The use of any medications for type 2 diabetes still cannot fully compensate for the effect of malnutrition on blood glucose levels.Proper nutrition is an essential part of effectively managing type 2 diabetes and will help you reach your blood glucose goals.
Nutritional approaches for people with type 2 diabetes who are or are not overweight, arterial hypertension, etc. will vary somewhat.
The vast majority of overweight people with type 2 diabetes. Being overweight prevents their own insulin from working effectively, so blood glucose levels remain high.Therefore, weight loss is a prerequisite for rational treatment!Even moderate weight loss (by 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, could provide highly effective and completely safe weight loss.
The only reliable way is to limit the energy intake in the body.(indicated in calories), i. e. compliance with the ruleslow calorie food. The resulting energy deficit leads to the fact that the energy reserves "stored" in adipose tissue will be spent on various needs of the body and the weight will definitely decrease.
The energy carriers in food are their three components:proteins, fats and carbohydrates. The most calorie-rich of them are fats, 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 a diet is to reduce its fat content. This is not only safe, but also useful for a modern man, since our diet, unfortunately, is oversaturated with fats. Compared to fats, the calorie content of proteins and carbohydrates can be considered moderate, however, to achieve a good result in weight loss, they must be slightly limited.
There are a number of 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 make up for the reduced amount of food. This food group is mainly represented by vegetables, which are poor in nutrients but rich in water, as well asfiberwhich are not digested. Vegetable fibers bring many benefits to the body: they improve intestinal function, help absorb vitamins, have a beneficial effect on fat metabolism, etc.
There are three groups of products that, in order to lose weight, must be consumed in different ways.Looking at these groups, you will definitely relate to a traffic light.
Maximum
High calorie foods: high in fat, alcohol, sugar and confectionery
Examples: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 meats, sausages. sugar, sweet drinks, honey, jam, jams, sweets, cakes, cookies, chocolate, ice cream, nuts, seeds, alcoholic drinks.
Moderate limit (eat half of previous usual portion)
Products of moderate caloric value: proteins, starches, dairy products, fruits and berries.
Examples:milk and sour milk products with normal fat content or low fat / skimmed, cheeses with less than 30% fat, cottage cheese less than 4% fat, eggs, lean meats, fish, pasta, bread and lean pastries, cereals. fruits, potatoes, corn, ripe peas and beans.
Use without restrictions
Low-calorie foods: vegetables (except potatoes, corn, ripe peas and beans) and low-calorie drinks.
Examples:radishes, radishes, beets, carrots, mushrooms, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, eggplants, bean pods, young peas, lettuce, greens, spinach, sorrel, any cabbage. tea, coffee without sugar and cream, mineral water.
Is it possible to maintain a low calorie diet without counting calories?
This is most likely if guided by the product selection principles outlined above. In addition, experts have long recognized that it is not the number of calories that a person needs to consume (it is quite difficult to determine exactly for each person), but the one by which a person actually reduced his diet that is important!
An indicator of the correct adherence to the principles of a 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 caloric content of the diet.
How do different carbohydrates affect blood glucose levels?
Carbohydrates are the only nutrients that directly raise blood glucose, but that's no reason to drastically limit them.
Carbohydrates in the diet of any 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. In addition, different carbohydrates have different effects on blood glucose levels.
There issimplecarbohydrates (called sugars), which are very 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. These carbohydrates are made into sugar, honey, 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 as fast), beer. Such carbohydrates are also found in liquid dairy products, but due to the fat content, the carbohydrates are not absorbed as quickly.
Another type of carbohydratecomplex(starches), also raise blood glucose 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 digest 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.
Cooking starchy foods (any grinding, prolonged heat exposure) contributes to an increase in blood glucose levels. This means that a strong increase in blood glucose when eating starch can be prevented by using certain processing and cooking methods. For example, it is more correct to cook potatoes not in the form of mash, but to boil them whole in their skin, so that they remain thick. It is also better not to cook the porridge for a long time. It is preferable to cook them from large uncrushed grains (buckwheat, rice).
Enriching food with fiber prevents blood glucose levels from rising. Therefore, it is better to buy bread with grain or bran, and not from fine flour. Fruits and berries should be consumed in their natural form, not in juice form.
There are such types of carbohydrate products -"Free", after which the blood glucose level does not increase or increases slightly. These products include almost all types of vegetables in normal amounts (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 glucose 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.
Should I be counting carbs?
A person with type 2 diabetes who takes oral antidiabetic drugs or who is simply on a diet does not need to accurately count the amount of carbohydrates in food. Many people with diabetes have heard of the so-called bread units. Such a calculation system exists for those who take insulin. It allows you to correlate the amount of carbohydrates you eat with the doses of short-acting insulin that these people with diabetes take before meals.
Special "diabetic" products
Sweeteners can make foods sweeter without raising blood glucose levels or making you fat. 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 glucose levels and weight at all. However, most "diabetic" foods (cookies, chocolate, waffles) contain sorbitol, xylitol or fructose instead of sugar, which are almost as high in calories as sugar. Therefore, when they are overweight, they should be limited as much as possible, like regular sweets.
Fractional diet
Fractional mode means multiple meals during the day (5-6 times, but still no more often than 2. 5-3 hours) in small portions. This is helpful because hunger can set in when you're on a low-calorie diet. Eating more often will help reduce it. In addition, a small portion of food contains few 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.
Alcohol is known to have adverse effects on the liver. It can cause hypoglycemia if a person with diabetes takes glucose-lowering drugs and insulin. Never drink alcohol on an empty stomach!