Type 2 diabetic shares high-protein breakfasts that helped her HbA1c drop from 13.3 to 5.9 ‘without medication’

Sneha, a type 2 diabetic and content creator, has been documenting her diabetes remission journey online for the last few months. In her recent upload, she shared a carousel of her go-to meals, captioning it: “The breakfast that helped me bring my HbA1c from 13.3 to 5.9 and manage my Type 2 diabetes without medication”.

Here’s everything she started her mornings with:

• Sourdough bread with 3 eggs, guava and avocado
• Boiled eggs, spinach and millet kanji
• Paneer veggie chilla
• Pesarattu
• Veggie stuffed omelette, chia seeds with yoghurt and protein powder
• Paneer idli, sambar, beans and tofu
• Paneer poha and boiled eggs
• Wheat daliya, boiled eggs with moringa powder and buttermilk
• Scrambled eggs and millet kanji

DISCLAIMER: This article is based on information from the public domain and/or the experts we spoke to. Always consult your health practitioner before starting any routine.

However, Sneha also pointed out that one breakfast didn’t magically lower her HbA1c. “It was the consistent habits, movement, food choices, weight management and lifestyle changes that helped me get here,” she further mentioned in the caption of her Instagram post.

But do these breakfast options truly help lower HbA1c? We reached out to experts and found out.

Lifestyle changes help immensely. (Magnific)

Understanding why they work

Kanikka Malhotra, dietitian and certified diabetes educator, says that these are “well-constructed breakfasts”.

“Every single one pairs a protein source (eggs, paneer, tofu, dal, yogurt) with a fiber-rich, low-glycemic carbohydrate (millets, sourdough, moong dal, dalia) and skips the classic blood-sugar triggers, no refined flour, added sugar, or juice,” she tells indianexpress.com, adding that this combination genuinely blunts the post-meal glucose spike, so as a breakfast template, it is “sound and can meaningfully support day-to-day glucose control”.

But Dr Narendra BS, Lead Consultant – Endocrinology & Diabetology, Aster Whitefield Hospitals, adds that HbA1c level of 13.3% means you have severe hyperglycaemia, and it is necessary for you to receive medical assessment and monitoring from a doctor urgently. “You should not stop or avoid medication without your doctor’s supervision,” he tells indianexpress.com.

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But at the same time, he believes that a highly intensive lifestyle modification program can be the cause of really dramatic improvements in blood glucose levels, and such drastic measures can even lead to diabetes remission in a few individuals.

Lifestyle in focus

Dr Narendra recommends:

• Weight loss through calorie restriction
• Loss of extra calories in appropriate cases
• Improvement of the quality of one’s diet
• Doing physical activity regularly
• Getting the right behaviour support.

“For those who have diabetes, the type of diet that is normally recommended is a high-fiber diet which includes plenty of vegetables, beans, whole grains, nuts, and seeds that are as little processed as possible,” he says, adding that at the same time, the intake of the so-called ‘junk foods’ which consist of sugar-sweetened and refined products must be minimised as a dietary approach.

DISCLAIMER: This article is based on information from the public domain and/or the experts we spoke to. Always consult your health practitioner before starting any routine.