November 14 is United Nations Diabetes Day, and the theme for 2014 is “Healthy Eating and Diabetes”. Dr. Li Li, director of the Ningbo Diabetes Prevention and Treatment Clinical Guidance Center and chief physician of the China-US Diabetes Ningbo Branch, said that what and how you eat directly affects the level of blood sugar. Like normal people, diabetics can eat any food, the key is in the total energy control. Healthy nutritious meals can be easily made At noon on November 6, the multi-functional hall on the 5th floor of Ningbo Old Cadres Activity Center was filled with the fragrance of rice, and more than 200 middle-aged and elderly people were eating “boxed meals” with great pleasure. This is not an ordinary “box lunch”, but a “model nutritional meal” specially configured for these middle-aged and elderly people with diabetes and pre-diabetes by the Nutrition and Dietetics Department of Ningbo First Hospital. The reporter looked at it and found that the nutritious lunch was not much, but it was quite rich, the meat dish was steamed sea bass or meat pie, the two vegetables were stir-fried mushrooms and cowpeas with tomatoes, and the rice was mixed with some coarse grains like barley. Feng Bo, head of the nutrition department at Ningbo First Hospital, said the slogan of this year’s Diabetes Day is – making healthy food choices an easy choice. The event was held to give people a more intuitive understanding of the proportion and preparation of a healthy diet, so that they can discover that making a healthy meal is not a difficult task. Total dietary energy control is key “Having diabetes is not less about thinking you can’t eat this or that.” Reedley says this is a misconception. Diabetics, like normal people, can eat any food, but should control the total daily intake of food calories, that is, the amount of carbohydrates, fat and protein three major nutrients. Under the premise of total control, it is also necessary to maintain an appropriate proportional relationship between carbohydrates (50%-60%), fats (20%-30%) and proteins (15%-20%). She said that people of different heights, weights or activity levels need different daily calorie intake, and there is a fixed formula to be applied for the specific conversion. Take a healthy person of standard weight as an example: a woman of 160-165 cm height needs to eat 250-300 grams of staple food, 100-150 grams of fish or meat, 250 grams of fruit and an egg and a glass of milk every day; a man of 170-175 cm height needs to eat 275-325 grams of staple food, 150 grams of fish or meat, 250 grams of fruit and an egg, and a glass of milk. The standard for energy control in diabetes is to maintain the patient’s appropriate weight, that is, obese patients should reduce their energy intake (eat less than you do now) to lose weight; lean diabetic patients should increase their energy intake (eat more than you do now) to gain weight. The goal is to maintain body weight in the appropriate range. The appropriate weight can be estimated by saying that the appropriate weight in kilograms = height in centimeters – 105, and within a range of 10% above or below this value is considered “appropriate”. To achieve an effective balanced diet, patients with diabetes should ensure that they eat five major food groups: cereals and potatoes, animal foods, dairy, legumes and nuts, vegetables, fruits and algae, and pure energy foods every day, Reed said. Reedley suggests that meal plates can be distributed in this way. First, divide the plate in two, then divide half of it in two again, so that the plate is divided into three large and two small pieces. Fill the largest plate with non-starchy vegetables, vegetables to green leafy vegetables, such as greens, cabbage, spinach, celery. Fill one small plate with cereals or starchy foods, as much as possible to eat grains and cereals, such as whole wheat pasta, whole grain foods, rice, pasta, cakes, potatoes, peas, corn, sweet potatoes, etc., preferably with coarse and fine. Fill another small plate with protein-based foods, such as skinless chicken and seafood such as fish, shrimp, shellfish, crab, lean beef, lean pork, tofu, eggs. An additional serving of fruit or yogurt (one serving is 80 grams) can also be added, and drinks must be low-calorie, such as water, unsweetened tea or coffee. At the same time, the intake of animal oil, fatty meat and fried foods should be strictly limited, and try to choose from vegetable oils such as peanut oil, soybean oil, rapeseed oil and olive oil. You should also properly control the intake of animal offal and other high cholesterol foods, and control the intake of salt, quit smoking and avoid alcohol. You can eat some fruit between meals Some diabetic patients are intimidated by fruit and believe that fruit cannot be eaten. Li Li said, in general, fasting blood sugar less than 7.8 mmol/L, after meal blood sugar less than 10 mmol/L patients, can eat some fruit. It is best to put it between two meals to eat. The calories from eating fruit should also be calculated into the total daily calorie intake. She recommends eating fruits with less than 10 grams of sugar per 100 grams, such as watermelon, kiwi, orange, grapefruit, lemon, peach, plum, pineapple, strawberry and cherry. Bananas, pomegranates, melons, oranges, apples, pears, lychees, and mangoes should be used with caution. Dates, cantaloupe, persimmons, grapes, yellow peaches, dried fruit, dried fruit should not be used. When blood sugar control is not ideal, temporarily use tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, etc. instead of fruits. (Ye Haiying, Zhuo Xuan, Yu Shui Bai)