Diet for diabetes mellitus: what to do and what not to do

Diabetes mellitus 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 adhere to a properly prescribed diet, diabetes will not affect general well-being in any way and, in addition, decreases the likelihood of various types of complications, including heart attack, stroke, etc.

Types of diets

Diet for diabetes is determined based on the type of disease itself and the age category. There are therefore general principles for building proper nutrition, which are regulated according to 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 for:

  • reduce the risks of chronic and acute complications,
  • maintaining good health and relatively strong immunity,
  • prevent or lose weight,
  • keep 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 the damage and death of cells located in the pancreas and responsible for the production of insulin.

With it, nutrition is aimed at maintaining the insulin therapy process and is rather an 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, it is necessary to monitor what percentage of the daily diet is given for carbohydrates. As a rule, it should not be more than 60%.

Since type 2 diabetes is also insulin independent, it develops in obese people, so diet comes first. In the initial or mild stage of the disease, the point is to rationally get rid of excess weight.

When diabetes of this type reaches a moderate or even severe form, drugs to lower blood sugar or insulin are prescribed in addition to the diet. It is worth noting that in such cases it is also necessary to 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 tables 8 and 9. The eighth dietary table is applicable to those who are overweight or have a tendency to be overweight. The ninth is taken as the 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 associated with fat metabolism. Its caloric content must not exceed 2500 kcal.

Such a diet is characterized as follows:

  • calorie content should be reduced by eating easily digestible animal fats and carbohydrates (except sweets and sugar),
  • partial restriction or complete elimination of cholesterol and salt,
  • consume 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. In the first place it should be cooked and boiled. It's best to design a menu for the week, as it will be easier to keep track of. Particular preference should be given to the following products:

  • low-fat 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 of egg 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 categorically. The same goes for fats like pork, lamb, and beef. To get the necessary fats, you should eat butter (without salt) and vegetable oil in moderation.

Diet number 9 is the basis used in the appointment of the necessary 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's right for you.

What is a bread unit?

Since the point in proper nutrition for diabetics is to consume carbohydrates in a certain amount, then you should know how that dear norm is determined, on which how much and what foods you need to eat depends.

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 one's daily intake.

To facilitate the determination of the amount needed to eat this or that product and not go beyond what is allowed, nutritionists have introduced the term "bread unit". The concept is used in cases where insulin is prescribed for a diabetic.

With such a measured unit, it is much easier for a person to understand what can be eaten and drunk and what cannot. He draws up his health menu based on personal indicators and can also change some foods for others containing carbohydrates.

As a rule, a person should consume 18 to 25 of these units per day. Since there should be five meals, it makes sense to rationally distribute this amount 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 yourself a menu per day.

How many calories to consume per day?

The diabetes mellitus diet requires the refusal of many foods and dishes that may have previously been included in the daily diet. However, you shouldn't confuse food that allows you to normalize your sugar levels with what you need to lose those extra pounds.

Nutrition for type 1 diabetes is aimed precisely at correctly calculating the amount of insulin needed. Calorie content in this case does not play such an important role. It must be monitored in order not to gain weight.

Diet for type 2 diabetes requires greater control of calorie intake, as it often develops in the presence of obesity. However, it's not even worth taking their count to fanaticism.

foods and food diary for diabetes

The number of calories per day is calculated based on the individual indicators of the body. The diet itself should be low in carbohydrates, but it 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 of what you can eat with type 2 diabetes, many believe that you need to 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 dishes that will not allow you to recover, but at the same time a person will be full of strength and energy. Which specific foods should be consumed and what approximate number of calories are allowed per day should be discussed with the doctor.

Useful and unhealthy foods

Low-carb diets are different. For a healthy person, they are less stringent than those 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,
  • vegetables (spinach, sorrel, dill),
  • mushrooms,
  • meat and fish (lean),
  • Coffee and tea,
  • mineral water.

Harmful

Moderately increasing sugar:

  • Potato,
  • cereals,
  • pasta, even hard,
  • dairy product.

Soaring sugar:

  • sweets,
  • honey,
  • drinks with added sugar,
  • alcohol,
  • grapes and its derivatives,
  • hot and salty seasonings.

This division of products is generally accepted and is often taken as the basis for the development of menus for diabetes mellitus. But what is good for one person can be bad for another. Since 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 it is necessary to follow a strict low-calorie diet. But the point is, it doesn't work. Numerous studies have shown that with a decrease in the calorie content of your diet, apart from a constant feeling of hunger, to fainting from hunger, nervousness and other things, nothing else happens.

With such a diet, it will be possible to lose weight literally a few kilograms, but if at the same time the body was distinguished 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, it will accumulate even more.

A protein diet provides an 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 nuances. Again, it is impossible to overdo it with proteins and it is completely forbidden to exclude fats from the diet. Lack of carbohydrates will lead to a loss of vital energy.

Eventually, it all comes down to a low carb diet again. By itself, it is necessary to lower the sugar. In losing weight, it is by no means a cure-all, but of all the ones presented it is the best. Its merit is that all the necessary elements necessary to maintain vital activity enter the body.

So when there is a rational amount of natural fat, protein and carbohydrates, the body does not need to make deposits. The 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 rigorous. The table number does not play a special role here, although diet number 9 is often taken as the basis.

The problem is that the effect of insulin is also very different, so it is rather difficult to normalize the indicators. That is why it is necessary to adhere to a certain diet. The fewer carbohydrates enter the body, the less insulin is needed.

It should be understood that your diet is interconnected with your personal insulin dosage. Therefore, when developing the menu, it is necessary to take into account the amount of the drug. It's best to schedule it during the day to make it easier to follow.

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 recommended. Of course, this is a rough diet that is modified. Its significance 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 treating them with folk remedies. You should forget about the former, because at best it will make no sense from these drugs.

Folk remedies, as a rule, consist of any herbal infusions and decoctions. If you really understand medicinal plants, then maybe something will come of it, but you shouldn't make it the basis of treatment.

Kidney failure

Against the background of the disease, kidney failure can develop. It should be understood that it is not caused by dietary protein, as many mistakenly believe, but by high blood sugar levels.

diabetic nephropathy and diabetes nutrition

Active development of such a disorder is suspended when the glucose level returns to normal. For this, the diet helps. Protein is not excluded from the diet, but it is necessary to work with carbohydrates. Proper nutrition available to ordinary people can even lead to the kidneys being fully restored.

However, if the process is taken to the extreme, there will be no return to healthy kidneys. Also, in such a case, a low-carb diet can speed up the destructive process. In order not to lead to this, it is necessary to monitor your condition and control your nutrition, a table created for you will help you, in which dishes and doses of insulin are scheduled, if necessary.

Other important points

Diabetes can develop at any age. In children, it can occur against the background of the fact that there was an excess of food made from flour, sweets. By finding the problem in time and starting to fix it correctly, you can avoid complications.

In women, the disease can occur for various reasons. Constant stress, abundant nutrition (mostly unhealthy foods), and inactivity can cause excess weight and, as a result, type 2 diabetes.

Quite often there is a situation where the disease arose during pregnancy. This is due to hormonal imbalances. 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 partially losing weight, but at the same time without harm to 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 there is a parallel development of the fetus. By excluding any products, you can harm the unborn child.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus develops slightly less frequently in men than in women. This is due to the fact that they have a slightly accelerated metabolism. But junk food, alcohol addiction, and little physical activity can easily lead to such a problem.