Tag: Diabetes Diet

Type I Diabetes Diet

According to the American Diabetes association and the American Dietetic Association, there are very specific guidelines regarding your diet if you have Diabetes and the following article will outline those guidelines for your Type I diabetes diet.

Diet is important when you have diabetes because the insulin you take helps control your blood sugar levels but cannot do it all by itself. You must follow a balanced Type I diabetes diet to be able to maintain consistent blood sugar levels throughout your day.

If you have been recently diagnosed with diabetes and need to give yourself insulin shots everyday, or several times a day, then you should do yourself a favor and make sure that you start eating your meals at the same times every day. This will help you stabilize your blood sugar levels quicker and decrease any signs and symptoms of hyperglycemia (too much sugar in the blood stream), or hypoglycemia (too little sugar in the blood stream).

Keeping everything balanced is your best bet to making sure that your blood sugars remain stable. This is key to your continuing good health. Limit your carbohydrate intake and get some regular exercise, even if it is just a walk through the neighborhood everyday. These two things along with your regular monitoring of your blood sugar and taking the insulin as directed by your doctor will make managing your diabetes a lot easier.

Carbohydrates are also known as simple sugars. This means that when you eat them they are immediately converted to sugar for energy in your blood stream. When your pancreas is not working right, it cannot release insulin to combat the increase of sugar in your blood. This is why you need to give yourself insulin when you eat.

Planning your meals does not have to be a chore. To make it easier, sit down once a week and make up a menu for that week. Balance every meal with protein, carbs and a little fat. Once you have it all written down then making your grocery list is easy. Make sure you throw in some healthy snacks, too, and never, ever skip meals.

Your doctor will most likely refer you to a dietitian. They can help you figure out how to change your eating habits so you are getting all the nutrients you need and customize a meal plan to help control your blood sugar levels. If you follow all of their recommendations you really should be able to manage your diabetes quite well.

If, at any time, you have a question about something you want to eat and are unsure if you can, or should, call your doctor or dietitian to make sure that what you want to eat fits into your Type I diabetes diet. Keeping a close eye on everything you put into your mouth, getting some regular exercise, and working with your doctor to get to the right insulin dosage can keep you from having an unstable range of blood sugars and an increased risk of experiencing complications from diabetes.

Onset Diabetes Diet

If you have been diagnosed with onset diabetes diet changes are one of the things you will need to consider to help you control your blood sugars. Do not panic, this is not going to be that hard. Talk to your doctor first and see if she wants you to consult with a dietitian, especially if you are unsure of where to begin.

Learning what foods to eat, how much of them to eat and at what times to eat them should all be taken into consideration when talking about an onset diabetes diet. Your biggest challenge now is to learn to keep your blood sugar levels consistent throughout your day.

Making good food choices and eating at the same times everyday will help you start to feel better, maybe lose some excess weight, and decrease your risk of developing complications of diabetes like heart disease, stroke, blindness and other problems caused by diabetes that you should discuss at length with your doctor when she gives you your diagnosis.

Choosing to eat a more healthy diet does not mean you have to give up your favorites. You can still enjoy some of the things you like the best without having to worry about your blood sugar spiking on you. It may just be a matter of eating smaller portions of the things you like the best.

Here are ten ideas to make your choices seem a little easier:

1. Eat a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables. They add color to your meals and can make them more appealing to the eye.
2. Eat more whole grain foods like brown rice and whole wheat pastas and breads. Whole grain will keep you fuller longer and will not make your blood sugars spike.
3. Once or twice a week, throw in some dried beans or lentils into the mix. Chili or soup is a great way to fill up without consuming a lot of calories.
4. Fish is a great source of protein and essential fatty acids. Work some into your meal plan two or three times a week.
5. If you have to have red meat, choose a lean cut and if there is any visible fat present, trim it off before you cook it.
6. Chicken and turkey are loaded with protein, just make sure the skin is removed first.
7. Make your dairy foods non-fat or low-fat.
8. Drink lots of water. Stay away from sweetened drinks like soda.
9. Use olive oil or canola oil to cook with instead of margarine or butter, you do n ot need the calories or saturated fats.
10. You can still have dessert, just watch your portion sizes. Try cutting back to a half portion or maybe even smaller if you can.

See, not so hard, you can do this onset diabetes diet. It may take a little practice at first but you will soon be able to incorporate these guidelines into your day and make it seem like you have been doing it all your life. So much better to control your blood sugars every day. So, talk to your doctor about everything and ask for help if you need it.

