Regardless of the type of diabetes you have, diet and nutritional therapy is one of the most important components of diabetes treatment, the foundation of all treatment, and essential for prevention and control at any stage of the natural course of diabetes. Some patients with type 2 diabetes, if diagnosed early, can achieve significant results with diet and exercise alone in mild cases. Conversely, if diet and nutritional therapy are not given adequate attention, your diabetes is unlikely to be well controlled. Poor dietary structure and habits may also lead to the emergence or aggravation of related cardiovascular risk factors, such as hypertension, dyslipidemia and obesity.
1.Principles of nutritional treatment
(1) Reasonable control of total calorie intake;
(2) Balanced diet, balanced intake of various nutrients;
(3) Weighing diet, regular and quantitative meals;
(4) Small and frequent meals, 3 to 6 meals per day.
2.Goals of nutrition therapy
(1) To provide you with a balanced nutritional diet that meets your physiological needs, improve your health condition, enhance your body’s ability to resist disease, and improve your quality of life.
(2) To correct metabolic disorders so that your blood sugar, blood pressure and blood lipids can reach the ideal level as much as possible, thus reducing the risk factors of cardiovascular diseases.
(3) Prevent and treat acute complications such as hypoglycemia and ketoacidosis.
(4) To help you achieve and maintain a reasonable body weight as much as possible. If you are overweight, the goal of your weight loss is to lose 5% to 10% of your body weight over a period of 3 to 6 months; if you are a wasting patient, you should regain your ideal weight through a balanced nutritional program and maintain your ideal weight over time. Remember: taking diet and nutrition treatment does not mean that you give up your favorite food completely, but help you make a reasonable diet plan according to your eating habits, so that you can follow the plan hard.
3.How to calculate total calories?
Total calories needed per day = ideal body weight x calories needed per kilogram of body weight.
4.Fat
1 gram of fat can produce 9 kcal of calories. Since fat produces high calories, if you consume too much of it daily, it can lead to weight gain, increase blood lipids, and lower insulin activity in your body (insulin resistance) and raise blood sugar, increasing your chances of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Therefore, you need to know how to control and select fat-containing foods properly.
(1) The amount of calories provided by fat in your daily diet should not exceed 30% of the total calories in your daily diet.
(2) Do not consume more than 10% of your total daily calories from saturated fatty acids. This is because it can raise total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels. It is found in livestock meat, dairy and its products, coconut oil, butter, lamb fat, lard, butter, cream, palm oil, cocoa butter and other foods, so you should try to eat these foods sparingly.
(3) Within the permissible range of fat intake, you can choose foods rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids and monounsaturated fatty acids appropriately. This is because they not only reduce serum total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels, but also increase cardiovascular protective high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels. Polyunsaturated fatty acids are found in foods such as dried beans and their products, mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, nuts, sunflower seed oil, soybean oil, corn oil, sesame oil, peanut oil, and salad oil, and monounsaturated fatty acids are found in foods such as poultry, eggs and their products, olive oil, tea oil, rapeseed oil, peanut oil, and sesame oil.
(4) You should also limit your cholesterol intake to less than 300 mg per day (equivalent to the amount of cholesterol in an egg yolk), which is mainly found in foods such as animal offal, various egg yolks, and fish roe.
5.Carbohydrates
1 gram of carbohydrates can produce 4 kcal of heat. Carbohydrates are the main source of providing body heat, including the smaller molecular weight of sugars and larger molecular weight of starch, rich in carbohydrate food intake, can be oxidized and decomposed into glucose in the body to produce energy. It is mainly found in cereals, which are our daily staple food (grain). In addition, some vegetables and fruits are also rich in carbohydrates. You should follow the following principles when choosing foods containing carbohydrates.
(1) The amount of calories provided by carbohydrates in your daily diet should be 55% to 60% of your total calories throughout the day.
(2) According to your blood sugar control, try to choose foods rich in dietary fiber, such as coarse grains, vegetables, beans, potatoes and fruits. Because dietary fiber has certain effects of lowering blood sugar, lowering blood fat, controlling obesity and reducing weight, and can increase the feeling of satiety, at the same time, it can also keep the bowel movement smooth.
(3) The daily calories provided by sucrose should not exceed 10% of the total calories, in order to facilitate your blood sugar control throughout the day; the choice of fruits should be made according to your condition under the guidance of your doctor and dietitian, and tomatoes and cucumbers can be used instead when your condition is unstable.
(4) You should eat at least three meals a day, with additional meals in between. Carbohydrates should be evenly distributed among the three meals. If you feel hungry between meals or even have signs of hypoglycemia, you can add a meal before lunch and/or dinner, which is equivalent to half a tael of carbohydrates, such as 4 soda crackers, 1 slice of bread, 200 grams of apple, etc., but at the same time, you should reduce the main meal by half a tael, so that your whole day The amount of carbohydrate intake remains the same.
(5) Depending on your blood sugar, you can also consume a very small amount of sugar as part of a healthy recipe; calorie-free sweeteners can be used as a substitute for table sugar.
It should be emphasized that: please do not make the mistake of thinking that you can better control your blood sugar by not eating or eating less staple foods; you should have at least 3 to 4 taels of staple foods per day.
6.Protein
1 gram of protein can produce 4 kcal of calories. Protein is an important part of the body and plays an extremely important role in the growth and development, tissue repair and cell renewal of the human body. Diabetic patients often have increased protein consumption due to impaired glucose metabolism, so it is important to consume sufficient protein daily. You should pay attention to the following principles when choosing protein-containing foods.
(1) Your daily protein intake should account for 15%-20% of your total dietary calories throughout the day, or 0.8-1.2 g/kg body weight/day. Among them, 1/3 should be high-quality protein, such as fish, seafood, lean meat, eggs, low-fat milk drinks, nuts, etc.
(2) However, if you have renal impairment, i.e. overt proteinuria, protein intake should be limited to less than 0.8 g/kg body weight, and mainly high quality animal protein.
(3) If you do not have renal impairment, soybeans and soy products are also a good choice, because in addition to providing abundant protein, they also have a good effect on lowering blood sugar and blood lipids.
7.Drinking alcohol
1 gram of alcohol can produce 7 kilocalories without other nutrients. Drinking alcohol not only puts a burden on the liver, but also promotes the synthesis of endogenous cholesterol and triglycerides, leading to an increase in blood lipids. However, moderate alcohol consumption is also beneficial to the human body, and diabetic patients should not absolutely not drink alcohol, but should drink as much as their condition allows, and enjoy the pleasure of drinking while controlling their diabetes.
(1) Try not to drink white wine, choose low alcohol concentration of beer, fruit wine.
(2) A small amount of alcohol has a vasodilatory effect, while a large amount of alcohol has a vasoconstrictive effect.
(3) Limit the amount of alcohol consumed daily to no more than 1 or 2 standard servings/day. A standard amount is 285ml (ml) of beer, 375ml of light beer, 100ml of red wine or 30ml of white wine, each containing about 10 grams of alcohol;
(4) Alcohol should be consumed after eating, because drinking alcohol on an empty stomach can induce hypoglycemia in patients treated with sulfonylureas or insulin.
8.Salt
The human body cannot lack salt, but too much salt is harmful to the body, such as leading to hypertension, counteracting the efficacy of antihypertensive drugs, edema, and even heart and kidney failure; in addition, salt-rich, salty food may enhance appetite, which is not conducive to diabetic patients’ dietary control.
(1) Your daily salt intake should be limited to 6 grams or less, especially if you have hypertension.
(2) You should limit your intake of foods with high salt content, such as processed foods and sauces; try to choose foods with low salt content.