When you are diagnosed with diabetes, you have to control your diet, both in terms of variety and portion size. Many sugar lovers pessimistically believe that they will have to say “goodbye” to snacks in the future. In fact, as long as you know how to choose snacks, and in the appropriate time to eat, sugar lovers can enjoy the pleasure of life brought by snacks.
The principles of selecting snacks for diabetics
Diabetics choose snacks, should be based on three important principles, namely natural, no processing or less processing; will not significantly raise blood sugar; low sugar, low salt, low fat, no additives.
However, it is important to note that the calories contained in snacks should be factored into the total calories of the daily diet, and a portion of the regular meal should be absorbed as an additional meal without exceeding the total calories throughout the day.
Additional meal time to 9:00-10:00 a.m., 3:00-4:00 p.m. and one hour before bedtime is appropriate, and not to disrupt the normal meal habits, so as not to affect the normal rules of digestion and absorption.
Recommended snack choices for diabetics
The Chinese Nutrition Society recommends snacks at three levels: “regular”, “appropriate” and “restricted”, as follows.
1, can often eat snacks
(1) fruit
The sugar content of fruit varies greatly, so special attention should be paid when selecting. Generally, you can choose tomatoes and cucumbers without any limitation. In the premise of stable blood sugar control can also be appropriate to eat pineapple, dragon fruit, kiwi, etc.. An apple can be divided into 2-3 times a day. And grapes, litchi, longan, cantaloupe and other fruits with too much sugar, sugar lovers should be careful to choose.
(2) nuts
Nuts tend to be high in fat content, the choice should also be treated differently. For almonds, cashews, pistachios, peanuts, etc., the oil content in 45% -50%, sugar lovers can eat a small handful a day, the daily intake should not exceed 1 two. Walnuts, macadamia nuts and other grease containing more than 60%, need to pay attention to avoid eating as much as possible.
2, can be appropriate to eat snacks
Such as cookies, dried fruits and vegetables, milk tablets and other snacks, part of the cake, pastry, even if the “sugar-free” signboard, but also to eat less. Because these snacks themselves contain more carbohydrates, also belong to the sugar, should not be eaten in large quantities.
3, limit the consumption of snacks
(1) fried snacks: such as potato chips, French fries, etc., belong to the junk food, both over-processed, but also a serious excess of oil and salt.
(2) meat snacks: such as dried meat, jerky, etc., not only contain more oil and salt, and often contain more preservatives, also not suitable for diabetics.
(3) candy, honey and sugary drinks: such high-sugar foods are easily absorbed by the body and contribute to the rise of blood sugar, increasing the burden on the pancreas and thus aggravating the disease.
In conclusion, diabetic patients can consume snacks as long as they have a good grasp of the type of snacks, the amount of food and the glycemic index of food.
References
[1] Zhang T. – Diabetes World – Digest (Mid) – 12, 2010.
[2]Diabetes Digest-2015, Issue 4.