Diabetes and travelling? It's the trickiest situation

Just tell yourself that you will strictly, strictly follow the wheat-free, dairy-free and sugar-free diet even if you are travelling, weekend or on long holidays. Just as you prepare your luggage, just prepare your mind that you will try and do your maximum best to stick to your wonderful diet and yet have a wonderful holiday. Once you have made up your mind, you will find there is enough food to choose from. And if by chance there isn't, you will remember that every, every place you go to has abundance of natural foods in the form of fruits and vegetables that can be eaten raw. And yes, if you are too hungry and cannot do without food, do have whatever is available but in modest quantity and chew, chew and chew. Restrain from having Carbs or indulge in bare minimum carbs.

A couple of days back, I had to travel to Delhi to attend the National Right To Information (RTI)Convention, a prestigious annual affair. The added bonanza being that I was a part of the team that has come out with a coffee table book on common citizens using RTI, which was to be released on this occasion. Usually, I carry my Chilkewali moong dal dosa/bhakris/methi parathas (made out of Khapli (Emmer) wheat atta) but this time somehow could not manage that. So, I packed my 250 ml bottle with Rajgira (Amaranth) flakes and stuffed almonds, walnuts and just in case I feel hunger pangs/feel sugar levels dropping, I carried a few almond sweets made by my friend with bare minimum coating of chocolate. I put them all in my purse and off I went to the airport. We took the Air India flight and it was dinner time. I banked upon the non-veg meal - you generally get a small portion of dal and chicken and you can easily ignore the rice. Firstly, the air hostess seemed so lost while serving the passengers. She was running helter skelter every few minutes - I thought perhaps it is her first flight and sloppy orientation by Air India management. She seemed to be taking so much time over every row and I heaved a sigh of relief when she approached our row, as I was really very hungry. ``Please give non-veg,'' I said. She simply shook her head and gestured it is ``over.'' I protested. I said, ``what? Over? Please get me a complaint form.'' I refused the veg meal. I was wondering at the mismanagement as the flight was even full. After about 15 minutes, a crew member, came with the non-veg meal, stating that he has provided me the `crew' meal. I said `what about you or someone who won't be having it?'' he said, ``i shall have the veg meal,not to worry on that count.'' I was happy at this customer service and savoured the meal, slowly chewing on my food, Then comes the hot drink they serve you. Coffee or Tea? I settled for Black Coffee. My point here is, get your way to the meal that you are supposed to eat. Now comes the question if you are a vegetarian. You have no option but to opt for the Veg Meal. Leave out the rice/bread/buns that they serve you and eat the salad, dal, vegetable. Round it up by Black Coffee or Black Tea. Have your Almonds/walnuts for that protein and have fistfuls of Rajgira flakes for giving you a filled up feeling in your stomach. Dr Pramod Tripathi and Dr Biswaroop Chowdhury do not recommend non-vegetarian if you are having Diabetes. However, although I'm largely a vegetarian, I have found non-veg useful when touring or going for parties. In the non-veg, I've found Fish most easy to digest and chicken, hard to digest. However, if you have just one or two pieces of chicken and chew them properly, it is better than going wrong on your diet.

We were put up at the Maharashtra Sadan in Delhi, which has been beautifully renovated on the lines of Vishrambag Wada of Pune. So far, so fine. The next morning, I went to the canteen to have my breakfast. The waiter rattled out the menu - Poha, Upma, Misal-Pav, Bread-Omlette. What's the choice? i asked for Omlette without the bread and Misal without the pav. The omlette was well made and I was quite full with that. Thank God that in one sense, the Misal was so horribly made that it was a big insult to Maharashtrian cuisine. So, I left that. I followed it up by Black Coffee. For a vegetarian, Misal would have been the only choice and here he or she would have been disappointed. This is when one tends to compromise with the diet and I can really understand. So, you take a call in such a situation. Either equip yourself with packed food like bhakri/Chilkewali Dal ka Dosa/Methi parathas with Khapli wheat/ apples. Or if you have no choice but to eat whatever is available as you are hungry and have your official work to attend to, then have whatever is available in very modest quantity and don't forget to chew your food and then try and make up in the next meal by looking out for the right kind of food. Our lunch was at the DRDO auditorium in South Delhi where veg and non-veg was served. I picked the Tawa Vegetable which also had karela in it, dal, one piece of chicken with gravy. I also had two teaspoons of ice-cream to wash away the spicy food that troubled my mouth. Generally, having gravies are not recommended but I have experienced that Indian gravies also act as digestives due to the spices besides acting as natural laxatives. So, I never hesitate to have gravy-laden food once in a while. Remember, whether for Diabetes or weight loss, you need to enjoy your food.

The idea of this narration is to give you my first hand experience of how I go about on tours or holidays. The best part is we need not think this is a diet where you are denied the food that you have been used to since childhood. Today, most dietitians recommend wheat-free food, what they call as gluten-free. A living example is that of my daughter who went to reduce weight and the first thing she asked her to do was to stay off wheat for a few weeks. My friend went to her doctor as she is suffering constant body pain and the  Doctor recommended that she should not touch wheat for three weeks at least. So there you are - keep going with the wheat-free, milk-free, sugar-free diet as much as you can. 

(If you are going on a tour/holidays abroad, then assess the local cuisine there and eat accordingly, within the frame work of the wheat-free, sugar-free, dairy-free diet.)

So here are some suggestions for food that you can have while travelling:

1. Fruits and salads. Buy fruits like apple and papaya and vegetables like cucumber and salad wherever you go. If possible, carry your Nutri Blender/Nutri Bullet so that you can have your Green Smoothie (vegetables and fruit for it would be available in most places).

2. Try and find South Indian (Udipi) restaurants for having Medu Wadas (Wadas made out of udid dal) and Tomato Omlette (dosa made out of besan (chana dal flour).

3. In any restaurant, go in for clear soups, dal, vegetables like Garlic Palak or any other (without potatoes), fish or chicken tikkas/curries/ eggs.

4. Go in for drinks like coconut water and salted Lime water/soda.

5. Carry with you, almonds, walnuts, flax seed chutney/roasted flax seed. Also carry a couple of bhakris/methi parathas out of Khapli (Emmer) wheat atta. Let your innovation flow as you can carry stuff which is healthy and nutritious. You may also carry peanuts and chana.

6. If you have to buy in food malls along the expressway, opt for pakodas, banana chips, soya chips. If you halt at the famous Datta Snacks on Pune-Mumbai expressway, then only have `Kothimbir (Corriander) wadis. These are fried but they are made of besan and are very tasty. You can carry them to the car and continue eating. You can have misal without the bun but try and avoid as you tend to eat fast as you are in a hurry to go back to the car and that does not augur well for controlling your sugar levels.

7. Fasting would be good during travelling/holidaying whenever you can, by having coconut water, Green Smoothie, salted lime water/soda interspersed with few almonds/walnuts/peanuts/chana (Mahabaleshwar ones are the best).

So, as you can see, there's a lot to eat and drink. Do so with cheer and pride. Eat only when hungry. Drink only when thirsty. Chew your food while you eat. Digesting your food, is the most important aspect of beating Diabetes - for that matter, any lifestyle disease or for losing weight. When your food is digested, there are lesser chances of inflammation and indigestion in your digestive system. This is what I have found, after self-study and self-research.

Happy journey and Happy touring/holidays!