As the saying goes, “Food is the sky”, and for diabetic patients, diet is particularly important because good or bad diet control directly affects the development of the disease, and every diabetic patient should take reasonable control of diet as a necessary means to fight against the disease. Every diabetic should take proper diet control as a necessary tool to fight the disease and stick to it for life. Today, we will help you analyze eight common dietary misconceptions of diabetic patients.
Myth 1: The less staple food you eat, the better
Some patients believe that diabetic diet therapy is to control the intake of staple foods to achieve the purpose of controlling blood glucose elevation, the less meals eaten the better for blood glucose control, they only control the intake of staple foods three meals a day, or even eat only half a tael to one tael of staple foods per meal all year round.
Analysis: This understanding is incorrect. The first principle of diabetes nutrition treatment is to control the total calorie intake, which means that not only the amount of staple food should be controlled, but also the amount of side food should be controlled, and you can’t just eat more because the side food contains less sugar. One gram of carbohydrate produces 4 kcal, 1 gram of protein also produces 4 kcal, and 1 gram of fat can produce 9 kcal. If you do not eat staple foods or eat too little may result in two kinds of results: First, due to insufficient intake of staple foods, the body’s total calories can not meet the needs of the body’s metabolism, so that the body’s protein and fat decomposition in excess, resulting in body wasting, malnutrition, and even starvation ketosis; second, because they think they have controlled the amount of diet, so let down their vigilance on side dishes, so that the total daily calories far exceed the control range. Moreover, excessive fat intake is also prone to hyperlipidemia and cardiovascular diseases, which eventually leads to dietary control failure.
Suggestions: Diabetic diet control mainly refers to the control of total calories from food intake and fat containing high calories. For staple foods containing more complex carbohydrates, the rate of blood glucose rise is relatively slow, and they are appropriately controlled within the total calorie range, but need not be overly restricted. Generally speaking, the daily staple food intake should not be less than 150 grams.
Myth 2: Eating steamed buns raises blood sugar higher than eating rice
Some patients eat steamed buns after self-testing blood glucose than after eating rice blood glucose value is higher, it is believed that steamed buns ability to raise blood glucose is stronger than rice, so only eat rice not steamed buns, or even not all pasta.
Analysis: This understanding is incorrect. Flour and rice of the same weight contain very similar carbohydrates and glycemic index, and there is no particular difference in the effect on blood sugar. There are two possible reasons for the above situation: First, the measurement was not performed under equal circumstances. In addition to the main food being rice and steamed buns respectively, the results are more credible only if the blood glucose is monitored under many other conditions that remain unchanged. Second, the raw weight and cooked weight were not clarified. Generally speaking, when we calculate the weight of a recipe, we mean raw weight. 50 grams of flour and 50 grams of rice provide similar calories, and there is no big difference in the ability to raise blood sugar. However, the weight of 50 grams of flour steamed into buns increases to about 75 grams, while the weight of 50 grams of rice steamed into rice can be about 130 grams (depending on how much water it contains the weight varies slightly). This shows that if you eat the same 75 grams of steamed buns compared to rice, it is clear that steamed buns provide more calories and have a greater ability to raise blood sugar.
Suggestion: calculate the intake of staple foods by raw weight, if you want to use cooked weight, remember the simple conversion formula above. Don’t give up a large group of foods easily, that will make your recipes monotonous and affect the smooth nutritional treatment.
Myth 3: No need to restrict coarse grains
Some patients believe that dietary fiber is good for blood sugar control, so they only eat coarse grains or eat a lot of coarse grains every day.
Analysis: This understanding is incorrect. First, coarse grains are also grains, and the carbohydrates contained in them are not significantly different from fine grains, so if they are not restricted, it will lead to the intake of more total calories than needed, which is extremely unfavorable to blood sugar control. Second, the dietary fiber contained in coarse grains does have the effect of assisting in lowering blood sugar, lowering blood lipids and laxative, but if you eat only coarse grains, it may increase the burden on the gastrointestinal tract and also affect the absorption of micronutrients, which will cause malnutrition in the long run.
Suggestions: follow the general principle of coarse and fine mix, calculate the amount of staple food within the total calorie range, coarse grains can account for about 1/3 of the total staple food.
Myth 4: No need to limit salty food
Some patients believe that diabetes is not to eat sweet food, but salty cookies, salty bread, French fries, potato chips and other puffed food does not contain sugar, do not need to control.
