Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common diseases in the world. For 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 adhere to a properly prescribed diet, then diabetes will not affect general well-being in any way, and in addition, reduces the likelihood of various types of complications, including heart attack, stroke, etc.
Types of diets
The diet for diabetes is determined by the type of disease itself and the age category. So there are general principles of building proper nutrition, which are adjusted based on individual indicators of the human body.
Since it is impossible to cure the disease, a certain menu is assigned to reduce the danger from it. It is essential to eat the right food at a clearly specified time:
- reduce the risks of chronic and acute complications,
- maintain good health and a relatively strong immunity,
- prevent or lose weight,
- keep blood sugar levels within acceptable limits.
There are two types of diabetes. The first is called, in other words, insulin dependence. Its development is associated with damage and death of cells located in the pancreas and responsible for insulin production.
With it, nutrition is focused on maintaining the process of insulin therapy and is an additional method of controlling the disease. Its principles are similar to the principles that healthy people follow to achieve a good figure and fitness.
The main difference is the need to calculate the amount of carbohydrates. Since the treatment of type 1 diabetes involves taking insulin, you need to monitor the percentage of the daily diet given to carbohydrates. Normally, it should not be more than 60%.
Since type 2 diabetes is also insulin independent, it develops in obese people, then, accordingly, diet is in the first place. At the initial stage of the disease or mild, the point is to rationally get rid of excess weight.
When this type of diabetes 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 need to pay special attention to physical activity. Thanks to them, a problem such as obesity can be solved without surgery.
The most common diets are the so-called tables 8 and 9. The eighth diet table is applicable to those who are overweight or who tend to be overweight. The ninth is taken as the basis for determining the diet for diabetics.
Diet number 9 for diabetes
Diet No. is considered a medicine. 9 and is prescribed to normalize metabolism (carbohydrates). It also aims to prevent fat metabolism disorders. Its calorie content should not exceed 2500 kcal.
The characteristic of such a diet is as follows:
- calorie content should be reduced by eating animal fats and carbohydrates that are easy to digest (excluding sweets and sugar),
- partial or total restriction of cholesterol and salt,
- eating more vitamins and fiber,
- the protein content should be within the normal range.
All healthy diets, 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 foods should be eaten as little as possible or forgotten altogether. First it should be baked and boiled. It is best to design a menu for the week, as it will be easier to keep track of. Particular priority should be given to the following products:
- lean meat
- lean fish
- vegetables not containing more than 5% carbohydrates,
- results (not all),
- natural drinks without sugar.
For condiments and eggs, their consumption should be limited. This is especially true for egg yolks. The amount of proteins 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 their derivatives should not be categorically eaten. The same goes for fats like pork, lamb and beef. To get the essential fats, you should eat butter (without salt) and vegetable oil in moderation.
Diet number 9 is the basis used to formulate the essential nutrition. Depending on the personal indicators 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 in proper nutrition for diabetics is to eat carbohydrates in a certain amount, then you should know how to determine that respectful norm, on which depends how much and what foods you need to eat.
Each product has different physical properties and calories, including carbohydrates. These characteristics are not subject to the normal method of measurement. In addition, nutrition in diabetes mellitus requires more control over their own daily intake.
In order to make it easier to determine how much you want to consume this product or that product and not to go beyond what is allowed, nutritionists have introduced the term "bread unit". The concept is used in cases where diabetes is prescribed insulin intake.
With any such unit of measurement, it is much easier for a person to understand what can be eaten and drunk, and what is not. It draws up its healthy menu based on personal indicators, and can switch some foods to other foods that contain carbohydrates.
Typically, a person should eat between 18 and 25 such units per day. Since there should be five meals, it is logical to always distribute this amount rationally. The maximum "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 yourself a menu per day.
How many calories per day do you eat?
The diabetes mellitus diet requires the rejection of many foods and dishes that may have been included in the previous daily diet. However, you should not confuse food that allows you to normalize sugar levels with the one necessary to lose those extra pounds.
Nutrition for type 1 diabetes is precisely focused on correctly calculating the amount of insulin required. Caloric content plays no important role in this case. It needs to be monitored so that it does not gain weight.
The type 2 diabetes diet requires more control of calorie intake, as it often develops in the presence of obesity. However, it is also not worth taking the count 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 it does not mean a complete lack of carbohydrates. You need to eat your fill, but it is important not to overeat.
When it comes to the question of what you can eat with type 2 diabetes, many believe that you almost need to sit on bread crumbs and water. This is completely impossible. Food should be whole, containing vitamins and fiber.
