Diabetes is a type of metabolic disease in which blood glucose level or blood sugar is too high. Our blood sugar is the main source of energy and comes from the food we eat. Hence, diet is important in maintaining the blood sugar in the body. Type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes are the two forms of diabetes. In type 1 diabetes, insulin is not produced in any amount and is more common in children, and type 2 diabetes is less harmful as the pancreas produces some amount of insulin.
How To Plan Your Diet To Control Diabetes?
Contents
Insulin is a type of hormone secreted by the pancreas and its production is important as it helps glucose obtained from the food to get utilized by the cells of the body. Symptoms of diabetes are fatigue, urination, hunger, thirst, blurred vision, and extreme weight loss. Thus, with a proper and strict diet chart, diabetes can be controlled.
Methods To Plan Your Diet To Control Diabetes
- Plate Method
This method includes a 9-inch dinner plate which will have all the required nutritional values as taking the right nutritional food is important for a diabetic person. According to the CDC, a full plate including all nutritions is having 25% high-fiber carbohydrates like legumes, 25% lean proteins like lentils, fish, and turkey, and 50% non-starchy vegetables. Although, if a person needs higher content of carbs can include fresh fruits and a glass of 1% milk.
Oils that are healthy and have low amounts of carbs can be used to make food or to add flavors but in moderate quantities. People can use monounsaturated fats like olive oils and avocado oil or sesame seeds which come under polyunsaturated fats.
Avoid eating saturated fats like animal fats, coconut oil, and dairy products as it increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and high cholesterol.
- Carbs Control
According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, carbohydrate consumption is important to control diabetes. Carbohydrate intake depends upon the individual and it is not the same for everyone. You have to recommend to your doctor for the carbohydrate intake in a day. Eating high carbs food can increase the blood sugar level and also does not give a nutritional benefit.
- Glycemic Index
The Glycemic index ranks food in the order in which they increase blood glucose levels.
High glycemic index foods increase blood sugar levels including processed foods and sugars. On the other hand, low glycemic index foods are high in fiber content and not easily processed by the body.
Following are the foods which are rich in carbohydrates and GI scores:
- High GI foods: This range of foods has a score of 70 and above and includes candies, russet potatoes, white bread, melon.
- Medium GI foods: This range of foods has a score of 56-69 and generally includes brown rice, whole-wheat pita bread, quick oats.
- Low GI foods: This range of foods has a score of 55 or less and includes whole-wheat bread, sweet potato, whole oats, and most fruits.
- Managing weight
People with diabetes tend to lose weight or gain weight. Thus, weight is an important factor in controlling diabetes. Keeping count of your calories is necessary as it helps in maintaining weight. Total calorie intake depends on an individual and also on various factors like:
- Height
- Gender
- Budget
- Preferences
- Insulin use
- Blood sugar levels
There are many diet plans which mainly focus on fruits, whole grains, nuts, vegetables, seeds, poultry products like chicken, fish, and other foods having low-fat content. These foods don’t require adding salts, sugars, red meat, unhealthy fats, and processed carbs to the people’s diet. This type of diet is called the DASH diet and helps in improving blood pressure levels and also helps in maintaining weight.
Planning your meal while considering all the other factors like budget, calorie intake, medications, and schedule can be difficult. Thus, people with diabetes have to plan their diet according to their needs and what their doctor recommends. Diabetic people should take the doctor’s advice before planning a diet meal so that in the future, they won’t face any problems. As many people are allergic to some foods and if they don’t know about the content of the food, then it will affect their health. Thus, in diabetes having proper food with all the necessary nutritional food is important and prevents other risks associated with diabetes like neuropathy, heart diseases, retinopathy, depression, dementia, and others.
You can also refer to – Does Diabetes Affect Eye Vision? Common Problems!
Amanda Wingfield is a certified Diabetes Management Specialist who also holds an MD in Endocrinology, with certifications from ABIM and AACE. She has a decade of experience serving thousands of patients through her independent practice and has been working in the capacity of an expert diabetes consultant for the past 4 years. Ms. Wingfield is revered by her regular readers for her in-depth research and evidence-based analysis of diabetes medications, supplements, and treatments, and her highly critical style of writing.