Nagpur: Accepting that your body is overweight which needs a course correction by controlling diet and doing away with tempting food is the first step to check diabetes, a silent killer, said Dr JV Dixit, a professor at the preventive social medicine department of Government Medical College and Hospital, on Sunday.Diabetes is spreading its tentacles in India like an epidemic due to which people have to be extremely careful about their lifestyle and eating habits, Dixit said at an informative session organized by Effortless Weigh-loss Group (EWL) and Saptak at Persistent Systems Auditorium, IT Park. The event was aimed at creating awareness about the disease and was part of diabetes-free India movement.Giving information about a diet plan that is helpful in effective weight loss programme and prevention of diabetes, Dixit said that this regime is not for the individuals who are below 18 years of age and the people already suffering from the disease.Under this diet plan, one is supposed to take only two meals a day when hunger is felt the most. The meal should be high in proteins and low in carbohydrates. Food rich in carbohydrate is responsible for insulin secretion in large quantities. Protein-rich meal causes less insulin secretion, Dixit said.Therefore, one should try to not eat anything between two meals and drink water instead. Drinks like buttermilk, coconut water and green tea should be consumed as they do not cause insulin secretion, he said.Dixit spoke about the ‘carboinsulin connection’ theory as discussed by the late Dr Shrikant Jichkar who floated the idea of taking meals twice a day for prevention of diabetes. He also conducted a research on 446 participants out of whom 428 completed a six-month follow up. The results suggested the average weight loss of 6.8kg in six months. The logic behind the success of this diet plan was that more insulin requirement level increased the chances of diabetes, Dixit said.He emphasized that this diet plan does not cause loss of stamina. Poor diet is the cause of many health hazards such as hypertension, diabetes and even cancer, he added.The professor also spoke on the campaign under which 98 WhatsApp groups have been formed and about 62 leaders are working to make India free from diabetes.(Reporting by Akshay Sharma)

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