The effect of malnutrition on blood glucose levels cannot be fully compensated by the use of any drugs for type 2 diabetes.Proper nutrition is an essential part of effective type 2 diabetes management and will help you reach your blood glucose goals.
Nutritional approaches will vary for people with type 2 diabetes who are overweight or not, arterial hypertension, etc.
The vast majority of overweight people have type 2 diabetes. Being overweight prevents your own insulin from acting effectively, which is why blood glucose levels remain high.Therefore, weight loss is an indispensable condition for rational treatment!Even moderate weight loss (by 5-10%) improves carbohydrate metabolism, especially in the early period of the disease.
How to achieve weight loss?
It should be noted right away that there are no specific products or medicinal plants for weight loss. Currently, there are no medications that can provide highly effective and completely safe weight loss on their own, without diet.
The only reliable way is to limit energy intake in the body. (it is expressed in calories), i. e. compliance with the ruleslow-calorie food. As a result of the resulting energy deficit, the energy reserves "conserved" in fat tissue will be spent on the various needs of the body, and the weight will certainly decrease.
The energy carriers in food are its three components:proteins, fats and carbohydrates. Most of them are high-calorie fats, containing 9 kcal per 1 gram; in proteins and carbohydrates - 4 kcal per 1 gram.
The most effective way to reduce the calorie content of a diet is to reduce its fat content. This is not only safe, but also useful for a modern person, since our diet is, unfortunately, too saturated with fats. Compared to fats, the calorie content of proteins and carbohydrates can be considered moderate, however, in order to achieve a good effect in weight loss, they must still be somewhat limited.
There are some products that do not need to be limited when losing weight. On the contrary, it is these products that can compensate for the above restrictions and replenish the reduced amount of food. This food group is mainly represented by vegetables, which are poor in nutrients but rich in water, as well asvegetable fibresnot digested. Vegetable fibers offer many benefits to the body: they improve intestinal function, help absorb vitamins, have a beneficial effect on fat metabolism, etc.
There are three groups of products that need to be consumed in different ways to reduce weight.Looking at these groups, you will definitely be involved in a traffic light.
Maximum limit
High-calorie foods: rich in fats, alcohol, sugar and confectionery
Examples:any oil, lard, sour cream, mayonnaise; cream, fatty cottage cheese and cheese; oily fish, poultry skin, tinned meat; fish and vegetables in oil; fatty meats, smoked meats, sausages; sugar, sweet drinks, honey, jam, jam, sweets, cakes, cookies, chocolate, ice cream, nuts, seeds, alcoholic drinks.
Moderate limit (eat half of previous normal portion)
Medium calorie products: protein, starch, dairy products, fruits and berries.
Examples:milk and sour milk products with a regular fat content or low fat/skim, cheeses less than 30% fat, cottage cheese less than 4% fat, eggs, Lean meat, fish, pasta, bread and lean baked goods, cereals; fruits, potatoes, corn, ripe grains, peas and beans.
Unrestricted use
Low-calorie foods: vegetables (except potatoes, corn, ripe peas and beans), and low-calorie drinks.
Examples:radishes, radishes, beets, carrots, mushrooms, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, eggplant, bean pods, young green peas, lettuce, greens, spinach, Samdah, any cabbage; tea, coffee without sugar and cream, mineral water.
Is it possible to maintain a low calorie diet without counting calories?
This is quite doable if guided by the product selection principles outlined above. Moreover, experts have long recognized that it is not the number of calories that a person must eat (it is quite difficult to specify it exactly for everyone), but the one by which a person has reduced his diet is important!
The result will be achieved as an indicator of the correct observance of the principles of low-calorie nutrition: weight loss! If the weight is not reduced, this indicates that it has not yet been possible to significantly reduce the caloric content of the diet.
How do different carbohydrates affect blood glucose levels?
Carbohydrates are the only nutrients that directly increase blood glucose, but this is no reason to limit them significantly.
