People who have diabetes should eat in accordance with the requirements of their disease. Diabetics have to constantly monitor their blood sugar. Otherwise, a frivolous attitude to one’s own health can lead to extremely undesirable consequences. That is why many products are strictly prohibited for them. You can find out what to eat with diabetes at your doctor.
Type 1 and 2 diabetes
This disease is chronic. The reason for its appearance is the insufficient production of the hormone insulin by the pancreas. Thus, glucose is poorly absorbed in the body and enters the bloodstream. In type 1 diabetes mellitus, insulin cells are not fully produced, while in type 2 diabetes there is insulin, but it is extremely insufficient. As a rule, the first type develops in childhood, and the second type of diabetes is considered acquired, more often appears only after forty years.
The following symptoms are considered signs of diabetes:
- Frequent numbness and tingling in the fingers.
- Morning thirst, in which it is sometimes impossible to get drunk.
- Badly healing wounds and cuts. The skin becomes dry, and if acne appears, then it can be very difficult to get rid of them.
- Visual acuity decreases markedly. At times, the contours of objects merge and become fuzzy.
- Diabetics are characterized by dramatic weight loss for no particular reason. Despite the fact that the appetite does not decrease, but even vice versa, it increases slightly.
You can also identify the signs of diabetes at home with a drop of urine. When dried, they turn white.
Diabetes Nutrition
What can you eat and what can not? This disease involves the use of a separate menu. The patient has to adjust his diet throughout his life. For him, there are both prohibited and permitted products. For example, simple carbohydrates are a real poison for a diabetic, while complex carbohydrates found in cereals and dairy products can be consumed without restriction. Type 2 diabetes is quite specific. It differs in that the disease, as a rule, is not independent. Patients are usually impaired lipid metabolism, which is why they are strictly forbidden fatty and fried foods.
In type 1 diabetes, it is very difficult to maintain normal weight. Patients have to regularly consume carbohydrates in an even amount. They are completely dependent on the insulin that comes to them from the outside. Very often they are prone to rapid weight loss due to the specific exchange of things.
What foods are good for diabetes?
Beans and other legumes
Beans are a source of protein and amino acids. This food actually becomes the main for the diabetic, as it is an energy supplier. If the patient completely refuses glucose, then his body is very quickly depleted. Eating beans can restore the energy balance and saturate the body with the necessary proteins, vitamins and minerals. In addition, white beans have a lot of useful components. Among them, lysine, tryptophan, threonine and so on stand out. Thanks to a sufficiently large amount of vitamin B, the work of the digestive tract, including the pancreas, improves. Phosphorus and zinc improve blood composition, and vitamin PP strengthens the walls of blood vessels.
What fruits are forbidden to eat with diabetes or, on the contrary, is it recommended?
Diabetes Fruit
Some fruits contain too much fructose. Its effect is not as destructive as that of glucose, but, nevertheless, in large quantities such fruits are not recommended.
What can not be eaten with diabetes? For example, melon and watermelon should be presented in the daily menu in limited quantities. At the same time, apples, oranges, cherries and gooseberries are consumed in large enough quantities. In addition, black berries (blackberries, blueberries and currants) as well as citrus fruits (lemon and grapefruit) will be useful for diabetics.
It is useful to make dried fruit compote without adding sugar. It contains a huge amount of potassium, which has a beneficial effect on the health of the pancreas.
Nuts and honey
Nuts contain polyunsaturated acids Omega 3 and 6, which help restore cell metabolism and heal the body. In addition, almost all known nuts have a huge amount of vitamin E and A. This combination has a beneficial effect on the organs of the gastrointestinal tract and pancreas. As you know, type 2 diabetes very often occurs due to pancreatic diseases. Improving this body and restoring its work is one of the main tasks in the treatment of diabetes. Is it possible to eat honey with diabetes?
Despite a sufficient amount of glucose, honey, however, does not harm people with diabetes. In moderate amounts, it is even useful, as it is a natural source of almost all trace elements and vitamins known today. In addition, it is quite possible to replace sugar with this product if it is difficult to refuse sweets. In the future, it is advisable for patients to completely abandon any sweet foods, including fruits containing too much fructose. Diabetics can get glucose from cereals, legumes, bread.