Analysis: This understanding is incorrect. First of all, a variety of cookies, bread is also made of grain, and rice buns contain carbohydrates, eaten will also be converted into glucose in the body and lead to increased blood sugar; second, fries, chips and other puffed foods contain a lot of salt as well as fat, in addition to providing heat almost no nutritional value.
Suggestions: consumption of cookies, bread and other foods should be calculated into the total calorie range for the day, as a meal option, such as the main meal, subject to reduce the amount of other main consumption; French fries, potato chips and other puffed food, containing a lot of saturated fat, calories and salt, nutritional value is not high, it is recommended to eat less.
Misconception five: no need to limit vegetable oil
Some patients believe that vegetable oils are rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, better than animal oils, and therefore do not need to limit the intake of vegetable oils, as long as they do not eat or eat less animal oils, there will be no problem.
Analysis: This perception is incorrect. Vegetable oil contains a large number of unsaturated fatty acids, from the point of view of nutrition and health is indeed significantly better than animal oil. But this does not mean that vegetable oil can be unlimited. Because, whether vegetable oil or animal oil, they are all fats by nature, and fats produce high calories. If not controlled it is easy to exceed the total daily calorie range, resulting in weight gain, affecting the control of blood sugar.
Suggestions: animal oil can not eat, can eat less to eat less; for vegetable oil, according to the “Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents” requires no more than 25 grams per day, if combined with high blood fat or fatty liver, the daily intake of vegetable oil is best controlled within 20 grams.
Myth 6: You don’t need to control your diet after taking glucose-lowering drugs and insulin
Some patients believe that the role of glucose-lowering drugs or insulin is to lower blood sugar, and taking drugs or insulin can offset the increase in blood sugar caused by food intake, so they do not need to bother to control their diet.
Analysis: This perception is incorrect. First, the purpose of glucose-lowering drugs or insulin treatment is for smooth blood sugar control, and the amount used must be adjusted on the basis of a fixed diet. If the diet is not controlled, the type and amount of food eaten at each meal every day will be different, and blood sugar will inevitably become more unstable. Secondly, insulin is divided into short-acting, medium-acting, long-acting and mixed doses according to its peak effect and duration of onset of action, and the injection of insulin must be closely coordinated with meal times, otherwise it will easily lead to more serious hypoglycemia. Therefore, it is important for diabetic patients to have regular and quantitative meals.
Suggestion: No matter what stage a diabetic patient is in, whether you use glucose-lowering drugs or insulin, to achieve good results need to be based on a reasonable diet, so it is necessary to ask a professional nutritionist to give you a customized diet control program.
Myth 7: Fruits are high in sugar, never ask for them again
Some patients think that fruit is sweet and will cause blood sugar to rise, so they will never ask for any fruit after they have diabetes.
Analysis: This understanding is incorrect. Fruits are rich in vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber and carbohydrates and other nutrients, so it is a pity to give up this large category of food directly from the perspective of nutrition. The carbohydrates in fruits are mainly fructose, the metabolism of which is not dependent on insulin, and the dietary fiber contained in fruits can also delay the absorption of blood sugar to a certain extent.
Suggestion: As long as the blood sugar is well controlled and stable (fasting blood sugar below 6.1 mmol/L, postprandial blood sugar below 8.0 mmol/L), it is perfectly fine to eat the right amount of fruits at the right time. The right time means that it should be eaten as a meal between two main meals, not together with the main meal. The right amount means that the total amount of fruit is not more than 200 grams a day, which can be divided into 2 additional meals, and according to the food exchange method, reduce 25 grams of the main food, so as to ensure the calorie balance of the whole day’s diet. Finally, a reminder that fruits with low glycemic index are preferred, such as cherries, apples, pears, etc.
Misconception eight: so-and-so food is sugar-lowering food
Some patients believe that so-and-so food can lower blood sugar, and spread by word of mouth among diabetic patients.
Analysis: This perception is incorrect. First of all, almost all foods contain calories, some contain carbohydrates, some contain fats, some contain proteins, as long as they contain calories, they will raise blood sugar after intake, only that some foods have lower energy density or contain dietary fiber, so the speed and strength of raising blood sugar is not fast, but the general trend must be to raise blood sugar, not to lower it. Therefore, there will not be a certain kind of natural food that can lower blood sugar, unless it contains hypoglycemic drugs, but this is absolutely not allowed.
Suggestion: You can appropriately use foods with low energy density or containing dietary fiber, which are good for delaying blood sugar absorption and reducing blood sugar fluctuations. For example: bitter melon, konjac and other foods.