Type 2 diabetes indicates your body cannot properly regulate your blood sugar levels. Poorly managing diabetes can lead to a host of serious and even deadly problems.While a healthy diet often serves as a complement to treatment for most medical problems, it is paramount to managing diabetes as it plays the biggest role in influencing this condition. You should consider working with a nutritionist experienced in diabetic nutrition to design an eating plan that will help you manage your blood sugar as effectively as possible.
How Diet Affects Diabetes
The foods you eat provide your body with energy. Your body's primary energy source---glucose---comes from carbohydrates. Your pancreas produces a hormone called insulin that helps move glucose into your cells and keep blood sugar levels stable. When you have type 2 diabetes, your body cannot use insulin efficiently or it does not produce enough of it, and the insulin has a harder time moving glucose into the cells; instead it remains in the bloodstream at elevated levels. For this reason, you must eat a diet that promotes healthy levels of blood sugar.
Importance of Diet
Eating a particular diet for type 2 diabetes goes beyond managing blood sugar levels. If you have diabetes, you increase your risk for high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart attacks and heart disease. You must also manage your weight as excess pounds will increase the risk for complications. This means that a diabetes diet goes way beyond just watching carbohydrate intake. You must eat a diet that will promote heart-health and a healthy weight.
Carbohydrates
Not all carbohydrates are created equal. You want to avoid carbohydrates that digest very quickly and cause dramatic spikes in blood sugar levels. This includes white-flour breads, pastas and crackers, sugary drinks and sugary foods like cookies, cakes and candy. Complex carbohydrates have a more complex structure and break down more slowly, leading to a steadier release of glucose. Good examples include whole grains, beans, fruits, vegetables and lentils.
As far as fruits and vegetables go, they generally represent a good source of carbohydrates but starchy vegetables have a higher carbohydrate count such as potatoes, corn and squash as do tropical fruits like bananas, papaya and mangoes. Low carbohydrate vegetables include spinach, kale, broccoli and greens. Even whole grain pastas and breads have higher amounts of carbohydrates. Regardless of the type of carbohydrate, you must take care not to consume excess levels.
No specific guideline exists for daily carbohydrate intake but MayoClinic.com recommends carbohydrates comprise anywhere from 45 to 65 percent of your daily caloric intake. Working with a dietitian can help you determine how many grams of carbohydrates you should consume daily based on your particular energy needs.
Importance of Fiber
Fiber-rich foods help diabetes on two fronts: they keep blood sugar steady and help prevent the gastrointestinal tract from absorbing extra cholesterol---important for heart health. You should consume between 25 and 30 g of fiber daily. Good sources include whole grains, beans, nuts, seeds and fruits and vegetables.
Watching Fat Intake
Because of your predisposition to heart problems, you must also incorporate low-fat eating into your diabetes diet plan. The University of Maryland Medical Center suggests fat intake should not exceed 30 percent of your daily calories---you might require less if you have to lose weight. No more than 10 percent of your calories should come from saturated fat---most commonly found in full-fat dairy, red meat, duck and chicken and turkey with the skin on. Like carbohydrates, not all fats are created equal. Good fats such as omega-3 fatty acids found in fatty fish and monounsaturated fat found in olive oil and nuts can contribute to overall heart health---you want to incorporate them into your diet in appropriate amounts. You also want to avoid trans-fats found in most fast food, fried foods, donuts and most commercially-baked goods. Any food label listing partially-hydrogenated oil as an ingredient definitely contains trans-fats. Other sources include most margarines and shortening.
Considerations for Protein
Your body needs protein but diabetes is a primary cause of kidney disease. If you have decreased kidney function, you must limit your intake of protein. This nutrient does not break down as cleanly and easily as other ones and it can lead to a number of problems, including the build up of waste products. Your doctor can offer guidance on protein intake.
