A diabetes diagnosis elevates your risk for a number of serious health conditions, including vision problems, loss of feeling in your feet, stroke and heart attack. Consistently following a nutritious meal plan will help you control diabetes and prevent the harmful effects of the disease.
Defining the Disease
Your body converts the foods you consume into a form of sugar called glucose. The hormone insulin allows glucose to travel to the cells of your body and provide energy. Improper use of insulin by your body, also known as diabetes, causes glucose to build up in your blood. The buildup prevents glucose from reaching your cells and deprives your body of energy. Consuming a nutritious diet is essential to your well-being if you have diabetes, since the foods you eat affect the level of glucose in your blood.
Proper Portions
For a nutritious diabetes diet, fill half of your plate with low-starch vegetables like carrots, a quarter of your plate with protein-rich fish or lean meat, and a quarter of your plate with carbohydrates like potatoes and bread. You can also add a small piece of fruit or an 8 oz. glass of low-fat milk, as well as up to 2 tsp. of vegetable oil or margarine. Fill your entire plate at dinner and lunch and half of it at breakfast.
Reduced Risk of Complications
The goal of diabetes nutrition is to ensure that you achieve a healthy weight, which reduces the risk of complications caused by the disease. Proper nutrition lowers the likelihood of neuropathy — nerve damage — in your feet and legs, which would limit your ability to feel broken bones or sores and could necessitate amputation. Eating healthy also decreases your chance of diabetic retinopathy — damage to your eyes that can cause blurry vision, temporary loss of sight or permanent blindness. Some people with diabetes suffer nephropathy, or damage to the kidneys. Eating nutritious foods helps you avoid the need for a kidney transplant or dialysis.
Avoiding More Problems
People with diabetes are twice as likely to suffer heart disease and stroke. Consuming a nutritious diet benefits your heart. Eating healthy also prevents mouth and skin problems related to diabetes, such as itching and fungal and bacterial infections, and reduces your risk of developing weak bones and osteoporosis. Pregnant mothers with gestational diabetes — or diabetes that occurs when pregnancy hormones cause an insulin resistance — benefit from nutritious eating, since the disease often results in complications for babies, such as abnormal growth, jaundice and difficulty breathing.
Considerations
Ask your doctor for a referral to a dietitian if you feel your eating habits are unhealthy. Your dietitian can build a nutritious diabetes meal plan based on your preferences and lifestyle. Regular exercise on most days of the week will complement your diabetes diet and aid weight loss. Plan for at least 30 minutes of walking, riding a bicycle or swimming after securing your doctor’s approval.
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