INTRODUCTION:
This Article will be of immense help to people living with diabetes and those just diagnosed with diabetes as well as those people who are unaware of their status. It will ease your fears and teach you more about living with diabetes or caring for someone with diabetes as far as selecting the appropriate diet is concerned.
It is very simple to plan your diet once you are diagnosed with diabetes, once you understand the way the body breaks down food that you eat. Everything we eat is broken down into sugar sooner or later. Foods such as sweets, fruit that are sugary reach the bloodstream almost instantly, followed by the slower starches (carbohydrates), which takes up to about an hour or two to break down depending on how complex they are. Proteins come next, taking about four hours and finally the fats break down taking between six and eight hours. If strict attention is paid to diet and exercise, many diabetics can control their blood sugar while depending less on medicine.
A diet for diabetes is not so different from any good, healthy eating routine. The main goal for diabetic diet is for you to maintain a correct blood sugar level, and this can be achieved by a combination of three separate actions.
1. You should avoid foods that are high in sugar, as well as simple carbohydrates that the body will quickly convert to sugar.
2 . You should always use portion control to limit your intake of all foods while still providing proper nutrition.
3. You should eat many small meals a day rather than three large ones.
The diet I will recommend for people who have diabetes are foods high in dietary fiber, especially soluble fiber, but low in fat (especially saturated fat) and sugar, with a variety of fruit and vegetables. I want to encourage you to reduce carbohydrates intake that have a high glycemic index. However, in cases of hypoglycemia, you are advised to have food or drink that can raise blood glucose quickly, followed by a long-acting carbohydrate (such as rye bread) to prevent risk of further hypoglycemia.
A diet high in fibre-rich unrefined carbohydrate e.g whole meal bread, whole meal pasta, and whole meal cereals will provide us with a longer lasting feeling of fullness and a consequent decreased intake of high energy foods. This is due to the insoluble fibre swelling during digestion as it absorbs water, physically making us feel full, and the slow but continual release of energy into the body as these foods are broken down.
I will recommend a daily intake of fibre of 30 gms. You should be advised however, that children should not be encouraged to have too high a fibre intake, especially those under two years of age, as the high fibre foods replace those that provide energy for growth. High fibre intake especially soluble fibre, can help lower cholesterol levels.
Adopt a balanced diet including plenty of fruit and vegetables, whole grain products, low fat and fat free products (however take calories into account), unsaturated soft margarines and oils (such as sunflower, corn, olive), lean meat, fish and pulses.
In motivated people who are overweight and have type 2 diabetes, a low-carbohydrate diet with some caloric restriction has lasting benefits on body weight and blood sugar control. When an obese person with type 2 diabetes follows a low carbohydrate diet, there is always a significant achievement better than when the usual diet is followed. Low-carbohydrate results in "stable improvement" of body weight and glucose control
It is better to go for low - fat, low - sugar diet over fatty or sugary foods. It is also important to eat a variety of types of food so you get all the nutrients your body needs. Remember, the choice is yours, choose right.
Diabetic Diet Plan And Goal:
Diabetic diet plan differ from person to person due to our daily nutritional needs and the type of diabetes you have. The diets below are the most common type of diabetes diet:
· Type 1 Diabetes Diet - Type 1 diabetes always requires insulin treatment; your main spotlight here is to find a balance between the food you eat and insulin.
· Type 2 Diabetes Diet - In Type 2 diabetes, your main concern is on controlling your weight in order to improve your body's ability to utilize insulin. In most cases Type 2 diabetes can be controlled through suitable diet and exercise alone.
Gestational Diabetes Diet - unlike the two types above, this has to do with the pregnant mother focusing on the kind of diet that will enhance adequate energy and nutrients to support both her body and the growing baby while maintaining stable blood glucose levels.
If you or any of your loved ones is/are diabetic, healthy eating is not simply a matter of "what you eat", but also when you eat. The question of how long before a meal you should inject insulin also arises. The answer is that it depends upon the type of insulin you take and whether it is long, medium or quick-acting insulin (from your Doctor's prescription only) . If you check your blood glucose level at bedtime and find that it is low, it is advisable that you take some long-acting carbohydrate before retiring to bed to prevent night-time hypoglycemia.
Carbohydrates:
I stumbled upon an article summarizing the view of the American Diabetes Association containing the statement "Sucrose-containing foods can be substituted for other carbohydrates in the meal plan or, if added to the meal plan, covered with insulin or other glucose-lowering medications. Care should be taken to avoid excess energy intake." Sucrose does not increase glycemia more than the same number of calories taken as starch. Although it is not recommended to use fructose as a sweetener, fruit should not be avoided because of its fructose content. Benefits may be obtained by consumption of dietary fibre in conjunction with carbohydrate; carbohydrate consumed with dietary fibre will have a less major impact on glycemic rise than the same amount of carbohydrate consumed alone.
Some studies also show low carbohydrate diets may be effective in dietary management of type 2 diabetes.
Diabetes Diet and Food Guide:
For many diabetics, what you eat is not so much the issue as how much you eat and when you eat it, but there are always choices and picking healthier ones will make controlling diabetes that much easier.
1. Bread products are a huge source of carbohydrates in your diet. Choosing whole grain products whenever possible supplies your body with more complex carbs that take longer to break down, relieving your system of the need to deal with sudden influxes of sugar.
2. Pinach, carrots, broccoli, tomatoes, lettuce, cabbage and cucumbers are only a sampling of vegetables you can eat as a side dish or for a snack. Most contain carbohydrates as well as natural sugars, so watch your intake carefully. Combining them with protein at snack time or before exercise is a good idea.
3. Dairy products can be high in carbs as well, so try to limit yourself to one 8 oz serving at a time. Low-fat milk or unsweetened yogurt are good selections.
4. This can be meat or meat substitutes such as peanut butter, tofu, cheese and eggs
6. Fats are necessary; just choose wisely. Avocadoes are a wonderful topping, or make your own dressings to avoid trans-fats. Sweets are actually allowed for many diabetics if the portion is strictly controlled; a mini cupcake or two small cookies along with a balanced meal may be permitted if they cause no ill effects. Sugar free desserts are another option, but the extra carbs must be taken into account.
By learning which foods you tolerate best, and finding creative ways to include your favorites, you should be able to plan your meals around a wide variety of items. Learning to choose healthy options like whole grain bread and low-fat cottage cheese, and picking veggies for a snack rather than chips is not only good for diabetics, but for anyone seeking a healthier lifestyle.
Foods that you should avoid include:
fatty red meat,
organ meat,
highly processed food,
fried food,
fast food,
high cholesterol
Foods rich in saturated fat.
LAST NOTE:
Do not let your children get habituated to junk foods. Control them from eating junk foods at home and in school as a step that helps in a long term. Keeping good food nearby and having meals right on time may help. Controlling the temptation is not as hard as alcoholism can be. Develop awareness for good health and fitness. Not all fast foods are junk anyway. Our bodies have enough stamina to take care of occasional junk food eating, however beware the lure is strong enough to get you addicted. So, act wisely.
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