Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common diseases in the world. Despite all its complexity, there are methods that can greatly facilitate a person's life. First of all, you need to follow a certain diet.
If you stick to a properly prescribed diet, diabetes will not affect your general well-being in any way, and in addition, the likelihood of various types of complications, including heart attacks, strokes, etc. , decreases.
Types of diet
The diet for diabetes is determined depending on the nature of the disease itself and the age category. So there are general principles for building proper nutrition, which are adjusted based on the individual indicators of the human body.
Since it is impossible to cure the disease, a specific menu is assigned to reduce the danger from it. Eating the right food at a clearly specified time is essential for:
- reduce the risk of chronic and acute complications
- maintains good health and a relatively strong immunity,
- prevent or lose weight,
- keep blood sugar levels within acceptable limits.
There are two types of diabetes. In other words, the first is called insulin dependent. Its development is associated with damage and death of cells in the pancreas and is responsible for the production of insulin.
With it, nutrition is aimed at maintaining the process of insulin treatment and is rather an additional method of controlling the disease. Its principles are similar to those that healthy people follow to achieve a good figure and well-being.
The biggest difference is the need to calculate the amount of carbohydrates. Since the treatment of type 1 diabetes consists of taking insulin, you need to monitor what percentage of the daily diet is given for carbohydrates. As a rule, it should not be more than 60%.
Since type 2 diabetes, it is also insulin dependent, develops in obese people, and therefore the diet is in the first place. In the initial stage of the disease or mild, the point is to rationally get rid of obesity.
When diabetes of this type reaches a moderate or even severe form, then in addition to diet, medication is prescribed to lower blood sugar or insulin. It is worth noting that in such cases you also need to pay special attention to physical activity. Thanks to them, such a problem as obesity can be solved without surgery.
The most popular diets are the so-called 8 and 9 tables. The eighth diet table is for those who are overweight or tend to be overweight. The ninth is taken as the basis for determining the diet of diabetics.
Diet number 9 for diabetes
Diet No. 9 is considered curative and is prescribed to normalize metabolism (carbohydrates). It also aims to prevent disorders associated with fat metabolism. Its calorie content must not exceed 2500 kcal.
Such a diet is characterized as follows:
- the calorie content should be reduced by eating animal fats and carbohydrates that are easily digestible (except sweets and sugar),
- partial restriction or complete elimination of cholesterol and salt,
- consumes more vitamins and fiber,
- the protein content must be within the normal range.
All healthy eating habits, including the ninth, are based on proper food intake. You need to eat often and in small portions. In total, the frequency should be 5 or 6 times a day.
Fried or stewed food should be eaten as little as possible or completely forgotten. Initially, it must be baked and boiled. It is best to design a menu for the week as it will make it easier to keep track of it. Particular preference should be given to the following products:
- lean meat
- lean fish
- vegetables that do not contain more than 5% carbohydrates
- fruit (not all),
- natural drinks without sugar.
As for spices and eggs, their consumption should be limited. This is especially true for egg yolks. The amount of protein per day should not exceed 1, 5 pieces. In addition to the need to exclude sweets from the menu for diabetes, pasta, pasta and puff pastry, pickled vegetables are also prohibited.
Bananas, dates, figs, grapes and all its derivatives should not be consumed categorically. The same goes for fats like pork, lamb and beef. To get the necessary fats, eat butter (without salt) and vegetable oil in moderation.
Diet number 9 is the basis used in the appointment of the necessary nutrition. Depending on the personal indicators of the person with diabetes, it is adjusted. There are different diets you can combine and find the one that suits you.
What is a bread unit?
Since the point of proper nutrition for diabetics is to consume carbohydrates in a certain amount, then you should know how the valued norm is determined, which depends on how much and what foods you should eat.
All products that include carbohydrates have different physical properties and calories. These properties are not subject to the usual measurement method. In addition, nutrition for diabetes mellitus requires increased control over their own daily intake.
To make it easier to decide how much to eat this or that product and not go beyond what is allowed, nutritionists have introduced the term "bread unit". The concept is used in cases where a diabetic is prescribed insulin intake.
With such a measured device, it is much easier for a person to understand what can be eaten and drunk and what not. He prepares his healthy menu based on personal indicators and can also change some foods for others that contain carbohydrates.
As a rule, a person should consume from 18 to 25 such units per day. Since there must be five meals, it makes sense to distribute this amount rationally at all times. The main "dose" should enter the body in the first half of the day. To keep track of the number of breads consumed, you can write yourself a menu a day.
How many calories a day should be consumed?
Diabetes mellitus diet requires rejection of many foods and dishes that may have previously been included in the daily diet. However, you should not confuse food that allows you to normalize your sugar level with what is needed to lose those extra pounds.
Nutrition for type 1 diabetes is aimed precisely at correctly calculating how much insulin is needed. Calorie content in this case does not play such an important role. It must be monitored so as not to gain weight.
Diet of type 2 diabetes requires an increased control of calorie intake, as it often develops in overweight. However, it is also not worth bringing their count to fanaticism.
The number of calories per day is calculated depending on the body's individual indicators. The diet itself should be low in carbohydrates, but it does not imply a complete lack of carbohydrates. You need to eat your fill, but it is important not to overeat.
