Diabetes mellitus is a very dangerous condition for the elderly and, if not properly controlled, is likely to lead to various acute and chronic complications, especially chronic vascular complications. Currently, diabetes has become the leading cause of blindness and kidney failure in adults, as well as one of the high-risk factors for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.
Experts say that elderly people with diabetes can be treated with diet. The basic principle is total calorie control: the total calorie index is decided according to the patient’s weight, labor intensity, blood sugar, the presence of complications and medication, etc., and adjusted at any time and flexibly.
How to control the total amount of calories for three meals a day?
Total calories
First of all, according to the gender, age and height of the elderly, check the table or use a simple formula to calculate the ideal weight? [ideal weight (kg) = height (cm) – 105], then calculate the total daily calorie requirement according to the ideal weight and the nature of work, with reference to the original living habits and other factors.
For adults, the daily calories given per kilogram of ideal body weight are
105～125.5kJ (25～30kcalth) in resting state;
125.5～146kJ (30～35kcalth) for light physical work;
Moderate physical labor 146～167kJ (35～40kcalth);
Heavy physical labor 167kJ (40kcalth) or more.
Elderly people with diabetes should eat at least three meals a day, and the ratio of breakfast, lunch and dinner can be made according to 1:2:2 or 1:1:1. And it is recommended to add meals, but to control the total amount, add meals not to increase the amount, so as to better control blood sugar.
In addition, it is better to eat seven minutes full and not to overeat.
Control the total amount of calories
1.How to eat carbohydrates
The American Diabetes Association (ADA) advocates that carbohydrates in the diet of diabetic patients should account for 55% to 60% of the total calories.
Diabetic patients for carbohydrate intake can not be no moderation, but also can not be too strict, carbohydrates are the basis of a healthy diet, and carbohydrate-rich foods generally also contain other important nutrients, such as vitamins, dietary fiber, etc., so should not be rejected.
For diabetics rice, pasta and coarse grains can be eaten, and it is recommended to eat coarse and fine grains together.
However, carbohydrates also have the greatest impact on blood sugar concentration, so sugar lovers need to record the amount and time of intake and choose the most nutrient-rich carbohydrates.
2.How to control fat intake
The daily dietary calories provided by fat in diabetic patients should not exceed 30% of the total dietary calories for the whole day; the intake of saturated fatty acids should not exceed 10% of the total dietary calories for the whole day.
Reduce consumption of: saturated fatty acids, including livestock meat, dairy and its products, coconut oil, butter, mutton oil, lard, butter, cream, palm oil, cocoa butter and other foods.
Appropriate consumption: foods rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids and monounsaturated fatty acids, beans and their products, mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, nuts, sunflower oil, soybean oil, corn, poultry, eggs and their products, etc.
3.What to pay attention to in the intake of protein
Daily protein intake should account for 15%-20% of the total calories of the whole day diet, or 0.8~1.2g body weight/day. Among them, high-quality protein should account for 1/3, such as fish, seafood, lean meat, eggs, low-fat milk drinks, nuts, etc.
For those with renal impairment, i.e. those with overt proteinuria, protein intake should be limited to less than 0.8g body weight, and mainly high quality animal protein.
Those without renal impairment, soybeans and soy products are also a good choice, because in addition to providing rich protein, it also has a good effect on reducing blood sugar and blood lipids.
4.How to control the intake of salt
Because salty food will enhance appetite, which is not conducive to diabetic diet control, so the daily salt intake should be limited to less than 6 grams.
5.How to eat fruits
Diabetic patients are not absolutely not allowed to eat fruit, in the case of good control of blood sugar levels, if you want to eat fruit, you should reduce the intake of staple foods accordingly.
Such as a small amount of 25 grams of staple food can be replaced by 150 grams of apples or oranges or peaches, or 100 grams of pears, or 500 grams of watermelon, etc.. As long as the principle of energy balance, blood sugar can be well controlled.
Experts point out that lighter patients can receive good results mainly by diet therapy, while medium and heavy patients must also reasonably apply exercise and drug therapy on the basis of diet therapy. Only if the diet is properly controlled, oral hypoglycemic drugs or insulin can play a good effect. Otherwise, it is difficult to achieve good results by simply relying on the so-called new drugs and ignoring food therapy.