There are various recipes for tasty, satisfying and healthy dishes at the same time that will not only allow you to recover, but at the same time one will be full of strength and energy. The specific foods that should be eaten and the approximate amount 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 not as severe as a person 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 (lean),
- Coffee and tea,
- mineral water.
Harmful
Moderately increasing sugar:
- potatoes,
- cereals,
- pasta, including hard varieties,
- dairy products.
Strongly rising sugar:
- sweet,
- mil,
- drinks with added sugar,
- alcohol,
- grapes and their derivatives,
- hot seasonings and salty.
It is generally accepted that these products are shared and is often accepted as the basis for developing menus for diabetes mellitus. 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 for obesity
To lose weight, you need to adhere to a strict low-calorie diet. The point is, it doesn't work. Numerous studies have shown that reducing the calorie content of your diet does nothing more than a constant feeling of hunger, up to the fear of hunger, nervousness and other things.
With such a diet, it will be possible to literally lose weight by a few kilograms, but if at the same time the body was distinguished by good elasticity and muscles, then this is all that will leave it in thefirst place. Subcutaneous fat will not go anywhere, and sometimes, on the contrary, will accumulate even more.
A protein diet consists of active intake of proteins and a parallel reduction in the amount of fats and carbohydrates. The approach itself is not bad, but it also has its own nuances. Again, redundancy with proteins is impossible, and it is absolutely forbidden to exclude fats from the diet. Lack of carbohydrates will result in the loss of vital energy.
In the end, it all comes down to a low-carb diet again. By itself, sugar needs to be lowered. When it comes to losing weight, she is not a top rescuer, but out of all that is presented she is the best. Its merit is that it contains all the essential elements needed to maintain vital activity into the body.
So when there is a reasonable amount of natural fats, proteins and carbohydrates, the body does not need to make deposits. Metabolism begins to work like a clock, 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-carb diet is required. But in this case, it has to be tough. Table number plays no 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, therefore it is relatively difficult to normalize the indicators. That is why it is necessary to adhere to a certain diet. The fewer carbohydrates that enter the body, the less insulin is needed.
It should be understood that your own diet is intertwined with your personal insulin dose. Therefore, when developing your menu, you need to take into account the amount of the drug. It is best to schedule this daily to make it easier to follow.
Diet for type 2 diabetes
Because type 2 diabetes is not as complicated as type 1 diabetes, diet is essential 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 being adjusted. It means normalizing glucose and insulin in the blood, as well as regulating insulin resistance.
Some people practice taking various diet pills and treating with folk remedies. You should forget about the first one, as it is best that these drugs make no sense.
Folk remedies, as a rule, consist of no infusions and herbal decoctions. If you really understand medicinal plants, then something may come out of them, but you should not do the basics of treatment with it.
Renal failure
Against the background of the disease, renal failure may develop. It should be understood that it is not caused by dietary protein, as many mistakenly believe, but high blood sugar levels.
The active development of such an illness is suspended when the glucose level returns to its normal state. For this, diet helps. Proteins are not removed from the diet, but you must work with carbohydrates. Proper nutrition available to the common people can even lead to a complete rehabilitation of the kidneys.
However, if the process is taken very seriously, the healthy kidneys will not return. Moreover, in such a case, a low-carb diet can speed up the destructive process. In order not to suffer from this, you need to monitor your condition, and to control your nutrition, a table created for yourself, where dishes and insulin doses are scheduled, will help if necessary.
Other important points
Diabetes can develop at any age. In children, it can happen against the background of the fact that there was an overuse of flour products, sweets. Finding the problem in time and starting to solve it properly, you can avoid complications.
In women, the disease can occur for a variety of reasons. Constant stress, abundant nutrition (mostly unhealthy foods), as well as inactivity can lead to excess weight and, as a result, type 2 diabetes.
It is often the case that the disease originated during pregnancy. This is due to hormonal imbalances. In addition, a woman during this period can eat foods that can lead to the development of diabetes.
Pregnant women usually have a diet that is not so strict, aimed at normalizing processes in the body and partially losing weight, but at the same time without harming the fetus.
With gestational diabetes mellitus or diabetes during pregnancy, strict nutrition should only be discussed with a specialist. The diet should be adjusted taking into account the fact that the fetus has a parallel development. By excluding any products, you can harm the unborn baby.
Type 2 diabetes mellitus develops slightly less frequently in men than in women. This is because they have a slightly accelerated metabolism. But such a problem can lead to junk food, alcohol addiction and lack of physical activity.