However, the use of any medication for type 2 diabetes cannot fully compensate for the effects of malnutrition on blood sugar levels.Proper nutrition is an essential part of successful type 2 diabetes management and will help you reach your blood sugar goals.
Nutritional methods for people with type 2 diabetes who are or are not overweight, arterial hypertension, etc. s. etc. is quite different.
The vast majority of people with type 2 diabetes are overweight. Being overweight prevents their own insulin from working effectively, which is why blood sugar levels remain high.Therefore, weight loss is an essential condition for rational treatment!Even moderate weight loss (about 5-10%) improves carbohydrate metabolism, especially in the early stages of the disease.
How to achieve weight loss?
It should be noted right away that there are no special products or herbs for weight loss. Currently, there are no drugs that alone, without dieting, could provide highly effective and completely safe weight loss.
Energy carriers in food are its three components:protein, fat and carbohydrates. The most caloric of them is fat, they contain 9 kcal per 1 gram; in proteins and carbohydrates - 4 kcal per 1 gram.
The most effective way to reduce the calorie content of your diet is to reduce its fat content. This is not only safe, but also useful for modern man, since our diet, unfortunately, is oversaturated with fat. Compared to fat, the calorie content of proteins and carbohydrates can be considered moderate, but in order to achieve good results in weight loss, they still need to be limited slightly.
There are various products that do not need to be restricted when losing weight. On the contrary, it is these products that can compensate for the above limitations and replenish the reduced amount of food. This category of food is mainly represented by vegetables, which are poor in nutrients but rich in water, as well asvegetable fiberwhich are not digested. Vegetable fibers have many benefits for the body: they improve intestinal function, help the absorption of vitamins, have a positive effect on fat metabolism, etc. s. etc.
There are three categories of products that need to be consumed in different ways to reduce weight.If you look at these groups, you will definitely have a connection with traffic lights.
Maximum limit
High-calorie foods: high in fat, alcohol, sugar and sweets
Example:any oil, lard, sour cream, mayonnaise; cream, fat cottage cheese and cheese; fatty fish, poultry skin, canned meat; fish and vegetables in oil; fatty meat, smoked meat, sausages; sugar, sweet drinks, honey, jam, jam, sweets, cakes, cookies, chocolate, ice cream, nuts, seeds, alcoholic drinks.
Moderately limited (eat half of the previous usual portion)
Use without restrictions
Is it possible to follow a low-calorie diet without counting calories?
This is quite possible if you consider the principles of product selection described above. Moreover, experts have long recognized that it is not the number of calories that a person needs to consume (it is quite difficult to specify it exactly for each person), but the one by which a person reduced his diet is important!
An indication of the correct respect for the principles of low-calorie nutrition will be the result: weight loss! If the weight does not decrease, it indicates that the caloric content of the food has not yet been significantly reduced.
How do different carbohydrates affect blood sugar levels?
Carbs are the only nutrients that directly raise blood sugar, but there's no reason to severely limit them.
Carbohydrates in the diet of every person, including a person with diabetes, should be enough (at least 50% of total calories), as they are a source of energy for the body. Moreover, different carbohydrates have different effects on blood sugar levels.
That issimplecarbohydrates (they are called sugars), which are digested very easily, 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 is made, a lot 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 carbohydratecomplicated(starch), they also raise blood sugar levels, just not as fast and not as much as simple carbohydrates. Representatives of such products: bread, cereals, pasta, potatoes, corn. The starch molecule is large and the body has to work hard to absorb it. Therefore, glucose produced by 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 heating) contributes to an increase in blood sugar. This means that a large rise in blood sugar when starch is eaten can be prevented by using certain methods of processing and cooking. For example, it is better to cook potatoes not in the form of mashed potatoes, but to boil them whole in the skin, so that they remain firm. It is also better not to cook porridge for too long. It is preferable to cook them from large uncrushed grains (buckwheat, rice).
Enriching food with plant fiber prevents the rise in blood sugar. That's why it's better to buy grain or bran bread rather than fine flour. Fruits and berries should be consumed in their natural form, not in the form of juice.
There are such types of carbohydrate products –"free", after which the level of glucose in the blood does not rise or rises slightly. These products contain almost all types of vegetables in normal amounts (except potatoes). For example, cabbage, lettuce, parsley, dill, radish, turnips, zucchini, eggplant, pumpkin, pepper, etc. fl. Among the products of this group, the highest amount of carbohydrates is in beets and carrots, but the increase in blood sugar after them is not very high. Therefore, if you eat them in moderation (as a side dish, no more than 200 g), they can also be ignored.
Do I need to count carbs?
A person with type 2 diabetes who is on oral diabetes medication or who is just on a diet does not need to calculate the exact amount of carbohydrates in food. Many people with diabetes have heard of the so-called bread units. Such a calculation system exists for those receiving insulin. It allows you to relate the amount of carbohydrates consumed to the doses of short-acting insulin that these people with diabetes inject before meals.
Special "diabetic" products
Sweeteners can make food taste sweeter without increasing blood sugar or weight gain. But in this case we are only talking about non-caloric sugars. 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) contain sorbitol, xylitol or fructose instead of sugar, which have almost as many calories as sugar. Therefore, when overweight, they must be limited as much as possible. is, like a regular candy.
Partial diet
Fractional mode means many meals during the day (5-6 times, but still no more than after 2, 5-3 hours) in small portions. This is helpful because hunger can occur when following a low-calorie diet. Eating more often will help reduce it. In addition, a small portion of food contains little carbohydrates and this will facilitate the functioning 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 indicators of fat metabolism and blood pressure. So limit your alcohol consumption as much as possible.
Alcohol is known to have a harmful effect on the liver. It can cause hypoglycemia if a person with diabetes is on glucose-lowering drugs and insulin. Never drink alcohol on an empty stomach!