The use of any medication for type 2 diabetes still cannot fully compensate for the impact of malnutrition on blood glucose levels.Eating right 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 change somewhat.
The vast majority of overweight people with type 2 diabetes. Excess weight prevents their insulin from working effectively, so blood glucose levels remain high.Therefore, weight loss is a necessary condition 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 medications that by themselves, without dieting, can provide highly effective and completely safe weight loss.
The only reliable way is to limit the intake of energy in the body.(shown in calories), d. m. th. compliance with the ruleslow calorie food. The resulting energy deficit leads to the fact that energy reserves "stored" in adipose tissue will be spent on various needs of the body, and weight will definitely decrease.
Energy carriers in food are its three components:proteins, fats and carbohydrates. The most caloric 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 caloric content of a diet is to reduce its fat content. This is not only safe, but also useful for a modern person, since our diet, unfortunately, is saturated with fats. Compared to fats, the caloric content of proteins and carbohydrates can be considered moderate, however, to achieve a good effect on weight loss, they still need to be slightly limited.
There are a number of products that do not need to be limited when losing weight. On the contrary, it is these products that can compensate for the above limitations and supplement the reduced amount of food. This food group is mainly represented by vegetables, which are poor in nutrients but rich in water, as well asplant fibersthat do not dissolve. Plant 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 must be consumed in different ways to lose weight.Looking at these groups, you will definitely have a connection with a traffic light.
Maximum limit
High-calorie foods: high in fat, alcohol, sugar and sweets
Examples:any oil, lard, sour cream, mayonnaise; cream, fatty cottage cheese and cheese; oily fish, poultry skin, canned meat; fish and vegetables in oil; fatty meat, smoked meat, sausages; sugar, sweet drinks, honey, jam, marmalade, cakes, sweets, cookies, chocolate, ice cream, nuts, seeds, alcoholic beverages.
Limit moderately (eat half of the previous usual portion)
Medium-calorie products: protein, starch, dairy products, fruits and berries.
Examples:regular fat or low-fat / skim milk and sour milk products, cheeses with less than 30% fat, cottage cheese less than 4% fat, eggs, lean meat, fish, pasta, bread and dairy productslean baked, whole grains; fruit, potatoes, corn, baked beans, peas and beans.
Use without restrictions
Low-calorie foods: vegetables (except potatoes, corn, peas, and baked beans) and low-calorie beverages.
Examples:Radishes, radishes, beets, carrots, mushrooms, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, eggplant, green beans, young green 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 quite possible if guided by the principles of product selection described above. Moreover, experts have long understood that it is not the number of calories that a person should consume (it is quite difficult to specify it exactly for each person), but the one by which a person actually reduces his dietit is important!
An indicator of correct adherence to the principles of low-calorie nutrition 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 limit them drastically.
Carbohydrates in the diet of any person, including a person with diabetes, should be sufficient (at least 50% of total calories), as they are a source of energy for the body. Furthermore, different carbohydrates have different effects on blood glucose levels.
there areSIMPLEcarbohydrates (called sugars), which are very easily digested, because they consist of small molecules and are quickly absorbed in the digestive system (after 10 minutes). They immediately and very strongly increase the level of glucose in the blood. It is from these carbohydrates that sugar, honey, many of them are found in fruit juices (also found in natural fruits, but due to the presence of fibers, the absorption of carbohydrates is not so fast), beer. Such carbohydrates are also found in liquid milk products, but due to the fat content, the carbohydrates are not absorbed as quickly.
Another type of carbohydratecomplex(starch), they 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 assimilate 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.
Culinary processing of starchy foods (any grinding, prolonged thermal exposure) contributes to increased blood glucose levels. This means that a sharp rise in blood glucose when you eat 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 skins, so that they remain dense. It is also better not to cook porridge for a long time. It is preferable to cook them from large, uncrushed grains (buckwheat, rice).
Enriching food with vegetable fiber prevents the increase in blood glucose levels. Therefore, it is better to buy bread with wheat or bran, and not from fine flour. Fruits and berries should be consumed in their natural form, not in liquid 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, fennel, 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 calculate 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. This 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 raising blood glucose levels or gaining weight. But in this case we are only talking about calorie-free sugar substitutes. These include aspartame, saccharin, cyclamate, acesulfame potassium, sucralose, stevioside. They do not affect the blood glucose level 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 ordinary sweets.
Fractional diet
Partial mode means multiple meals during the day (5-6 times, but not more often 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 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 indicators of fat metabolism and blood pressure. So limit your alcohol intake as much as possible.
Alcohol is known to have negative 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!