Diabetes is fast emerging as a global health problem. Up till now, communicable diseases had captured the world's attention despite non-communicable diseases accounting for over 60% of morbidity and mortality in the world. However with the number of people suffering from diabetes having soared to 246 million, the disease now kills more people than AIDS.
Diabetes is a chronic condition that occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar levels and although it is responsible for 4 million deaths every year, it is a much ignored disease.
Unlike other diseases it is easier to keep diabetes under control by following a proper diet. Diet plays a key role in controlling your blood sugar. A healthy-eating plan tailored to your needs will do that and more. A proper diet helps the digestive system by not over burdening the pancreas to produce insulin. So controlling your diet can be the key to reducing the risk of diabetes as well as improving your symptoms if you are already affected by this disease.
Having a healthy eating plan also helps to reduce the risk of diseases like heart attack, stroke, and blood pressure. These conditions are commonly associated with diabetics.
Eating healthy involves eating a variety of foods that encompasses the four food constituents, namely vegetables & fruits, whole grains, dairy products, & Meats.
In order to eat healthy, a plate of balanced diet should consist each of the above mentioned constituent, this doesn’t mean that you have to eat everything, some of this and a little bit of that will do the trick. The ultimate should be a healthy balanced diet.
Diabetes Diet Plan When you go on a diabetes diet, the first things you need to do is to prepare a healthy diet plan. This plan will tell you how much to eat and what kinds of food to choose when you eat. Let us represent the four food constituents, vegetables & fruits, whole grains, dairy products, & Meats with colors.
Green
Orange
Red
Vegetables
Fruits
Beans & Legumes
Whole Grains
Breads
Fresh Juices etc.
Meats
Poultry
Fish
Animal Protein
Milk etc.
Sweets
Carbonated Drinks
Energy Drinks
Alcohol
Fried Foods
Fats (Cheese, Butter) etc.
The Red Group is one of the food groups that diabetes people should avoid.
The problem with diabetes involves the inability of our body to make use of glucose in the blood. Eating a lot of sugar rich foods results in an increase in glucose level in our blood this in turn overwhelms the hormone- insulin which is responsible for regulating glucose, making it ineffective. On the other hand, our cells might be defective so that even though we have enough insulin to handle the job, our cells do not respond.
In order to control the levels of glucose in the blood stream, controlling diabetes diet is important. The intake of Red Group namely the fats, sweets, alcohol and other generally "unhealthy" foods should be minimized and enjoyed occasionally.
As for the rest of the food groups, the recommended serving sizes by the American Diabetes Association:
Greens: Vegetables: Choose at least 3-5 servings per day. Fruits: Choose at least 3-5 servings per day. Grains and Starches: Choose 6-11 servings per day.
Orange: Milk: Choose 2-3 servings per day Meat and Meat Substitutes: Choose 4-6 oz per day divided between meals
Use this only as a guide in planning your meals. If you want a more individualized option, consult your dietitian. Apart from a healthy diet, regular exercise and de-stressing will go a long way in keeping your diabetes in check.
These are two main forms of diabetes mellitus. Type 1 diabetes is usually due to autoimmune destruction of the pancreatic beta cells. Type 2 diabetes is characterized by insulin resistance in target tissues.
Type 1 diabetes, in which insulin is not secreted by the pancreas, is directly treatable only with injected insulin, although dietary and other lifestyle adjustments are part of management. Type 2 may be managed with a combination of dietary treatment, tablets and injections and, frequently, insulin supplementation.
Diabetes is fast emerging as a global health problem. Up till now, communicable diseases had captured the world's attention despite non-communicable diseases accounting for over 60% of morbidity and mortality in the world. However with the number of people suffering from diabetes having soared to 246 million, the disease now kills more people than AIDS.