The use of any medications for type 2 diabetes still cannot fully compensate for the impact of malnutrition on blood sugar levels.Eating right is an essential part of effectively managing type 2 diabetes and will help you reach your blood sugar goals.
Nutritional approaches for people with type 2 diabetes who have or do not have excess weight, arterial hypertension, etc. , will vary somewhat.
The majority of overweight people have type 2 diabetes. Being overweight prevents your own insulin from working effectively, so blood sugar levels remain high.Therefore, weight loss is a mandatory 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. Currently, there are no drugs that alone, without a diet, could provide highly effective and completely safe weight loss.
The only reliable way is to limit the energy intake in the body.(it is indicated in calories), i. e. compliance with the ruleslow calorie food. The resulting energy deficit leads to the fact that the energy reserves "stored" in adipose tissue will be spent on various needs of the body and the weight will definitely decrease.
The energy carriers in food are its three components:proteins, fats and carbohydrates. The most caloric of them are fats, they contain 9 kcal per 1 gram; in proteins and carbohydrates - 4 kcal per 1 gram.
The most effective way to reduce the calorie content of the diet is to reduce the fat content in it. This is not only safe, but also useful for modern man, since our diet, unfortunately, is saturated with fat. Compared to fat, the caloric content of proteins and carbohydrates can be considered moderate, but in order to achieve a good effect on weight loss, they should still be slightly limited.
There are a number of products that should not be limited when losing weight. On the contrary, it is precisely these products that can compensate for the above restrictions and replenish the reduced amount of food. This food group is mainly represented by vegetables, which are poor in nutrients but rich in water, as well asplant fiberswhich are not digested. Vegetable fibers bring many benefits to the body: they improve the work of the intestines, help the absorption of vitamins, have a beneficial effect on fat metabolism, etc.
There are three groups of products that, in order to lose 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 butter, lard, sour cream, mayonnaise; cream, fatty cottage cheese and cheese; fatty fish, poultry skin, canned meat; fish and vegetables in oil; fatty meat, smoked meats, sausages; sugar, sweet drinks, honey, sweets, jams, pastries, cakes, biscuits, chocolate, ice cream, nuts, seeds, alcoholic beverages.
Moderate restriction (eat half of previous usual portion)
Medium-calorie products: proteins, starch, dairy products, fruits and berries.
Examples:milk and sour-milk products with normal fat content or low fat / skim, cheeses less than 30% fat, cottage cheese less than 4% fat, eggs, lean meat, fish, pasta, bread and leanbaked goods, cereals; fruits, potatoes, corn, ripe peas and beans.
Use without restriction
Low-calorie foods: vegetables (except potatoes, corn, ripe peas and beans) and low-calorie drinks.
Examples:radishes, radishes, beets, carrots, mushrooms, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, eggplant, bean pods, young green peas, lettuce, greens, spinach, sorrel, any cabbage; tea, coffee without sugar and cream, mineral water.
Is it possible to maintain a low-calorie diet without counting calories?
This is quite possible if you are guided by the principles of product selection described above. In addition, experts have long understood that it is not the number of calories that one should take in that is important (it is quite difficult to specify exactly for each person), but what one actually reduces in one's diet!
An indicator of the correct observance of the principles of low-calorie nutrition will be the achievement of the result: weight loss! If the weight does not decrease, it means that it is not yet possible to significantly reduce the calorie 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 drastically limit them.
Carbohydrates in the diet of every person, including a person with diabetes, should be sufficient (at least 50% of total calories), since they are a source of energy for the body. Also, different carbohydrates have different effects on blood sugar levels.
There isjustcarbohydrates (they are called sugars), which are very easily digested, since 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, many of them are found in fruit juices (there are also natural fruits, 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, the carbohydrates are not digested as quickly.
Another type of carbohydratecomplex(starches), they also raise blood sugar levels, but 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 the body has to work hard to digest it. Therefore, the glucose formed as a result of the breakdown of starch is absorbed more slowly (after about 30 minutes), which increases its level in the blood to a lesser extent.
Culinary processing of starchy foods (any grinding, prolonged thermal exposure) contributes to an increase in blood sugar levels. This means that a strong increase in blood glucose when consuming starch can be prevented by using certain processing and cooking methods. For example, it is more correct to cook potatoes not in the form of mashed potatoes, but to boil them whole in the skin so that they remain thick. 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 vegetable fiber prevents blood sugar levels from rising. That is why it is better to buy bread made from grain or bran, rather than from fine flour. Fruits and berries should be consumed in their natural form, not in the form of juices.
There are such types of carbohydrate products -"Free", after which the blood glucose level does not rise or rises slightly. These products include almost all types of vegetables in normal amounts (except potatoes). For example, cabbage, lettuce, parsley, fennel, radishes, turnips, zucchini, eggplant, pumpkin, pepper, etc. Among the products of this group, the largest amount of carbohydrates is found in beets and carrots, but the increase in blood sugar after them is not very great. Therefore, if you eat them moderately (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 medications or who is simply on a diet does not need to accurately calculate the amount of carbohydrates in food. Many people with diabetes have heard of the so-called bread units. A system for such a calculation exists for those receiving insulin. This allows you to relate the amount of carbohydrates consumed to the doses of short-acting insulin that these diabetics inject themselves before meals.
Special "diabetic" products
Sweeteners can make food sweeter without raising blood sugar levels or causing weight gain. But in this case we are talking only 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. However, most "diabetic" foods (biscuits, chocolate, waffles) contain sorbitol, xylitol or fructose instead of sugar, which are almost as caloric as sugar. Therefore, with overweight, they should be as limited as possible, like ordinary sweets.
Fractional diet
Fractional mode means multiple meals during the day (5-6 times, but not more often than 2. 5-3 hours) in small portions. This is useful, as 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 its high calorie content (7 kcal per 1 g), alcohol can contribute to weight gain. In addition, it directly worsens indicators of fat metabolism and blood pressure. So limit your alcohol intake as much as possible.
Alcohol is known to have an adverse effect on the liver. It can cause hypoglycemia if a person with diabetes is on glucose-lowering drugs and insulin. Never drink alcohol on an empty stomach!