Diabetes 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 follow a properly prescribed diet, then diabetes will not affect the general well-being in any way, and also reduces the likelihood of various types of complications, including heart attack, stroke, etc.
Types of diets
The diet for diabetes is determined depending on the type of disease itself and the age category. So there are general principles for building proper nutrition, which are adjusted based on individual indicators of the human body.
As it is impossible to cure the disease, a certain menu is prescribed to reduce the danger of it. Eating the right food at a clearly defined time is essential for:
- reducing the risk of chronic and acute complications,
- maintaining good health and relatively strong immunity,
- prevention or weight loss,
- maintaining 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 is aimed at maintaining the process of insulin therapy and is rather an additional method of controlling the disease. His 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. Because treatment for type 1 diabetes involves taking insulin, you need to keep track of what percentage of your daily diet is given for carbohydrates. As a rule, it should be no more than 60%.
Because type 2 diabetes is also insulin-independent, it develops in obese people, so diet comes first. In the initial stage of the disease or mild, the question is rational to get rid of excess weight.
When this type of diabetes reaches a moderate or even severe form, then in addition to the diet, medications to lower blood sugar or insulin are prescribed. It is worth noting that in such cases you should also 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 dietary table is applicable to those who are overweight or prone to overweight. The ninth is taken as a basis for determining the diet for 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 related to fat metabolism. Its caloric content should not exceed 2500 kcal.
Such a diet is characterized as follows:
- the calorie content must be reduced by eating animal fats and carbohydrates which are easily digestible (excluding pastries and sugar),
- partial reduction or complete elimination of cholesterol and salt,
- consume more vitamins and fiber,
- the protein content should be within normal limits.
All healthy diets, including the ninth, are based on proper food intake. You should eat often and in small portions. In general, the frequency should be 5 or 6 times a day.
Fried or stewed foods should be consumed as little as possible or completely forgotten. First of all, they must be baked and boiled. It's best 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:
- pure meat
- lean fish
- vegetables containing no more than 5% carbohydrates,
- fruits (not all),
- natural drinks without sugar.
As for spices and eggs, their consumption should be limited. This is especially true for yolks. The amount of protein per day should not exceed 1, 5 pieces. In addition to the fact that it is necessary 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. The same goes for fats such as pork, lamb and beef. To get the fat you need, you should eat moderate oil (without salt) and vegetable oil.
Diet number 9 is the basis that is used in the appointment of the necessary nutrition. Depending on the personal characteristics of the person with diabetes, it is adjusted. There are different types of diets that you can combine and find the one that suits you.
What is a unit of bread?
Since the point of proper nutrition for diabetics is to consume a certain amount of carbohydrates, then you need to know how to determine this covenant rate, which determines how much and what foods you should eat.
All products that include carbohydrates have different physical properties and calories. These characteristics are not subject to the usual method of measurement. In addition, diet in diabetes requires increased control over their own daily intake.
To make it easier to determine how much you should eat this or that product and not exceed what is allowed, nutritionists have introduced the term "unit of bread. " The concept is used in cases where diabetes is prescribed insulin.
With such a unit of measurement, it is much easier for a person to understand what can be eaten and drunk and what cannot. He composes his healthy menu based on personal indicators, and can also change some foods for others containing carbohydrates.
As a rule, one should consume 18 to 25 such units per day. Since there must be five meals, it is logical 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 units of bread consumed, you can write a menu by day.
How many calories a day to consume?
Diet for diabetes requires the rejection of many foods and dishes that may have previously been included in the daily diet. However, you should not confuse the food that allows you to normalize sugar levels with that which is needed to lose those extra pounds.
Nutrition in type 1 diabetes is aimed precisely at the correct calculation of the required amount of insulin. The caloric content in this case does not play such an important role. It must be monitored so that it does not gain weight.
The diet for type 2 diabetes requires increased control of calorie intake, as it often develops in the presence of obesity. However, it is also not worth bringing their numbers to fanaticism.
The number of calories per day is calculated depending on the individual indicators of the body. The diet itself should be low in carbohydrates, but this does not mean a complete lack of carbohydrates. You need to eat whole, but it is important not to overeat.
When the question arises of what you can eat with type 2 diabetes, many believe that you should sit almost on breadcrumbs and water. This is absolutely impossible. Food should be complete, containing vitamins and fiber.
