Festival Food and Diabetes

Festival food and diabetes is a season-long question in India, not a one-day one — and the answer is rarely abstinence, because abstinence tends to fail somewhere around the third invitation.

Two different things happen during festivals, and they need different handling.

The sweets

India's dietary guidance sets a target of under 5% of total calories from added sugar. A festival week will exceed that; the aim is to keep it to a week rather than a month. In practice: decide the number of pieces before the plate arrives, eat them after a meal rather than instead of one, and give away the boxes that come to the house — they are the real risk, not the one laddoo you actually wanted.

The fasting

Vrat is the part that gets underestimated. If you take insulin or a sulfonylurea, going without food raises your risk of a low, and that is a medical question rather than a matter of willpower. Talk to your doctor before Navratri or Karva Chauth rather than after, and check your sugar more often on fasting days.

The other trap is what people break a fast with — sabudana, potato and fried food, eaten quickly on an empty stomach.

We have written separately on fasting for festivals and vrat.