This is a diabetic diet chart Indian families can follow with what is already in the kitchen. It uses no animal food except milk products. No dahi at night. Chaas at lunch. Early dinner. And a 10-minute walk after every meal.
The foods in this diabetic diet chart Indian plan, and why
From the old books. Charaka Samhita has a full chapter on prameha, the old name for sugar disease. It says:
- People who regularly eat roasted jau (barley), moong and amla do not get prameha.
- Sugar patients should eat old rice cooked with moong. New-crop rice is in the list of causes.
- Jau is the grain it names most, in many forms.
- Things that cause prameha: dahi, jaggery (gur), milk sweets, new grains, sitting too much, sleeping too much.
From modern studies.
- Jau has a fibre called beta-glucan. The US food authority (FDA) allows a heart-health claim for 3 grams a day of it. Jau raises sugar very slowly (GI 28; white rice is 73).
- Dal (moong, chana, arhar) raises sugar slowly (GI around 30) and lowered bad cholesterol in studies.
- Methi dana lowered fasting sugar in 10 studies, at 5 grams a day or more. The proof is not strong, so it is a help, not a medicine.
- Walking 10 minutes after meals cut after-meal sugar by 22% after dinner, in a study of people with diabetes.
6 rules for every day of this diabetic diet chart Indian plan
- Half the plate is sabzi and salad. One quarter is dal, chana or paneer. One quarter is roti or rice. This is the plate rule diabetes doctors use. Grain is never more than a quarter.
- Jau roti, not plain wheat. Mix jau atta half-half with wheat atta. If you eat rice, eat old (purana) rice, one small fist, with a full katori of moong dal. (Read: rice or roti for diabetes.)
- Chaas at lunch. No dahi at night. Charaka says dahi causes prameha, and must never be eaten at night. Chaas is light and easy to digest, says the old book Ashtanga Hridaya.
- One amla every day, with lunch. Fresh amla or amla chutney. Not murabba.
- Cook in mustard oil. Ghee only 1 teaspoon, on top. Sugar patients have double the risk of heart disease, so fat matters too.
- Dinner by sunset, then walk 10 minutes. In one study, the same dinner at 10 PM gave 18% higher sugar than at 6 PM. Nothing to eat after dinner.
No gur, no honey in this plan. Charaka names gur sweets as a cause of prameha. The World Health Organization says gur and honey are sugar too. (Read: gur vs sugar for diabetes.)
The 7-day diabetic diet chart, Indian meals only
Amounts are normal home amounts. Every lunch has one amla and one glass of chaas. Every dinner is early and light.
Day 1
Breakfast: moong dal cheela with green chutney
Lunch: 2 jau rotis, moong dal with garlic tadka, lauki sabzi, salad, amla, chaas
4 PM: roasted chana with chai (no sugar)
Early dinner: moong dal khichdi, 1 teaspoon ghee
Day 2
Breakfast: vegetable jau daliya (savoury)
Lunch: one small fist of old rice, full katori of moong dal, bhindi sabzi, salad, amla, chaas
4 PM: one apple
Early dinner: moong soup and one jowar roti
Day 3
Breakfast: jau-oats chilla with 1 teaspoon ground alsi
Lunch: 2 jau rotis, chana dal, palak sabzi, salad, amla, chaas
4 PM: a few almonds
Early dinner: vegetable jau daliya
Day 4
Breakfast: moong dal cheela with methi leaves
Lunch: 2 jowar rotis, arhar dal, parwal sabzi, salad, amla, chaas
4 PM: roasted chana
Early dinner: moong dal khichdi with lauki
Day 5
Breakfast: vegetable jau daliya
Lunch: one small fist of old rice, moong dal, mixed veg sabzi, salad, amla, chaas
4 PM: one orange
Early dinner: moong soup and one jau roti
Day 6
Breakfast: jau-oats chilla with alsi
Lunch: 2 jau rotis, kulthi (horse gram) dal, tinda sabzi, salad, amla, chaas
4 PM: roasted chana with chai (no sugar)
Early dinner: vegetable jau daliya
Day 7
Breakfast: moong dal cheela
Lunch: 2 jowar rotis, moong dal, bhindi sabzi, 1 teaspoon alsi chutney, salad, amla, chaas
4 PM: a few almonds
Early dinner: moong dal khichdi, 1 teaspoon ghee
Methi dana, if your doctor agrees: soak 1 teaspoon overnight. Eat the seeds with water before lunch. Studies used 5 grams a day or more. If you take sugar tablets, ask your doctor first, because methi can lower sugar too much. (Read: methi seeds for diabetes.)