There are various recipes for delicious, satisfying and at the same time healthy meals 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 what is the approximate number of calories per day should be discussed with your doctor.
Healthy and unhealthy foods
Low carb diets are different. For a healthy person, they are less severe than for someone 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,
- greens (spinach, sorrel, dill),
- mushrooms,
- meat and fish (lean),
- Coffee and tea,
- mineral water.
Harmful
Moderately increasing sugar:
- potatoes,
- cereals,
- paste, including hard varieties,
- dairy products.
Highly increasing sugar:
- sweets,
- honey,
- drinks with added sugar,
- alcohol,
- grapes and their derivatives,
- hot and salty spices.
This division of products is common and is often taken as a basis for developing menus for diabetes. But what is good for one person may be bad for another. Since everything is relative, an individual diet is prepared for each diabetic.
How to eat in obesity
It is believed that in order to lose weight, you need to adhere to a strict low-calorie diet. But the point is, it doesn't work. Numerous studies show that by reducing the caloric content of your diet, apart from the constant feeling of hunger, to starvation, fainting, nervousness and other things, nothing else happens.
With such a diet it will be possible to lose literally a few pounds, but if at the same time the body was characterized by elasticity and good muscles, then this is all that will leave it in the first place. Subcutaneous fat will not go anywhere, and sometimes, on the contrary, will accumulate even more.
The protein diet includes active protein intake and a parallel reduction in the amount of fat and carbohydrates. The approach itself is not bad, but it has its nuances. Again, it is impossible to overdo it with protein and it is completely forbidden to exclude fats 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 reduce sugar. When losing weight, she is not exactly a savior, but of all the presented, she is the best. Its merit is that all the necessary elements that are necessary for the maintenance of vital activity enter the body.
Thus, when there is a rational amount of natural fats, proteins and carbohydrates, the body should not make deposits. Metabolism begins to work 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
The same low carb diet is needed to maintain a healthy body with type 1 diabetes. But in this case it must be strict. The table number doesn't play much of a role here, although diet number 9 is often taken as a basis.
The problem is that even the effect of insulin is very different, which makes it quite difficult to normalize the indicators. That is why it is necessary to adhere to a certain diet. The less carbohydrates enter the body, the less insulin is needed.
It should be understood that your own diet is related to your personal dose of insulin. Therefore, when developing your menu, you should take into account the amount of medicine. It is better to plan this by days to make it easier to follow.
Diet for type 2 diabetes
Because type 2 diabetes is less complicated than type 1 diabetes, diet is essential for weight loss and prevention in the future. Again, a low carb diet is recommended. Of course, this is an approximate diet that is adjusted. Its meaning 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 folk remedies. You need to forget about the first one, because at best these drugs will not make sense.
Folk remedies, as a rule, consist of all kinds of herbal infusions and decoctions. If you really understand medicinal plants, then maybe something will come out of it, but you should not do it as the basis of treatment.
Kidney failure
Against the background of the disease may develop renal failure. It should be understood that it is not caused by dietary protein, as many mistakenly believe, but by high blood sugar levels.
The active development of such a disease stops when glucose levels return to normal. That's why diet helps. Protein is not excluded from the diet, but you should work with carbohydrates. Proper nutrition, available to ordinary people, can even lead to the fact that the kidneys are completely restored.
However, if the process goes to extremes, then there will be no return to healthy kidneys. In addition, in this case, a low-carbohydrate diet can accelerate the destructive process. To avoid this, you need to monitor your condition and control your diet, a table created for you will help you where meals are planned and doses of insulin, if necessary.
Other important points
Diabetes can develop at any age. In children, this can happen against the background of the fact that there was overeating with flour, pastries. 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, overeating (mostly junk food), and inactivity can cause overweight and, as a result, type 2 diabetes.
Quite often there is a situation when the disease occurred during pregnancy. This is due to hormonal imbalance. 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 is aimed at normalizing the processes in the body and partial weight loss, but at the same time without harm to 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 the fact that there is a parallel development of the fetus. By excluding any products, you can harm the unborn child.
Type 2 diabetes is slightly less common in men than in women. This is due to the fact that they have a slightly accelerated metabolism. But unhealthy food, alcohol dependence and low physical activity can easily lead to such a problem.