Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common diseases in the world. Despite all its complexity, there are methods that can make a person's life much easier. First, you need to follow a certain diet.
If you follow 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 attack, stroke, etc. , decreases.
Types of Diets
The diabetes diet is determined according to the type of disease and age group. Therefore, 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 certain menu is assigned to reduce its danger. Eating the right food at a clearly specified time is essential to:
- reducing the risk of chronic and acute complications,
- maintaining good health and relatively strong immunity,
- prevent or lose weight gain,
- keeping blood sugar levels within acceptable limits.
There are two types of diabetes. The first, in other words, is called insulin dependent. Its development is associated with damage and death of cells located in the pancreas and responsible for insulin production.
With it, nutrition aims to maintain the insulin therapy process and is another additional method of controlling the disease. Its principles are similar to those followed by healthy people to achieve a good figure and well-being.
The main 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 the percentage of carbohydrates in your daily diet. As a rule, it should not be more than 60%.
Since type 2 diabetes, which is also insulin-independent, develops in obese people, so therefore diet comes first. In the early or mild stage of the disease, the goal is to rationally get rid of excess weight.
When diabetes of this type reaches a moderate or even severe form, in addition to diet, drugs to lower blood sugar, or insulin, are prescribed. Importantly, in these cases, you also need to pay special attention to physical activity. Thanks to them, a problem like obesity can be solved without surgery.
The most popular diets are so-called tables 8 and 9. The eighth food table is applicable for people who are overweight or who tend to be overweight. The ninth is taken as the basis for determining the diet of diabetics.
Diet number 9 for diabetes
Diet #9 is considered curative and is prescribed to normalize metabolism (carbohydrates). It also aims to prevent disorders associated with fat metabolism. Its caloric content must not exceed 2500 kcal.
This diet is characterized as follows:
- the caloric content must be reduced by ingesting animal fats and carbohydrates that are easily digestible (except sweets and sugar),
- partial restriction or complete elimination of cholesterol and salt,
- consuming more vitamins and fiber,
- the protein content should be within the normal range.
All healthy diets, including the ninth, are based on correct 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 cooked foods should be eaten as little as possible or forgotten entirely. It must first be boiled and boiled. It's better to create a menu for the week as this will make it easier to keep track of. Particular preference should be given to the following products:
- lean meat
- lean fish
- vegetables that contain no more than 5% carbohydrates,
- fruits (not all),
- natural sugar-free drinks.
As for condiments and eggs, their consumption should be limited. This is especially true for gemstones. The amount of protein per day should not exceed 1, 5 pieces. In addition to the need to exclude diabetes sweets, pastas, pastas and pastries from the menu, pickled vegetables are also prohibited.
Bananas, dates, figs, grapes and all their derivatives must not be consumed categorically. The same applies to fats like pork, lamb and beef. To get the necessary fats, you should eat butter (no salt) and vegetable oil in moderation.
Diet number 9 is the basis used to indicate the necessary nutrition. Depending on the person with diabetes's personal indicators, it is adjusted. There are different types of diets that you can combine and find the one that suits you best.
What is a bread unit?
Since the point of proper nutrition for diabetics is to consume carbohydrates in a certain amount, you should know how this norm is determined, which depends on how much and what foods you need to eat.
All products, which include carbohydrates, have different physical properties and calories. These characteristics are not subject to the usual measurement method. Furthermore, nutrition in diabetes mellitus requires greater control over your own daily intake.
To facilitate the determination of the amount of consumption of this or that product and not go beyond what is allowed, nutritionists introduced the term "bread unit". The concept is used in cases where insulin is prescribed for a diabetic.
With this unit of measure, it is much easier for a person to understand what can be eaten and drunk, and what cannot. He designs his healthy menu based on personal indicators and may also switch some foods to others that contain carbohydrates.
As a general rule, a person should consume 18 to 25 of these units per day. Since there must be five meals, it is logical to rationally distribute this amount at all times. The main "dose" must enter the body in the first half of the day. To control the number of units of bread consumed, you can write a menu per day.
How many calories do I consume per day?
The diabetes mellitus diet requires the rejection of many foods and dishes that may have previously been included in the daily diet. However, you should not confuse foods that allow you to normalize your sugar levels with those that are needed to lose those extra pounds.
Nutrition for type 1 diabetes aims to correctly calculate the amount of insulin needed. The caloric content, in this case, does not play such an important role. It must be monitored so as not to gain weight.
The diet for type 2 diabetes requires greater control of calorie intake, as it often develops in the presence of obesity. However, it's also not worth taking your count to fanaticism.
The number of calories per day is calculated depending on individual body indicators. The diet itself should be low in carbohydrates, but this does not imply a complete lack of carbohydrates. You need to eat your fill, but it's important not to overeat.
When the question arises about what you can eat with type 2 diabetes, many believe you need to sit down almost on bread crumbs and water. This is absolutely impossible. The diet must be complete, containing vitamins and fiber.
