Six nutrients are standard
We need to consume several major substances such as starch, protein, fat, vitamins, micronutrients, and water every day. The total number of calories depends on body weight, and is usually obtained by multiplying the kilogram weight by 30. For example, for a 50 kg person, the daily calorie intake is 1500 calories (for people with light exercise). This 1500 calories can be divided into three meals, with the most common distribution being 1/5 for breakfast, 2/5 for lunch, and 2/5 for dinner, or 1/3 for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Counting the food quota
Patients consume several macronutrients every day, so how should these nutrients be distributed to facilitate blood glucose control? In several macronutrients, total daily calories come mainly from starch, protein and fat, with starch intake accounting for most of the daily intake, amounting to 5 to 6 percent. Protein depends on the individual. For elderly people with poor kidney function, protein intake should be less, generally accounting for about 30 percent, while fat can account for 20 percent. For example, for a total caloric intake of 1500 calories a day at 50 kg body weight, the nutrients are distributed as follows:
- 750 calories of starch. Starch is mainly carbohydrates, which means you can eat 3 to 4 taels of rice per day. Staple foods should be coarse rather than fine, with as few refined foods as possible and a variety of coarse grains. Try to choose foods with a low glycemic index (GI) and high dietary fiber content, such as a mix of coarse products with multiple varieties of cereals.
- 500 calories of protein. Eat about 2.5 taels of meat per day. Try to get some high-quality protein, such as fish, poultry, eggs, milk, etc. And it should be a mix of meat and vegetables, with soy and products containing plant protein being better than animal protein.
- 250 calories of fat. Eat about 0.5 taels of oil per day. Try to stay away from animal fats and trans fatty acids, the former such as animal oils and whole milk, and the latter such as margarine and vegetable oils. Choose blended oil, tea oil, vegetable oil, etc. In addition, cholesterol-rich foods should not be eaten, such as animal brains, fish roe, shrimp, animal offal, etc.
- 600 to 800 ml of water. If poor kidney function occurs, water intake should also be reduced.
How food is cooked is also important. Try to steam or boil it, and use less stir-frying, pan-frying, or deep-frying. The degree of processing of food is also important. The more thoroughly grains and potatoes are steamed and cooked, the higher the GI value, for example, the GI value of porridge is greater than that of rice.
What are the rules for eating fruit?
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If you want to eat fruit, you should also cut back on your main meal. It is recommended that you choose fruit that is not too sweet, and you can eat half a couple to a couple of fruits between meals. The more ripe the fruit, the higher the GI, such as ripe watermelon over raw watermelon; the less water and the longer it sits, the higher the GI, such as dried fresh dried fruit over fresh fruit. When choosing fruit, cherries, plums, grapefruit, apples, pears, and tangerines are preferred, followed by kiwis and peaches, and then grapes and oranges.