In the hospital, diabetics and their families often ask several questions about how to pay attention to their diet if they have diabetes. What foods can I eat and what foods can I not eat? It is clear that most people do not understand the dietary requirements of diabetics. The first thing you need to do is to make sure that you have a good diet and that you are eating the right foods to control your diabetes more effectively.
First, diabetics need to learn to count total food calories. We can use a simple formula to get ideal body weight (kg) = height (cm) – 105. Adults need 25-30 kcal per kg of ideal body weight per day at rest, 30-35 kcal for light physical work, 35-40 kcal for medium physical work, and 40+ kcal for heavy physical work. For children, pregnant women, lactating mothers and malnourished people, the amount can be increased as appropriate, and reduced for obese people. Then calculate the total number of calories required per day.
When selecting food groups, carbohydrates (rice, noodles, and other staples) should make up 50% to 60% of the total calories in your diet. Protein (milk, beans, eggs, fish and shrimp, etc.) should account for 10-15%, and fat (peanuts, sesame seeds, fried foods, fatty meats, animal offal, etc.) should provide no more than 30% of the total calories. Because fiber-rich foods can slow down food absorption and reduce postprandial blood sugar spikes, diabetics should eat more grains and fiber-rich vegetables. And salt intake should be limited to less than 6 grams per day. And diabetics should quit smoking and limit alcohol, drinking alcohol can make blood sugar fluctuate, and drinking large amounts of alcohol on an empty stomach can cause severe hypoglycemia that is difficult to detect.
Second, after determining the total daily calories and the composition of sugars, fats, and proteins, you can make your own recipes by converting calories to food based on 4 kcal per gram of sugar and protein and 9 kcal per gram of fat. The recommended calorie split between the three meals is 1:2:2, or 1:1:1.
A basic rule for diabetics when choosing foods is: Those that may raise blood sugar quickly, and those that are high in sugar or fat or starch, should be eaten sparingly. They are easily converted to glucose. For example, candies, preserves, sodas, sweet cookies, sweet bread, pastries, roast pork, dumplings, potatoes, corn, and taro are high in sugar or starch and are prone to hyperglycemia after consumption. And animal offal, egg yolk, fatty meat, peanuts and walnuts are high in fat, leading to an increased risk of atherosclerosis in diabetics.
When it comes to eating habits, diabetics can learn a few tips. Dietitians recommend that diabetics: Serve regular meals and snack less and more often, so that they can avoid blood sugar fluctuations as much as possible. Eat dry, not thin, hard, not soft, because the thinner and softer the food is, the easier it is to digest and the faster your blood sugar rises. Eat green, not red, meaning that green foods are generally lower in sugar than red foods and are better for diabetics to eat.