Carbohydrates in the diet of anyone, including a person with diabetes, should be enough (at least 50% of the total calories), because they are a source of energy for the body. Moreover, different carbohydrates have different effects on blood glucose levels.
Yessimplecarbohydrates (called sugars), which are easily digested, because they are made up of small molecules and are quickly absorbed in the digestive tract (after 10 minutes). They immediately and strongly increase the level of glucose in the blood. It is from these carbohydrates that sugar, honey, many of them are found in fruit juices (they are also found in natural fruits, but due to the presence of fiber, the absorption of carbohydrates is not as fast), beer. Such carbohydrates are also found in liquid dairy products, but due to the fat content, carbohydrates are not absorbed as quickly.
Another type of carbohydratecomplicated(starches), they also increase blood glucose levels, but not as quickly and not as much as simple carbohydrates. Representatives of such products: bread, cereals, pasta, potatoes, corn. The starch molecule is large, and to assimilate it, the body has to work hard. Therefore, the glucose formed as a result of the breakdown of starch is absorbed more slowly (after about 30 minutes), which raises its level in the blood to a lesser extent.
Culinary processing of starchy foods (no grinding, prolonged thermal exposure) contributes to the rise in blood glucose levels. This means that a strong increase in blood glucose when eating starches can be prevented by using certain processing and cooking methods. For example, it is more correct to cook potatoes not in the form of mashed potatoes, but to boil them completely in their skins, so that they remain dense. It is also better not to cook porridge for too long. It is best to cook them from large uncrushed grains (buckwheat, rice).
Enriching food with plant fibers prevents an increase in blood glucose levels. Therefore, it is better to buy grain or bran bread, and not from fine flour. Fruits and berries should be eaten in their natural form, not in the form of juices.
There are such types of carbohydrate products -"cheap", after the blood glucose level will not rise or rise slightly. These products include almost all types of vegetables in normal quantities (except potatoes). For example, cabbage, lettuce, parsley, dill, radish, turnip, zucchini, eggplant, pumpkin, pepper, etc. Among the products of this group, the largest amount of carbohydrates can be found in beets and carrots, but the increase in blood glucose after them is not very great. Therefore, if you eat them in moderation (as a side dish, no more than 200 g), they can also be ignored.
Do I need to count carbohydrates?
A person with type 2 diabetes who is on oral anti-diabetic drugs or just on a diet does not need to accurately calculate the number of carbohydrates in food. Many people with diabetes have heard of the so-called bread units. There is such a calculation system for those who receive insulin. It allows you to correlate the amount of carbohydrates consumed with the doses of short-acting insulin that these people with diabetes inject before meals.
Special "diabetic" products.
Sweeteners can make food taste sweeter without raising blood glucose levels or causing weight gain. But in this case we are only talking about non-caloric sugar substitutes. These include aspartame, saccharin, cyclamate, acesulfame potassium, sucralose, stevioside. They do not affect blood glucose levels and weight at all. However, most "diabetic" foods (cookies, chocolate, waffles) are instead of sugar sorbitol, xylitol or fructose, which are almost as high in calories as sugar. Therefore, when they are overweight, they must be limited as much as possible, like regular sweets.
Fractional diet
Fractional method means multiple meals during the day (5-6 hours, but still not more often than after 2. 5-3 hours) in small portions. This is useful because hunger can occur when following a low-calorie diet. Eating more often will help reduce it. In addition, a small part of the food contains some carbohydrates, and this will facilitate the work of the pancreas.
Alcohol
Due to its high calorie content (7 kcal per 1 g), alcohol can contribute to weight gain. In addition, it directly worsens the indicators of fat metabolism and blood pressure. So limit your alcohol intake as much as possible.
Alcohol is known to have an adverse effect on the liver. It can cause hypoglycemia if a person with diabetes is on drugs that lower glucose and insulin. Never drink alcohol on an empty stomach!