Diabetes Protein Diet

For people trying to lose weight, a high protein, low fat, low carb diet is normally something that will work very well to help you slim down and get to a healthier weight. People with diabetes can also lose weight with a diabetes protein diet but because of the nature of their illness must pay close attention to everything they eat.

A diet high in protein, followed for an extended period can put undo stress on the kidneys of the person with diabetes. You should always speak with your doctor and/or dietitian before starting any diet plan.

If your doctor does give you the OK to start a diabetes protein diet then stick with the lean cuts of meat for your protein and include some fish and shrimp in your weekly menu preparation. Shrimp are packed with protein and are very good for you. You can have some red meat but limit it to once or twice a week.

Red meat is loaded with protein as well but also has quite a bit of saturated fat which will increase your cholesterol and increase your risk for heart disease. Just being diabetic puts you at risk for so many complications of the disease you do not need to willingly put yourself at a higher risk for other problems. So, remember to limit the red meat you eat and if you have to have it then make sure that you remove any visible fat as well.

Fish like salmon, tuna, and halibut are all good sources of lean protein not to mention those Omega-3 essential fatty acids that you hear so much about these days. Omega-3’s are beneficial for maintaining good brain function among other things. I have already mentioned shrimp but did you know lobster is another great source of lean protein? Go ahead and treat yourself.

Chicken is also loaded with protein but just make sure to remove any skin and visible fat. Your best bet is to buy some boneless, skinless breasts and keep them in the freezer to make it easy to use them when you need them. You can buy them in bulk to save some money and weigh out 4 ounce portions then individually wrap them before freezing.

Eggs and dairy are other ways to round out how you get your protein for the day. Eggs have lots of protein and also essential nutrients like folate, zinc, and iron. It is not recommended that you eat eggs every single day but if you really feel the need to then separate some of the and make a mostly egg white omelet with two egg whites and one whole egg.
The cholesterol is in the yolk so if you limit the number of yolks you eat then it is all good.

Keep your dairy foods like milk, cheese, and yogurt low fat, or fat free to reduce the amount of saturated fat you take in. Balance your diabetes protein diet with a moderate amount of carbohydrates to help keep your blood sugar levels in a healthy range.

Diabetes Diet Menus

If you have diabetes it means that your body cannot use sugar the way it was meant to be used. A normal person’s pancreas makes insulin that helps their body use sugar that they take in when they eat. If you have diabetes then your pancreas either does not make enough insulin or does not make any at all and so you need help to make sure that the sugar in your blood stream does not get to be too much. One way to do that is to follow diabetic diet menus.

Diabetic diet menus will help keep your blood sugars stable along with the medication your doctor has prescribed whether it be an oral antidiabetic agent or insulin shots.

The first thing you need to do is go over everything with your doctor and make sure you understand what you need to do to keep your body in good working order so you can minimize the adverse effects of diabetes. There are many, so do what you can to take care of your self. Working closely with your doctor you should be able to manage your disease without too much trouble.

Diet is very important and your doctor may refer you to a dietitian to help plan out what you should and should not eat. There are foods that will help maintain relatively steady blood sugars and foods that will make your blood sugar spike. Certain carbohydrates are your enemy. A dietitian will help you sort things out and get you on the right track.

Processed foods and refined sugars can actually make your diabetes worse. This is according to the Harvard School of Public Health. The HSPH recommends you choose healthy, low-glycemic index foods like whole grains, oatmeal, brown rice, nuts, beans and legumes and lots of fruits and vegetables like asparagus, spinach and broccoli, tomatoes, cherries and peaches.

Starchy foods like potatoes, bananas and corn are not recommended. Starchy foods are too readily converted to simple sugars in your body and will spike your blood sugars making it more difficult to regulate them.

It is also recommended that you never skip meals and, if possible, eat five small meals a day with the same number of carbohydrates at each meal. If this is not possible then make sure that you have some healthy snacks available to eat between your three main meals each day.

Making a weekly menu will help you plan all the meals out that you will eat each week. This makes your grocery shopping trip so much easier because you have everything planned already so you can just make your shopping list from your menu plans. You will have everything you need to make the meals you want to eat, no more trying to decide what to eat at the last minute.

Each week you will have your diabetes diet menus posted in the kitchen so you can track what you are eating and see, at a glance, if any changes need to be made.