Diabetic diet chart Indian: one-page view
Day | Breakfast | Lunch (+ amla + chaas) | 4 PM | Early dinner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Moong cheela | Jau roti, moong dal, lauki | Roasted chana | Moong khichdi |
2 | Jau daliya | Old rice, moong dal, bhindi | Apple | Moong soup + jowar roti |
3 | Jau-oats chilla | Jau roti, chana dal, palak | Almonds | Veg jau daliya |
4 | Methi moong cheela | Jowar roti, arhar dal, parwal | Roasted chana | Moong-lauki khichdi |
5 | Jau daliya | Old rice, moong dal, mixed veg | Orange | Moong soup + jau roti |
6 | Jau-oats chilla | Jau roti, kulthi dal, tinda | Roasted chana | Veg jau daliya |
7 | Moong cheela | Jowar roti, moong dal, bhindi, alsi chutney | Almonds | Moong khichdi |
Shopping list for this diabetic diet chart Indian plan (kirana items only)
- Grains: jau atta, jau daliya, jowar atta, oats, old (purana) rice, wheat atta
- Dals: moong (whole and split), chana dal, arhar, kulthi, roasted chana
- Vegetables: lauki, bhindi, parwal, palak, tinda, methi leaves, onion, tomato, cucumber, garlic, coriander
- Fruit: fresh amla, apple, orange
- Seeds and nuts: alsi, methi dana, almonds
- Fats and dairy: mustard oil, a small jar of ghee, chaas (or dahi to make chaas)
After 7 days: repeat this diabetic diet chart, Indian sabzi changing with the season. Check your sugar 1 to 2 hours after meals in the first week, so you can see what works for you. After 3 months, get your HbA1c (3-month sugar average) checked. (Read: HbA1c normal range.)
Following this diabetic diet chart? Add daily support too.
Ayuvya Diabo is made for people who want healthy sugar levels. See Diabo. Take it along with your doctor's medicine and this plan, not instead of it.
The full sugar series:
- Walking after meals for blood sugar
- Foods that increase blood sugar
- HbA1c normal range
- Methi seeds for diabetes
- Gur vs sugar for diabetes
- Diabetes and cholesterol
- Rice or roti for diabetes
- Late dinner and blood sugar
- Fruits for diabetes
This article is for general information only. It is not medical advice. If you have diabetes, take insulin or tablets, have a kidney problem, or are pregnant, ask your doctor or dietitian before changing your diet. Do not stop or change any medicine because of this article.
Sources
- Charaka Samhita, Chikitsa Sthana 6 (chapter on prameha), verses 4, 18-24, 36, 46-48, 50
- Charaka Samhita, Sutra Sthana 7: rules for dahi
- Chaas (takra) in Ashtanga Hridaya, Sutra Sthana 5/33-34, Wisdomlib
- Charaka Samhita, Sutra Sthana 13: rules for ghee
- International Tables of Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load Values, 2008 (Diabetes Care)
- US FDA, 21 CFR 101.81: barley beta-glucan and heart disease
- Dal (pulses) and cholesterol: review of trials. CMAJ, 2014
- Methi (fenugreek) and blood sugar: review of 10 trials. Nutrition Journal, 2014
- University of Otago: Short walks after meals in people with diabetes (Diabetologia, 2016)
- Endocrine Society: Late dinner raised blood sugar by 18% (J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 2020)
- South First: The diabetes plate method (American Diabetes Association; Dr V Mohan)
- NIDDK (US National Institutes of Health): diabetes doubles the risk of heart disease
- World Health Organization: Guideline on sugars intake (2015)
- Traditional food habits in Ayurveda (dinner before sunset; Sushruta on amla). Journal of Ethnic Foods, 2019
