The importance of diet control in the treatment of diabetes Diet control is the top priority in the treatment of diabetic patients. All diabetic patients, whether light or heavy, whether on insulin or oral hypoglycemic drugs, must have diet control, and it should be adhered to for life. Therefore, diabetic patients should know the importance of diet control and how diet affects their blood glucose, blood lipids and blood pressure. On the one hand, diet has an obvious effect on patients’ blood sugar because diabetes occurs because of insufficient insulin secretion or insufficient insulin action. The lack of insulin causes the sugar (staple food or fruit) eaten by diabetic patients, which cannot be metabolized and utilized like normal people, resulting in the accumulation of sugar substances in the body, which raises blood sugar. Some diabetic patients just increase the dose of hypoglycemic drugs when their blood sugar rises and never restrict their diet, which in turn increases their own insulin consumption and the risk of hypoglycemia occurring. On the other hand, due to the high incidence of dyslipidemia in diabetic patients, inappropriate diet can cause hyperlipidemia, coronary heart disease, atherosclerosis and other dyslipidemic diseases. Therefore, diabetic patients should master a healthy, scientific and reasonable diet control method in order to continue to enjoy the food they like to eat while maintaining ideal and stable blood sugar. Four principles of diabetic diet therapy For diabetic patients, a correct and reasonable diet therapy can not only keep blood glucose control in the ideal range, so that patients do not have or less large blood glucose fluctuations, but also reduce the dosage of hypoglycemic drugs. For patients with any type of diabetes, diet therapy should adhere to the following four principles. Total amount control The total daily calorie requirement of the human body should actually be the total amount of food consumed each day. If too much is eaten, these excess calories will be converted into sugars, fats and other substances and stored away leading to obesity. Therefore, the energy intake in the diet can meet the daily needs of normal physiological activities and work, and we should avoid taking in too much energy to cause obesity and too little energy to cause emaciation. The total daily calorie intake of diabetic patients can be estimated at 25-30 kcal per kg of ideal (standard) body weight; among them, sugar, i.e. staple food, should account for 50% to 60% of the total calorie intake, about 4-6 taels (200-300 grams) of staple food per day, while protein should be controlled at less than 20% of the total calorie intake, about 1 gram of protein per kg of body weight; if there is proteinuria or chronic renal insufficiency, it is necessary to further reduce Protein intake. The rest of the calories should be supplied by fat. This way the total amount of food needed daily is relatively fixed. Obese people should subtract 250 to 500 kcal from their total daily calories so that they can gradually reduce their body weight. Smaller and more frequent meals There should be no less than 3 meals a day, with no more than 2 taels (100 grams) of staple food in one meal. You can eat more meals, but not too many at each meal, which is a very applicable principle for diabetics, especially elderly diabetics. Diabetic patients often mainly have elevated blood glucose after meals, and if they control their blood glucose after meals by increasing their medication, it is easy to cause hypoglycemia, so a small number of meals can reduce the dosage of hypoglycemic medication and prevent blood glucose fluctuations at the same time. Patients can add two to three additional meals between three regular meals, that is, a small portion of food from three regular meals can be used for additional meals. If blood sugar control is stable, a small amount of fruit can be eaten between meals, but the amount of main meals should be appropriately deducted, and the amount of fruit should not be too much, generally medium-sized fruits such as pears, apples and peaches can only be eaten one. And patients who apply insulin or insulin-producing drugs, extra meal is needed before bedtime, generally a small cup of unsweetened yogurt with 1-2 soda crackers is enough. These are effective measures to control postprandial hyperglycemia and prevent fasting hypoglycemia. Stable and diversified The dietary habits of diabetic patients, especially the elderly, have been formed for a long time and are not easy to change, including the types of food, the time of eating, and the distribution of the amount of each meal, etc. As far as possible, we should take care of the original dietary condition and do not make excessive changes, otherwise it is difficult to stick to it for a long time. However, it is also necessary to correct the bad eating habits as much as possible, such as some patients like to eat fried food, some like to eat fruits at the same time of meal, some like to eat bubble rice, many patients are accustomed to drink porridge at breakfast, all these are easy to make the blood lipid or postprandial blood sugar rise, should be adjusted on the basis of stable eating habits appropriately. In order to maintain health, it is necessary to take a nutritionally balanced diet, including various essential nutrients such as protein, sugar, fat, vitamins, inorganic salts, trace elements and dietary fiber, etc. Pay attention to the diversity of food varieties, and it is best to match meat and vegetables to give full play to the complementary effects of nutrients among foods.