Diabetes, a chronic metabolic disease, develops when your body loses its ability to control blood glucose levels, mainly due to not enough insulin, a hormone produced by your pancreas. Normally, the foods you digest are broken down into glucose, the form of sugar in your body. Blood carries this glucose throughout your body where insulin acts on the cells to stimulate uptake, utilization and storage of glucose. Without insulin, blood sugar concentrations can be dangerously high in your blood, which, if not treated, can lead to terrible long-term complications, including blindness, heart disease, kidney failure and nerve damage. A diet that emphasizes foods high in fiber and low in carbohydrates may be appropriate for people with diabetes.
Limit Your Dietary Carbohydrate
Foods containing large amounts of starch, such as white bread, white rice and potato, must be limited in your diet. Starch, or carbohydrate, is a form of sugar found in plants. Eating a diet full of food made from carbohydrates can lead to a large and rapid increase in blood glucose, raising your insulin levels higher. When you eat carbohydrate-containing foods, your body converts this carbohydrate to blood glucose and pumps this glucose into your blood as quickly as your body processes pure sugar, explains the University of Maryland Medical Center.
Eat Fatty Fish
Adding healthy oils, such as omega-3 fatty acids, to your diet is preferable. Good sources of omega-3 fatty acids are cold-water fatty fish, such as salmon, halibut, mackerel, sardines and tuna. They contain two major classes of omega-3 fatty acids: eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid. Omega-3 fatty acids are considered essential fatty acids because your body can't manufacture them. These polyunsaturated fats help normalize the activities of blood glucose in type 2 diabetic patients through improving insulin-resistance because blood glucose is disposed of more efficiently with less insulin secretion.
Select Whole Grains
A diet high in whole grains, as part of an overall healthy diet, may provide benefits to patients with diabetes and keep appetite in check. Whole grain foods, such as oats, beans and barley, generally retain the bran and germ as well as the endosperm of the original grain. They are excellent sources of dietary protein, phytonutrients, vitamins, minerals and fiber. The current popularity of whole grains has to do with their soluble fiber content, which adds bulk to food without additional calories and delays the return of a hunger after a meal. This slows the absorption of carbohydrates--the main building blocks of which are sugars--and improves the regulation of blood sugar and lowers insulin secretion.
References
- MedlinePlus: Diabetes
- Harvard School of Public Health: The Nutrition Source Ask the Expert: Omega-3 Fatty Acids
- American Heart Association: Fish and Omega-3 Fatty Acids
- Colorado State University: Dietary Fiber
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Diabetes Diet - Major Food Components
- Haverford College: Macronutrients
