The use of type 2 diabetes medications still cannot fully compensate for the effect of malnutrition on blood sugar levels.Proper nutrition is an essential part of effective type 2 diabetes management and will help you reach your blood sugar goals.
Nutritional approaches for people with type 2 diabetes who are or are not obese, arterial hypertension, etc. will vary somewhat.
The vast majority of obese people with type 2 diabetes. Being overweight prevents its own insulin from working effectively, which is why blood sugar levels remain high.Therefore, weight loss is an indispensable condition for rational treatment!Even moderate weight loss (by 5-10%) improves carbohydrate metabolism, especially in the early period of the disease.
How to achieve weight loss?
It should be noted right away that there are no specific products or medicinal plants for weight loss. At the moment, there is no medication that by itself, without dieting, could provide highly effective and completely safe weight loss.
Energy carriers in food are its three components:proteins, fats and carbohydrates. The most low-calorie of them are fats, they contain 9 kcal per1 gram; in proteins and carbohydrates - 4 kcal per1 gram.
The most effective way to reduce the calorie content of a diet is to reduce its fat content. This is not only safe, but also useful for a modern person, since our diet is unfortunately oversaturated with fat. Compared to fats, the caloric content of proteins and carbohydrates can be considered moderate, but to achieve a good effect in weight loss, they still need to be slightly limited.
There are a number of products that should not be restricted when you want to lose weight. On the contrary, it is these products that can compensate for the above limitations and replenish the reduced amount of food. This group of foods is mainly represented by vegetables, which are poor in nutrients but rich in water, as wellvegetable fiberswhich is not digested. Vegetable fibers bring many benefits to the body: they improve intestinal function, help with the absorption of vitamins, have a beneficial effect on fat metabolism, etc.
There are three groups of products which, in order to reduce weight, must be consumed in different ways.Looking at these groups, you will definitely have an association with a traffic light.
Maximum limit
High-calorie foods: rich in fat, alcohol, sugar and confectionery
Examples:any oil, lard, sour cream, mayonnaise; cream, fat cottage cheese and cheese; fatty fish, poultry skin, canned meat; fish and vegetables in oil; fatty meat, smoked meat, sausages; sugar, sweet drinks, honey, jam, jam, sweets, cakes, cookies, chocolate, ice cream, nuts, seeds, alcoholic drinks.
Moderately restricted (eat half of the previous usual portion)
Use without restriction
Is it possible to maintain a low-calorie diet without counting calories?
This is very possible if guided by the principles of product selection outlined above. Moreover, experts have long recognized that it is not the number of calories that a person should consume (it is quite difficult to specify it exactly for each person), but the one that a person actually reduced his diet that is important!
An indicator of the correct adherence to the principles of low-calorie nutrition will be the achievement of the result: weight loss! If the weight does not decrease, it indicates that it has not yet been possible to significantly reduce the caloric content of the diet.
How do different carbohydrates affect blood sugar levels?
Carbohydrates are the only nutrients that directly raise blood sugar, but that's no reason to limit them drastically.
Carbohydrates in the diet of any person, including a person with diabetes, should be enough (at least 50% of total calories), as they are a source of energy for the body. Also, different carbohydrates have different effects on blood sugar levels.
There issimplecarbohydrates (they are called sugars), which are very easily digested because they consist of small molecules and are quickly absorbed in the digestive tract (after 10 minutes). They immediately and very strongly increase the level of glucose in the blood. It is from these carbohydrates that sugar, honey is made, many of them are found in fruit juices (they are also found in natural fruit, but due to the presence of fiber the absorption of carbohydrates is not so fast), beer. Such carbohydrates are also found in liquid dairy products, but due to the fat content, carbohydrates are not absorbed as quickly.
Another type of carbohydratecomplex(starches), they also raise blood sugar levels, just not as quickly and not as much as simple carbohydrates. Representatives of such products: bread, cereals, pasta, potatoes, corn. The starch molecule is large, and to assimilate it, the body has to work hard. Therefore, the glucose formed as a result of the breakdown of starch is absorbed more slowly (after about 30 minutes), increasing its level in the blood to a lesser extent.
Culinary processing of starchy foods (any shaping, prolonged thermal exposure) contributes to the increase in blood sugar levels. This means that a sharp increase in blood sugar when eating starch can be prevented by using certain methods of processing and cooking. For example, it is more correct to cook potatoes not in the form of mashed potatoes, but to cook them whole in their skins so that they remain dense. It is also better not to cook porridge for too long. It is preferable to prepare them from large unbroken grains (buckwheat, rice).
Enriching food with plant fiber prevents an increase in blood sugar levels. Therefore, it is better to buy grain or bran bread, and not from fine flour. Fruit and berries should be consumed in their natural form, not in the form of juice.
There are such types of carbohydrate products –"available", after which the level of glucose in the blood does not rise or rises slightly. These products include almost all types of vegetables in normal amounts (except potatoes). For example cabbage, lettuce, parsley, dill, radish, turnips, zucchini, aubergine, pumpkin, pepper, etc. Among the products in this group, the largest amount of carbohydrates is found in beetroot and carrots, but the increase in blood sugar after them is not very great. Therefore, if you eat them in moderation (as a side dish, no more than 200 g), they can also be ignored.
Should I be counting carbs?
A person with type 2 diabetes who is on oral antidiabetic drugs or who is just on a diet does not need to accurately calculate the amount of carbohydrates in the food. Many people with diabetes have heard of the so-called bread units. A system with such a calculation exists for those who receive insulin. It allows you to correlate the amount of carbohydrates consumed with the doses of short-acting insulin that these people with diabetes inject before meals.
Special "diabetic" products
Sweeteners can make food taste sweeter without raising blood sugar levels or making you gain weight. But in this case we are only talking about non-caloric sugar substitutes. These include aspartame, saccharin, cyclamate, acesulfame potassium, sucralose, stevioside. They do not affect blood sugar levels and weight at all. But most "diabetic" foods (cookies, chocolate, waffles) instead of sugar contain sorbitol, xylitol or fructose, which are almost as high in calories as sugar. Therefore, if you are overweight, they must be limited as much as possible, just like ordinary sweets.
Fractionated diet
Fractional mode means several meals during the day (5-6 times, but still no more often than after 2. 5-3 hours) in small portions. This is helpful because hunger can occur when following a low-calorie diet. Eating more often will help reduce it. In addition, a small portion of food contains few carbohydrates, and this will facilitate the work of the pancreas.
Alcohol
Due to the high calorie content (7 kcal per 1 g), alcohol can contribute to weight gain. In addition, it directly worsens the indicators of fat metabolism and blood pressure. So limit your alcohol intake as much as possible.
Alcohol is known to have negative effects on the liver. It can cause hypoglycemia if a person with diabetes is on glucose-lowering medications and insulin. Never drink alcohol on an empty stomach!