As the saying goes, “Food is the key to life”, and for people with diabetes, diet is particularly important because it has a direct impact on the development of the disease. Every diabetic patient should take reasonable control of diet as a necessary means to fight against the disease and adhere to it throughout their life. The diabetic diet should not only be tasty and healthy, but also conducive to blood sugar stability. The following 4 points of the golden principles of diet, for the reference of sugar lovers.
1. Control the total calories and have a balanced diet
Controlling the total daily calorie intake is the primary principle of diabetic diet. The daily calorie requirement of the human body is closely related to its height, weight, age, labor intensity and other factors.
Sugar beans should determine the daily calorie requirement according to their own situation and reasonably allocate it to three meals a day (generally according to 1/3:1/3:1/3 or 2/5:2/5:1/5). Obese people should reduce the total calorie intake, while children, adolescents, pregnant women, people with high labor intensity and lean sugar beans can increase their daily calorie intake as appropriate.
The platform meal management system can customize the diet plan for all sugar beans according to their height, weight and labor intensity, including the total daily calorie intake, food combination and dietary contraindications.
In addition, diabetic diet should follow the principle of balanced diet. According to the “Chinese Dietary Pita”, the daily diet should include cereals, fruits and vegetables, fish, meat, eggs and milk, beans and fats.
2.Reasonable intake of three major nutrients
Sugar, protein and fat are the three main sources of calories for the human body. The reasonable intake of these three nutrients plays an important role in maintaining the health of the body.
Sugar is the most economical source of energy, especially starch, which is mainly found in staple foods and root vegetables. The daily staple food intake of sugar lovers should be 200 to 350 grams, at least not less than 100 grams per day.
In general, glucose lovers should consume 1 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, and it should be mainly plant-based protein. The supply of protein should be increased for children, during pregnancy or in poorly controlled conditions.
Fat is generally stored in adipose tissue and does not release energy, and is only released for use by the body in a state of hunger or when the concentration of glucose in the blood is too low.
The heat generated by fat is more than two times that of sugar and protein, but the less fat intake is not the better. The daily fat intake of sugar lovers can account for 20% to 30% of the total calories, that is, 40 to 60 grams per day.
3.Appropriate supplementation of vitamins and minerals
Glucose lovers can benefit from proper vitamin and mineral supplementation. Especially in the case of infection, complication of other diseases or poor blood sugar control, more vitamins should be appropriately supplemented. Green leafy vegetables and fruits are high in vitamin C, while coarse grains, legumes and cereals are rich in B vitamins.
The minerals that sugar lovers need to supplement are calcium, magnesium, chromium, zinc and manganese. Among them, chromium is a component of glucose tolerance factor, which is responsible for regulating sugar metabolism in the body and helps maintain blood sugar stability, and glucose lovers can appropriately supplement chromium. (Foods rich in chromium are carrots, green beans, spinach, milk, fruits (such as citrus, apples, strawberries, etc.).
4.Increase fiber diet
Research shows that: areas where 30% of dietary energy is provided by low-fiber refined white flour have a higher incidence of diabetes; areas where 70% of dietary energy is provided by whole grains, beans and vegetables have a significantly lower incidence of diabetes. Therefore, sugar lovers should increase the intake of dietary fiber in their diet, which has many benefits.
(1) Regulation of blood sugar.
After entering the body, dietary fiber will absorb water and swell, forming a barrier network on the surface of the small intestine mucosa, so that food cannot fully contact with the digestive system, thus hindering the diffusion of glucose, delaying the absorption of glucose in the blood, and playing a role in reducing postprandial blood sugar.
(2) Control obesity.
High fiber content of food, easy to make people feel full, reduce calorie intake, and can wrap excess sugar and fat with the intestinal waste out of the body, play a role in weight loss.
In addition, dietary fiber also has the effect of lowering blood cholesterol and preventing cardiovascular disease, but too much consumption can also produce discomfort, such as nausea, bloating, increased stool frequency. The National Academy of Sciences recommends a daily intake of dietary fiber of 20-30 grams per person.