Meat and vegetables
What can I eat with diabetes from meat? The best option for a diabetic is considered to be poultry and beef. They contain protein, which is necessary to strengthen immunity, and also perfectly saturate the body and provide energy. It is important to consider that fat and skin should be removed immediately before cooking. Animal fats are highly not recommended for patients with diabetes. In addition, harmful substances accumulated during the life of a bird accumulate in chicken skin.
Among vegetables, the most valuable are zucchini, radishes, cabbage and cucumbers. In short, those foods that have the least amount of calories. This is followed by beets, carrots and potatoes. All vegetables are recommended to be baked or eaten raw.
Milk products
Can I eat dairy products for diabetes? Despite the obvious benefits, it is undesirable to drink more than two glasses of yogurt or fermented baked milk per day. You should also be careful not to purchase yoghurts with sugar or with a large number of flavorings and flavor enhancers. What about milk? Depending on the condition of the patient, whole milk may be prohibited. It is advisable for the patient to consult with their healthcare provider about nutrition. Especially useful is low-fat cottage cheese - a supplier of calcium and phosphorus. It contains valuable milk protein, which will give energy to the patient and significantly improve his well-being. You can use cottage cheese daily in an amount not exceeding two hundred or three hundred grams.
Healthy cereals
What to eat with diabetes from cereals? Doctors recommend that diabetics consume buckwheat. It contains the smallest amount of carbohydrates compared to other similar products. Buckwheat maintains the level of glucose in the patient’s blood at one specific level, preventing rapid jumps. In addition, oatmeal and barley can also be considered useful cereals. It is recommended to include porridges in the menu at least three times a week. Serving should not be too large. Oatmeal can be steamed in the evening, and eat in the morning with grated apple or nuts. This dish is extremely easy to digest and saturates the body.
Unwanted Products
What can you eat and what can not be with diabetes? First of all, the latter refers to any food that has gone through deep processing. It, as a rule, no longer contains most of the useful substances, and during cooking this food acquired a lot of unnecessary components, which often simply harm health. For example, oatmeal is a source of polyunsaturated acids, fiber and almost all B vitamins, without which it is difficult to imagine a healthy digestive system. At the same time, instant oatmeal has a huge amount of starch and extremely little fiber. In addition, during the processing of cereals lost most of its nutrients.
Glycemic index
For patients with diabetes, the glycemic index of products is of particular importance. It is an indicator of the ability of food to influence the blood sugar level of a patient. That is, there are products that can both sharply increase the level of sugar, and make it more smooth. Almost all the food that is eaten with diabetes can be divided into three groups:
- Foods with a high glycemic index, which exceeds seventy units.
- The average level, as a rule, ranges from forty to seventy units.
- A low indicator should not exceed forty.
What foods can I eat with diabetes? The last group includes corn porridge, orange and apple juice, figs, dairy products. Do not forget about walnuts, peanuts, tomatoes, cabbage, apricots and grapes.
What can not be eaten with diabetes? Products with a high glycemic index include wheat porridge, pumpkin, watermelon, chips, white bread, mashed potatoes, honey and cookies. The most dangerous are dates, sweet buns, canned fruits, as well as beer and other alcoholic beverages.
Foods that can be consumed in moderation: rice, pineapple, pies, semolina, bananas, chocolate, canned vegetables, brown bread and turnips. And also occasionally you can eat marmalade, boiled corn and drink fruit sodas.
Two week menu
Nutritionists have developed a sample menu of what to eat with type 2 diabetes, lasting fourteen days. First of all, you should exclude all sweet foods, which include sweets, ice cream, cookies and other sweet pastries. It is not recommended to consume sweet fruit juices, as well as bee products (pollen and honey).
What foods are recommended for diabetes? First of all, special attention should be paid to fresh vegetable salad, seafood, chicken and beef meat, as well as dairy products, vegetable oils, oatmeal and buckwheat porridge. Based on this list, a sample menu was compiled.
