Diabetic Diet

Make YOUR HEALTH a PRIORITY Diabetes Mellitus is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin to regulate the amount of glucose or sugar in the blood. It starts out as a dysfunction in pancreas, but ends up wrecking eyes , feet and heart, causing great disabilities. Diabetic Diet Diabetic Diet for diabetics is simply a balanced healthy diet which is vital for diabetic treatment, however, a lot of people have the misconception that these diet consist only diabetic foods.  The regulation of blood sugar in the non-diabetic is automatic, adjusting to whatever foods are eaten. But, for the diabetic, extra caution is needed to balance food intake with exercise, insulin injections and any other glucose altering activity. This helps diabetic patient to maintain the desirable weight and control their glucose level in their blood. It also helps to prevent diabetes patient from heart and blood vessel related diseases. Research shows that regardless of the makeup of the diet, eating just enough calories to maintain an ideal weight is the most effective dietary strategy to prevent the onset of diabetic. Recommendations of diabetic diet  differ for person to person, based on their nutritional needs, lifestyle, and the action and timing of medications. For example, diet for Type 1 diabetic,   focus mostly on matching food intake to insulin whereby one needs to know when insulin peaks and how fast the body metabolize different type of foods. In Type 2 diabetic the concern may be more oriented to weight loss in order to improve the body's ability to utilize the insulin it does produce. Thus, learning about the basic of food nutrition will be able to help in adjusting diet to suite the particular condition. Diabetes Guidelines Whether it is Type I, Type II diabetes or Gestational diabetes, the goals of achieving control of blood glucose levels are similar: to keep blood glucose as near as possible to that of a person without diabetes. The following table show the desirable blood sugar level supply by The American Diabetes Association Blood Glucose Goals - Desirable Blood Sugar Levels Time of Test    Person without diabetes     Person with diabetesBefore meals           Less than 115 mg/dl                80 to 120 mg/dl  __________________________________________________________Before bedtime        Less than 120 mg/dl               100 to 140 mg/dl Recommended daily food portion:           Daily calories count :    carbohydrates       - 50% to 60%                                             protein                  - 12% to 20%                                             fat                        - not more than 30% Spacing meal throughout the day, help a person avoid extremely high or low blood glucose levels. Diet undertaken with the supervision of a doctor. In take of food which help lower blood cholesterol. Use Exchange lists in planning diabetic diet. Diabetic Food List A Registered Dietitian assesses the nutritional needs of a person with diabetes and calculates the amounts of carbohydrate, fat, protein, and total calories needed per day. He will then convert this information into recommending the list of food a diabetic can eat in the daily diet. Recommended daily food portion: Daily calories count :    carbohydrates     -  50% to 60%                                                               protein                 - 12% to 20%                                                                fat            - not more than 30% (with no more than 10 percent                                                                                  from saturated fats) Recommended Diabetic Food Intake: Low Glycemic Index - doesn't create rapid peaks and troughs in blood glucose levels. Complex high-fiber carbohydrates - Scientific evidence show that diet high in dietary fiber is protective against diabetes. Fiber is capable of slowing down the digestion and absorption of carbohydrate and increasing the sensitivity of tissues to insulin, thereby preventing rise s in blood sugar. It is advisable to restrict the intake of refined carbohydrates and avoid high fat foods.       Example  : Oats, cereals, legumes, wholegrain products, dried beans, peas, lentils, fruits, vegetables. Alpha-lipoic acid - Is a vitamin like antioxidant that enhances the glucose uptake and improves diabetes nerves damage of diabetes patient. Omega 3 - Protect against the hardening of arteries.             Example : Cold water fish like salmon, tuna, mackerel, herring). Omega 6  fatty acid - Protect against the development of diabetes neuropathy.             Example : Blackcurrant oil, primrose oil, borage oil). Artificial sweeteners - such as aspartame and saccharin. Restricted and to avoid : Refined and simple carbohydrates - such as sucrose, glucose or fructose, white rice, white bread, table sugar, sweets, honey, corn-syrup. High fat food. Alcohol - Higher quantities alcohol can cause health problems like liver damage and increase the risk of heart disease. High sodium food - such as salty fish.