As many as 25.8 million Americans have diabetes, according to 2011 information from the American Diabetes Association (ADA). Most have type 2 diabetes, which usually starts in adulthood and is related to obesity and other lifestyle factors. Another 79 million have pre-diabetes, meaning that their blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not yet high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes. Proper diet helps keep blood sugar under control and prevents complications that can cause numerous serious health problems. A diabetic diet should include protein, carbohydrates and fats in the amounts recommended by your physician.
Stabilizing Blood Sugars
The goal of dietary manipulations when you have diabetes is to keep your blood sugars within the range determined by your physician. Normal fasting blood glucose levels are less than 100 mg/dL. People diagnosed with diabetes have fasting blood glucose levels over 125 mg/dL. Another way to assess glucose control is through a hemoglobin A1C level, which is an average of your blood sugars over a 2 to 3 month period. Your A1C levels should be around 7, although your doctor may set a different level as a goal for you. Keeping blood sugars as close to normal as possible minimizes damage to blood vessels. Damage to blood vessels leads to the complications associated with diabetes.
Reducing Hypoglycemia
Hypoglycemia is a serious side effect of diabetes, particularly in people who inject insulin to decrease blood glucose levels. Your pancreas normally releases insulin when you eat foods that break down into glucose. Insulin helps cells absorb glucose to use as energy. An insulin-dependent diabetic no longer produces any insulin or doesn't produce enough, so he must inject insulin. If he takes insulin and then doesn't eat enough food, insulin removes too much glucose from the bloodstream. The resulting drop in blood sugar, called hypoglycemia, which causes shakiness, sweating, hunger, irritability and weakness before progressing to coma and possibly even death if the diabetic does not eat more food quickly to raise his blood sugar. Keeping the proper balance between the amount of food consumed and the amount of insulin injected will prevent hypoglycemia.
Preventing Blood Vessel Damage
Two types of blood vessel damage lead to complications in diabetics: microvascular and macrovascular. Microvascular damage refers to damage to small blood vessels while macrovascular damage refers to large-blood vessel damage. Excess glucose circulating in the blood vessels causes the damage to the blood vessels. Blood vessels throughout the body, including those in major organs such as the kidneys and heart can all be damaged by microvascular and macrovascular damage. When you keep blood sugars within your normal range, you minimize blood vessel damage.
Decreasing Long-Term Complications
Blood vessel damage causes many of the major diabetic complications. Microvascular complications include diabetic retinopathy, which affected the eyesight of 28.5 million diabetics over age 40 in 2005 to 2008; diabetic kidney disease, the most common cause of kidney failure in the United States and neuropathy, disorders of the nerves, which affects 60 to 70 percent of people with diabetes, according to the ADA. Macrovascular complications can affect the heart; diabetics have two to four times the risk of stroke and death from heart disease, the ADA also warns. When you maintain a proper diet, including losing weight if necessary, you decrease the risk of complications.
