Eating Well With Diabetes on a Budget

Eating well with diabetes on a budget is easier than the marketing suggests, because the foods that help most are among the cheapest things in an Indian market.

India's dietary guidelines ask for 400 g of vegetables, 100 g of fruit, 85 g of pulses and 250 g of cereals a day. Nothing in that list is expensive, and none of it is imported.

What to spend on

• Whole pulses — chana and rajma cost a fraction of what protein powders do, and they measured the lowest glycaemic index of twelve Indian foods tested.
• Seasonal vegetables, whatever is cheapest that week. Variety matters less than quantity.
• Curd made at home rather than bought in cups.
• Eggs and peanuts, the two cheapest protein sources most kitchens have.
• Dalia and whole wheat in place of refined flour.

What not to spend on

• Anything branded "diabetic" — sugar-free biscuits and special atta are ordinary food at a premium.
• Imported grains and superfoods. Millets and dals do the same job.
• Supplements and churans that promise reversal. Nothing sold in a bottle reverses diabetes.

The money saved on the second list buys a great deal of the first.