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Niharikka Budhwani

Dietician, Lifestyle, Nutrition Expert

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Niharikka Budhwani is a registered dietician and the co-founder of Health Hatch, a wellness company.
She specialises in lifestyle management and has been guiding individuals of all ages about lifestyle-related health disorders including diabetes and obesity.
She is the author of Defeat Diabetes, a guide for diabetics in India, and Winning Over PCOS.
Niharikka has also contributed to publications like the Indian Breakfast Guide and SugarPedia and has shared case studies in the Indian Diabetes Educator Journal.
During the pandemic, she collaborated with the government of Odisha to design COVID-19 nutrition plans.
She has also volunteered as a dietician at the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon and supported the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai’s (MCGM) HALT Diabetes initiative. She has also created healthy, easy-to-make recipes that have been featured in the MCGM’s Your Family Guide To Healthy Eating And Living.
Niharrika holds a bachelor's degree in food nutrition and dietetics, a post-graduate degree in clinical nutrition with a specialisation in diabetes and cardiac care from SVT College, Mumbai, and an MD in alternative medicine and medical systems from the Indian Board of Alternative Medicine.... more

Answered on Nov 28, 2024

Asked by Anonymous - Nov 28, 2024Hindi

Can Bitter Gourd and Clutter Beans Help My Diabetic Mother?

Ans: Both bitter gourd and cluster beans are well-researched for their blood glucose-lowering properties, making them excellent additions to a diabetes-friendly diet. However, how you prepare them significantly impacts their nutritional value.

For instance, frying these vegetables or adding excessive salt, jaggery, or oil can strip away their health benefits and may even increase bad cholesterol or blood pressure, doing more harm than good.

To maximize the benefits:
Include bitter gourd and cluster beans 2-3 times a week in their simplest form—lightly cooked as a regular vegetable dish.

Also, always remember one food/ingredient will not positively impact her overall blood glucose levels. It's her overall diet (which should be low in glycemic load), stress, sleep routine and exercise which impacts her glucose reading. Make sure everything is well managed.

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Answered on Nov 28, 2024

Asked by Anonymous - Nov 28, 2024Hindi

Should I Avoid Rice with High Diabetes?

Ans: If you have uncontrolled blood sugar levels, you need to work on managing overall glycemic load of the meal. You can eat rice but here are a few tips to incorporate:

1. Cook rice a day prior. Refrigerate it for 8-12 hours and reheat it microwave the next day. Resistant starch is formed by overnight refrigeration of rice which doesn't allow blood sugar levels to spike.
2. Add a tea spoon of ghee/coconut oil to this rice. This will further slower down absorption of glucose and help you manage post prandial blood sugar levels
3. Eat in a balanced way to lower the overall glycemic load of the meal. Which means along with one serving of rice include 1 serving protein (dal/non veg), vegetable, and salad. This will also help you manage post prandial blood sugar levels.

Along with this, please try to find out the root cause (diet & lifestyle habits) for your uncontrolled blood sugar levels and work on that to see better results.

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