to combine.
6. Cut a thin layer off the tops of your cakes to create a flat surface. Then cut each cake in half horizontally. Place one cake layer on a cake stand or serving plate. Spread ¼ of the buttercream over the cake. The buttercream should be higher around the edges that it holds the cherry filling inside the cake. Layer with ⅓ of the cherry filling (where the buttercream is lower). Place the last cake layer on top and lightly frost the outside and the sides of the cake with the remaining frosting. Chill for 4 hours in the fridge. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days.

Notes

The original recipe is taken from Pinterest and re-created to be diabetics / Insulin-resistant. In the original one, the author used 6 cups / 1200 g of white sugar compared to 1 ½ cups / 300g used for this recipe, the cake was sweet enough with this amount of sweetener, but if there is a need to make it super sweet, more sweetener will be needed.

TIP: For most sweeteners like erythritol, stevia etc., the ratio is 1:1 compared to white sugar. This means you need to add  a similar amount of sweetener as you usually use for regular sugar.

What is your experience with diabetics or insulin resistance?

Maybe someone around you struggle with it?

Let me know in the comments down below 😉

Reference list:

• Cleveland Clinic. (2020). Hyperglycemia Signs, Treatment & Prevention | Cleveland Clinic. [online] Available at: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/9815-hyperglycemia-high-blood-sugar.
• Dansinger, M. (2003). Insulin Resistance. [online] WebMD. Available at: https://www.webmd.com/diabetes/insulin-resistance-syndrome.
• www.medicalnewstoday.com. (2019). Type 2 diabetes myths and facts: What is the truth? [online] Available at: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324115 [Accessed 17 Jul. 2022].