A poor diet can play a big role in your health and in your risk of developing diabetes. Diabetes is a condition in which your body is not able to regulate your blood glucose levels. If your diabetes is not controlled, you can have life-threatening complications. Diabetes can be caused by a combination of genetics, living a sedentary lifestyle and eating a poor diet.
What is a Poor Diet?
A poor diet is a meal plan that is full of calories and is made up of mostly processed and fast foods. Processed foods contain trans fat, are high in sodium and contain large amounts of refined carbohydrates. They are also high in saturated fat, which in combination with trans fat can cause an increase your cholesterol levels. A poor diet leads to weight gain, and an unhealthy body weight increases your risk for developing high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
Food and Diabetes
The types of foods in a poor diet can cause sharp rises in your blood glucose levels. If you have diabetes, that means that your body does not produce or use insulin properly. Insulin is used by your body to control your blood glucose, so if you have diabetes and eat a poor diet, your glucose levels can rise too quickly and cause serious complications. The worst foods for your glucose levels are refined carbohydrates and sugary drinks because they tend to raise your levels too quickly for your body to recover.
What Should You Eat?
If you have diabetes or if you want to prevent diabetes, you need to avoid poor dietary choices and eat foods that are healthier for your body. Some examples of the types of foods that can help you manage or prevent diabetes include eating mostly plant foods, such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables. In addition, eat healthy fat sources like fish, nuts, seeds and vegetable oils such as olive and canola oil. These foods do not cause your glucose levels to spike and they can also help you maintain a healthy body weight if you manage your activity levels and your caloric intake.
Considerations
Diabetes is managed with healthy eating, exercise and medications. The Harvard School of Public Health recommends five steps to preventing diabetes. These steps include maintaining a healthy body weight, eating mostly plant foods, choosing healthy fat sources, daily exercise and skipping refined carbohydrates and sugary drinks. If you follow these simple steps and stay away from a poor diet, you can help your body maintain a healthy blood glucose level, which is below 100 mg/dL on your blood glucose test.