When the question arises as to what you can eat with type 2 diabetes, many believe that you should almost sit on breadcrumbs and water. This is absolutely impossible. Foods must be complete, containing vitamins and fiber.
There are various recipes for delicious, satisfying and at the same time healthy dishes that do not allow you to recover, but at the same time a person will be full of strength and energy. What specific foods to consume and what the approximate number of calories are allowed per day should be discussed with your doctor.
Healthy and unhealthy food
Low carb diets are different. For a healthy person, they are less severe than for a person who has been diagnosed with diabetes. But they have the same meaning. They differ in the main list of products that are divided into healthy and harmful for diabetics.
Useful
- all kinds of vegetables,
- green (spinach, sorrel, dill),
- mushrooms,
- meat and fish (lean),
- Coffee and tea,
- mineral water.
Harmful
Moderately rising sugar:
- potato,
- cereal,
- pasta, including hard varieties,
- dairy products.
Highly rising sugar:
- sweets,
- honey,
- beverages with added sugar,
- alcohol,
- grapes and its derivatives,
- hot and salty spices.
This division of products is generally accepted and is often taken as a basis for developing menus for diabetes mellitus. But what is good for one person may turn out to be bad for another. Since everything is relative, an individual diet is prepared for each diabetic.
How to eat for obesity
It is believed that in order to lose weight, you must adhere to a strict low calorie diet. But the point is, it does not work. Numerous studies have shown that with a decrease in the calorie content of your diet, apart from a constant feeling of hunger, up to hungry fainting, nervousness and other things, nothing else happens.
With such a diet it will be possible to lose weight literally with a few kilos, but if the body at the same time was characterized by elasticity and good muscles, then that is all that leaves it in the first place. Subcutaneous fat will not go anywhere, and sometimes, on the contrary, it will accumulate even more.
A protein diet involves an active intake of proteins and a parallel reduction in the amount of fat and carbohydrates. The approach itself is not bad, but it also has its own nuances. Again, it is impossible to overdo it with protein and it is completely forbidden to exclude fat from the diet. Lack of carbohydrates will lead to loss of vital energy.
In the end, it all comes down to a low carb diet again. In itself, it is necessary to lower sugar. By losing weight, she is not exactly a lifesaver, but of all that presented, she is the best. Its merit is that all the necessary elements necessary to maintain vital activity enter the body.
Thus, when there is a rational amount of natural fats, proteins and carbohydrates, the body does not need to make deposits. Metabolism begins to function as a clock, there is no chronic hunger, the symptoms of the disease virtually disappear and the person becomes more active.
Diet for type 1 diabetes
To maintain a healthy body with type 1 diabetes, the same low-carb diet is necessary. But in this case, it must be strict. The table number does not play a special role here, although diet number 9 is often used as a basis.
The problem is that even the effect of insulin is very different, therefore it is quite difficult to normalize the indicators. Therefore, it is necessary to adhere to a certain diet. The less carbohydrates that enter the body, the less insulin is needed.
It should be understood that your own diet is associated with your personal insulin dose. Therefore, when developing your menu, take into account the amount of the drug. It is better to plan this during the day to make it easier to follow.
Diet for type 2 diabetes
Since type 2 diabetes is less complex than type 1 diabetes, diet is important to lose weight and prevent it in the future. Again, a low carb diet is also recommended. Of course, this is an approximate diet that is adjustable. Its importance is in the normalization of glucose and insulin in the blood as well as in the control of insulin resistance.
Some people practice taking various diet pills and treatment with folk remedies. You should forget the first one, because at best, there will be no point in using these drugs.
Folk medicine usually consists of any herbal supplement and decoction. If you really understand medicinal plants, something might come out of it, but you should not make it the basis of treatment.
Kidney failure
Due to the disease, kidney failure can develop. It should be understood that it is not caused by dietary protein as many people mistakenly believe, but by high blood sugar levels.
The active development of such a disorder is suspended when glucose levels return to normal. For this, the diet helps. Protein is not excluded from the diet, but you need to work on carbohydrates. Proper nutrition available to ordinary people can even lead to the kidneys being completely restored.
But if the process is taken to the extreme, there will be no return to healthy kidneys. Moreover, a low-carb diet in such a case can speed up the destructive process. In order not to lead to this, you need to monitor your condition and to control your nutrition helps a table created for yourself where dishes and doses of insulin are planned if necessary.
Other important points
Diabetes can develop at any age. In children, it may occur on the basis that there was an overeating of flour products, sweets. If you find the problem in time and start solving it correctly, you can avoid complications.
In women, the disease can occur for various reasons. Constant stress, copious nutrition (mostly unhealthy foods) as well as inactivity can cause obesity and as a result type 2 diabetes.
Quite often there is a situation where the disease occurred during pregnancy. This is due to hormonal imbalances. In addition, a woman during this period can actively consume foods that can cause the development of diabetes.
As a rule, there is a less strict diet for pregnant women, which aims to normalize processes in the body and partially lose weight, but at the same time without harming the fetus.
In gestational diabetes or diabetes during pregnancy, strict nutrition should only be discussed with a specialist. The diet should be adjusted taking into account that there is a parallel development of the fetus. By excluding products you can harm the unborn child.
Type 2 diabetes mellitus develops slightly less frequently in men than in women. This is because they have an easily accelerated metabolism. But junk food, alcohol addiction and a little physical activity can easily lead to such a problem.