The Diabetic Diet

One of the common problems for diabetics is weight gain, because insulin treatment tends to encourage a healthy appetite. But finding a good diabetic diet plan is often difficult for diabetics. The need to keep blood sugar balanced means that any diabetic diet plan must address the basic facts of the diabetic metabolism, and help to maintain blood sugar levels. The best diabetic diet plan is usually a personally balanced plan, and most dietitians can help create one.

The diabetic diet plan

Diabetics have two main problems when trying to diet. The first is that they must avoid becoming hypoglycemic, which is caused by taking too much insulin for the amount of glucose in the blood stream, or in diabetics who take oral treatments, too much glucophage or gluben. This is a serious problem, and can lead to coma and death. Although type 2 diabetics are usually seen as having a less dangerous form of diabetes than type 1 diabetics, in this case the opposite is true. The oral drugs controlling diabetes are long acting, and can cause hypoglycemia even 24 hours after swallowing them, so dieting can be quite difficult to do safely.

The second problem is that diabetics lay fat down more easily than other people, but find it hard to metabolise fat again. The diabetic diet plan, therefore, cannot be an Atkins type diet, and because of the risk of hypoglycemia a low-carbs regime is not suitable either. The golden word for diabetics is always balance, and the diabetic diet plan should be an example of this, being a balanced diet from the point of view of calories, food groups and meal timing. Any diet plan which advises on large meals once a day, or concentrates calories in any way will not be suitable for diabetics. The popular reverse diet, which concentrates most calories in the morning, is an example of this, and should be avoided by diabetics if not by everyone.

The most important component of any diet plan should be exercise, and in a diabetic diet plan this is doubly so. Exercise increases sugar uptake by cells, and increases the efficiency of insulin. Type 2 diabetics can sometimes bring their diabetes under control just by losing weight and exercising daily, sometimes without reducing calorie intake by much.

Of course, even diabetics who do not need to lose weight should follow a diabetic diet plan, since an important part of diabetic treatment is correct diet. Diabetics generally should not eat sugar, obviously, but there are many foods which seem not to have sugar in which really do. For instance, white bread breaks down very quickly into sugar in the stomach, and many canned vegetables have added sugar. Alcohol is another of the problem items, because some types have a high concentration of carbohydrates. Even fruit can be unhealthy for diabetics, with large amounts of fructose, which is metabolised into glucose by the body.

A healthy diabetic diet plan should contain whole grains, lentils and beans, which help keep blood sugar stable, lean protein in a reasonable amount and plenty of vegetables, both cooked and raw. Diabetic products like sugar free chocolate can be used sparingly as a treat, but it should be remembered that these products have lots of calories even though they have no sugar.