According to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) report, the prevalence of diabetes is increasing year by year in countries around the world in an epidemic fashion, and diabetes has become the third most serious threat to human health after tumors and cardiovascular diseases, and has become an increasingly serious public health problem in the 21st century. China’s “Sugar Era” In 2010, the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) survey estimated that the prevalence of diabetes among adults over 18 years of age in China was 11.6%, and the onset of diabetes in China is becoming younger. According to data released on United Nations Diabetes Day 2013, China has become the world’s largest country with diabetes. The number of people over 18 years old with diabetes in China is 113.9 million, accounting for about 1/3 of the world, and the prevalence of pre-diabetes among people 18 years old and above is 50.1%, which is equivalent to one in two people being in pre-diabetes. At present, China has overtaken India to become the world’s largest country with diabetes and has entered the “Age of Sugar”. World Diabetes Day In order to arouse the attention of governments and the public to diabetes, the World Health Organization and the International Diabetes Federation started to designate November 14 every year as “World Diabetes Day” in 1991, and renamed it as “United Nations Diabetes Day” in 2007. In 2007, it was renamed “United Nations Diabetes Day”. Since 2009, the theme of Diabetes Day has been “Diabetes Education and Prevention”. This shows that prevention of diabetes is very important. What does Chinese medicine say about diabetes? According to Zhang Zhongjing of the Han Dynasty, “The disease of thirst is caused by congenital deficiencies in endowment, weakness of the five organs, etc., and acquired disorders of labor and rest, diet, and mental disorders.” This statement by the medical sage indicates that there are two main factors in the development of diabetes: genetics and environment. The “Preparedness and Urgency of the Thousand Golden Rules” was the first ancient medical book to document dietary therapy for diabetes. Sun Simiao recognized that “the essence of health must be in food, and those who do not know what is appropriate to eat will not be able to live a full life.” Moreover, he realized that if the dietary treatment did not cure the disease, he should give medication, i.e., “The doctor should know the source of the disease, know the offense, treat it with food, and if the food treatment does not cure it, then order the medication.” This shows that diet is the basis of diabetes treatment, and diabetes treatment should be done with three cautions: “one diet, two intercourse, three salty food and noodles”. Want to lower your sugar? Lower your blood pressure first! The 2016 edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents for the first time mentions the control of sugar intake and proposes to limit the intake of added sugars to no more than 50 grams per day, preferably within 25 grams. Added sugars are monosaccharides, disaccharides or sugar alcohols added during the cooking and processing of food, and the main sources are sugary drinks, pastries and some sweetened dishes. Type 2 diabetes combined with hypertension is one of the common clinical diseases, and they are mutual risk factors and often accompany each other, about 75% of diabetic patients also have hypertension. Recent studies have found that these patients are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease, and the cardiovascular risk stratification is above “high risk”. In order to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular complications in patients with diabetes, it is important to intervene on their risk factors. Studies have shown that in patients with type 2 diabetes combined with hypertension, tight blood pressure control reduces the incidence of diabetes-related endpoint events by 24%, whereas intensive glycemic control reduces diabetes-related endpoint events by only 12%. Therefore, tight blood pressure control is more important than intensive blood glucose control. What can’t diabetic patients eat? 1.Foods that can easily make blood sugar rise rapidly: such as sugar, ice cream, cakes and other sweet foods; 2.Foods that can easily make blood fat rise: butter, lamb fat, lard, butter, cream, fatty meat, etc.; 3.Do not drink alcohol: alcohol is not recommended for diabetic patients, such as drinking alcohol should be counted in the total daily energy, the specific intake can be referred to: no more than 1 alcohol unit per day for women and no more than 2 alcohol units per day for men, it is recommended that Drink no more than 2 times a week. What can diabetic patients eat? 1, soybeans and products: these foods are rich in protein, inorganic salts, vitamins, in addition to soybean oil, there are more unsaturated fatty acids, both to reduce blood cholesterol, but also to reduce serum triglycerides; 2, coarse grains: such as oat noodles, buckwheat noodles, hot cereals, corn flour contains a variety of trace elements, vitamin B and edible fiber.