On the first day of the diet, they use oatmeal cooked in water. As a dessert, you can use cottage cheese with sour cream. Finish breakfast with black tea or coffee. After two hours, you can drink a glass of vegetable juice with unsweetened cookies. For lunch, eat a salad of fresh vegetables seasoned with olive oil and lemon juice. The main course is fish stewed in a small amount of water and rice. After two hours, you can eat fruit.
For dinner, it is recommended to cook hard vermicelli with beef boiled or slightly stewed in oil and water. And also to stabilize the digestive process, you can cook vinaigrette. This excellent dietary dish is extremely useful for diabetes, as it normalizes the digestive process and does not create a load for the liver and pancreas. Diabetes patients are advised to eat about thirty or forty minutes before bedtime. It can be a glass of kefir with cookies or a serving of buckwheat porridge, which contains few calories, but a lot of iron.
On Tuesday, you can eat vegetable cutlets for breakfast, and after two hours drink yogurt or kefir with unsweetened cookies. For lunch, it is also recommended that you prepare a salad of fresh vegetables. As ingredients, you can use cucumbers, tomatoes, fresh cabbage, daikon radish, lettuce, spinach, Bulgarian and hot peppers, onions and so on. In addition, it is recommended to cook lean borsch with beans. Two hours later, make a fruit plate.
Very often, patients are interested in what fruits can be eaten with diabetes? These are, first of all, apples, peaches, pears, plums and other seasonal fruits. For dinner, you can eat rice porridge with boiled or stewed meat, and just before bedtime, drink kefir with croutons.
On Wednesday, scrambled eggs are prepared for breakfast and several potatoes are boiled. The second breakfast consists entirely of fresh fruit. For dinner, you can cook tomato soup and vegetable stew. In the afternoon, use fruit juice with cookies. For dinner, it is recommended to prepare a cabbage salad and cook a small piece of poultry meat. Before going to bed, drinks milk with oatmeal.
On Thursday, the menu can be varied with cheesecakes or pancakes with cottage cheese, vegetable juice, eggplant stew with meat, as well as vermicelli soup. In the afternoon, it is advised to eat a glass of berries, and for dinner - vinaigrette or cabbage rolls. Before going to bed, you can use kefir or milk along with unsweetened cookies.
On Friday, they eat porridge from buckwheat, oat or millet for breakfast. For dessert, use low-fat cottage cheese with raisins. For lunch, you can eat sugar-free yogurt, for lunch - borsch with beans and vegetable stew. After two hours, eat fresh or baked fruits. What fruits to eat with diabetes? The best option would be citrus fruits, cherries and apples. For dinner, fish and fresh salad are prepared. Before going to bed, you can drink yogurt. If it is not enough, then additionally eat a small portion of any porridge.
On Saturday, they again eat eggs and cheese, and after two hours they drink any sour-milk product. For lunch, it is recommended to cook spinach salad, braised beef with vegetables and hodgepodge. After two hours, as usual, eat fruit or berries. For dinner, it is recommended to make steam patties, in which there will be meat with grated boiled beans. The day ends with a fermented milk product with cookies as well.
On Sunday, you can cook pearl barley porridge, and after two hours eat a glass of green peas, which also applies to foods that are eaten with diabetes. For lunch, buckwheat cereal with steam patties and noodle soup are recommended. For dinner, you can cook beetroot salad and cook fish. Ends the day with yogurt or fermented baked milk. If a person feels hunger by the end of the day, then you can eat cookies, granola or fruit. The latter option will be most preferable, since the number of calories should be distributed as follows: in the morning, about seventy percent, and in the second thirty.
The next week almost repeats the previous one. After two weeks, you can return to your usual diet. The menu can be slightly adjusted and rearranged. For example, what is recommended to be consumed on Monday can be eaten on Wednesday. Thus, having figured out what to eat with diabetes, you can take control even of such a complex disease.
It should be recalled that many diseases largely correct the usual way of life. Diabetes mellitus is no exception. But it cannot be called a sentence either. Proper nutrition is the key to good health and good health.