The use of drugs for type 2 diabetes still cannot fully compensate for the impact of malnutrition on blood sugar levels.Proper nutrition is an essential part of effective type 2 diabetes management and helps you reach your blood sugar goals.
Nutritional approach for people with type 2 diabetes who are overweight or not, arterial hypertension, etc.
The vast majority of overweight people with type 2 diabetes. Being overweight prevents one's own insulin from working effectively, so blood sugar levels remain high.Therefore, weight loss is an indispensable condition for rational treatment!Even moderate weight loss (about 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 diet, provide highly effective and completely safe weight loss.
The only reliable way is to limit the energy intake in the body.(it is given in calories), d. h. Compliance with the ruleslow-calorie foods. The resulting energy deficit leads to the fact that the energy reserves "stored" in fat tissue are spent on various needs of the body, and the weight will definitely decrease.
Energy carriers and food are its three components:Proteins, fats and carbohydrates. The most caloric of them are fats, they contain 9 kcal per 1 gram; and proteins and carbohydrates - 4 kcal per 1 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, because our diet, unfortunately, is oversaturated with fats. Compared to fats, the calorie content of proteins and carbohydrates can be considered moderate, but to achieve a good effect on weight loss, they still need to be slightly limited.
There are a number of products that do not need to be limited when losing weight. On the contrary, it is these products that compensate for the aforementioned restrictions and fulfill the reduced amount of food. This group of foods is mainly represented by vegetables, which are poor in nutrients but rich in water, as well asVegetable fiberswhich are not digested. Vegetable fibers bring many benefits to the body: they improve intestinal function, help the absorption of vitamins, have a positive effect on fat metabolism, etc.
There are three groups of products that, in order to reduce weight, must be consumed in different ways.If you look at these groups, you definitely have an association with a light.
Maximum limit
High-calorie foods: rich in fats, alcohol, sugar and sweets
Examples:any oil, fat, sour cream, mayonnaise; Creamy, fatty cottage cheese and cottage cheese; Oily fish, poultry skin, canned meat; Fish and vegetables in oil; Fatty meat, smoked meat, sausage; Sugar, sweet drinks, honey, jam, jam, sweets, cakes, biscuits, chocolate, ice cream, nuts, seeds, alcoholic drinks.
Moderately limiting (eat half of the previous usual portion)
Medium calorie products: protein, starch, dairy products, fruits and berries.
Examples:Milk and sour milk products of regular fat content or fat content / steamed, cheese less than 30% fat, cottage cheese less than 4% fat, eggs, lean meat, fish, pasta, bread and lean baked goods, cereals; Fruits, potatoes, corn, ripe grains of peas and beans.
Use without restriction
Calorie foods: vegetables (except potatoes, corn, ripe beans and beans), and calorie drinks.
Examples:Radishes, radishes, beets, carrots, mushrooms, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, eggplants, beans, young green peas, lettuce, greens, spinach, sorrel, all 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 selection described above. In addition, experts have long recognized that it is not the number of calories that a person needs to consume (it is very difficult to specify it exactly for each person), but the one by which a person actually reduces his dietis important!
An indicator of the correct observance of the principles of the low-calorie diet will be the achievement of the result: weight loss! If the weight does not decrease, this indicates that it has not yet been 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 increase blood sugar, but this is 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), because they are a source of energy for the body. Furthermore, different carbohydrates have different effects on blood sugar levels.
There issimpleCarbohydrates (they are called sugars), which are 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 are made, many of them are found in fruit juices (they are also found in 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, carbohydrates are not absorbed as quickly.
Another type of carbohydratescomplex(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), which increases its level in the blood to a lesser extent.
Culinary processing of starchy foods (all grinding, prolonged thermal exposure) contributes to the increase in blood sugar levels. This means that a strong increase in blood sugar when eating starch can be prevented by using different methods of processing and cooking. For example, it is more correct not to cook potatoes in the form of mashed potatoes, but to cook them whole in their skin, so that they remain dense. It is also better not to cook the cake too long. It is best to cook them from large whole 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. 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 level of glucose in the blood does not increase or increases slightly. These products contain almost all types of vegetables in normal quantities (except potatoes). For example cabbage, lettuce, parsley, dill, radish, turnip, 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 large. Therefore, if you eat them in moderation (as a side dish, no more than 200 g), they can also be ignored.
Do I have to count carbs?
A person with type 2 diabetes who is on oral antidiabetic drugs or who is just on a diet does not need to calculate the amount of carbohydrates in food exactly. Many people with diabetes have heard of the so-called bread units. A system of such 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.
Especially "diabetic" products
Sweeteners can make food taste sweeter without raising blood sugar levels or causing weight gain. 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. However, 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 overweight, they must be limited as much as possible, like regular sweets.
Fractional diet
Fractional mode means more meals a day (5-6 times, but still not more often than after 2, 5-3 hours) in small portions. This is useful because hunger can occur when you follow a low-calorie diet. Eating more often helps reduce it. In addition, a small portion of food contains little 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 the indicators of fat metabolism and blood pressure. So limit your alcohol consumption as much as possible.
It is known that alcohol has negative effects on the liver. It can cause hypoglycemia if a person with diabetes uses glucose-lowering drugs and insulin. Never drink alcohol on an empty stomach!