There are several recipes for delicious, satisfying and at the same time healthy dishes that will not allow you to recover, but at the same time a person will be full of strength and energy. What specific foods should be consumed and the approximate number of calories allowed per day should be discussed with your doctor.
Useful and unhealthy foods
Low-carb diets are different. For a healthy person, they are less stringent than for someone who has been diagnosed with diabetes. But they have the same meaning. They differ in the main list of products, which are divided into healthy and harmful for diabetics.
Useful
- all kinds of vegetables,
- greens (spinach, sorrel, dill),
- mushrooms,
- meat and fish (thin),
- coffee and tea,
- mineral water.
harmful
Moderately growing sugar:
- potato,
- cereals,
- pasta, including hard varieties,
- dairy products.
Strongly increasing the sugar:
- candy,
- Honey,
- drinks with added sugar,
- alcohol,
- grapes and their derivatives,
- hot and savory spices.
This product division is generally accepted and often used as the basis for developing menus for diabetes mellitus. But what's good for one person can turn out to be bad for another. As 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 follow a strictly low-calorie diet. But the point is, it doesn't work. Numerous studies have shown that with a decrease in the caloric content of the diet, in addition to a constant feeling of hunger, even fainting from hunger, nervousness and other things, nothing else happens.
With such a diet, it will be possible to lose weight literally in a few kilograms, but if at the same time the body is distinguished by elasticity and good muscles, then that is all that will leave you in the first place. Subcutaneous fat doesn't go anywhere and will sometimes accumulate even more.
A protein diet involves an active intake of protein and a parallel reduction in the amount of fats and carbohydrates. The approach itself isn't bad, but it also has its own nuances. Again, it is impossible to overextend protein and it is totally forbidden to exclude fats from the diet. Lack of carbohydrates leads to loss of vital energy.
In the end, it all comes down to a low carb diet again. By itself, it is necessary to lower the sugar. In weight loss, she is not entirely a lifesaver, but of all the ones presented, she is the best. Its merit is that all the 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. The metabolism starts running like clockwork, there is no chronic hunger, the symptoms of the disease practically disappear and the person becomes more active.
Diet for type 1 diabetes
To maintain a healthy body with type 1 diabetes, the same low carbohydrate 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 taken as a basis.
The problem is that even the effect of insulin is very different, so it is quite difficult to normalize the indicators. That's why it's necessary to follow a certain diet. The less carbohydrates that enter the body, the less insulin is needed.
It must be understood that your own diet is intertwined with your personal insulin dosage. Therefore, when developing your menu, you need to take into account the amount of medication. It's best to schedule this during the day for easy follow-up.
Diet for type 2 diabetes
Since type 2 diabetes is less complex than type 1 diabetes, diet is essential for losing weight and preventing it in the future. Again, a low carb diet is also recommended. Of course, this is an approximate diet that is being adjusted. Its significance lies in normalizing blood glucose and insulin, as well as controlling insulin resistance.
Some people practice taking various diet pills and treating with folk remedies. You should forget about the first one, because, at best, these drugs won't make sense.
Folk remedies, as a rule, consist of herbal infusions and decoctions. If you really understand medicinal plants, then maybe something will happen, but you shouldn't make them the mainstay of treatment.
Renal insufficiency
In the context of the disease, renal failure may develop. It must be understood that it is not caused by dietary protein, as many mistakenly believe, but by high blood sugar levels.
Active development of this disease is halted when the glucose level returns to normal. For this, diet helps. Protein is not excluded from the diet, but you do need to work with carbohydrates. Adequate nutrition available to ordinary people can even lead to the kidneys being fully restored.
However, if the process is taken to an extreme, there will be no return to healthy kidneys. Also, in that case, a low-carb diet can accelerate the destructive process. To avoid this, you need to monitor your status, and to control your eating, a table created for you will help, where dishes and insulin doses are programmed, if necessary.
Other important points
Diabetes can develop at any age. In children, it can occur in the context of the fact that there is an excessive intake of flour products, sweets. Find the problem in time and start solving it correctly, you can avoid complications.
In women, the disease can occur for several reasons. Constant stress, abundant nutrition (especially unhealthy foods), as well as inactivity can cause excess weight and, as a result, type 2 diabetes.
There is often a situation where the disease came about during pregnancy. This is due to hormonal imbalances. Also, a woman during this period can actively consume foods that can cause the development of diabetes.
As a rule, there is a less rigid diet for pregnant women, which aims to normalize the body's processes and partially lose weight, but at the same time without harming the fetus.
In the case of gestational diabetes mellitus or diabetes during pregnancy, strict nutrition should only be discussed with a specialist. The diet must be adjusted taking into account the fact that there is parallel development of the fetus. By deleting any products, you can harm the fetus.
Type 2 diabetes mellitus develops somewhat less frequently in men than in women. This is due to the fact that they have a slightly accelerated metabolism. But junk food, alcoholism and little physical activity can easily lead to this problem.