The use of any medication for type 2 diabetes still cannot fully compensate for the effect of nutrition on blood glucose levels.Proper nutrition is an important part of effective type 2 diabetes management and will help you reach your blood glucose goals.
Type 2 diabetes with or without excess weight, arterial hypertension, etc. nutrition approaches will be slightly different.
The vast majority of overweight people have type 2 diabetes. Being overweight prevents your insulin from working effectively, so blood glucose levels remain high.Therefore, weight loss is an indispensable condition for rational treatment!Even moderate weight loss (5-10%) improves carbohydrate metabolism, especially in the early stages of the disease.
How to achieve weight loss?
It should be noted right away that there are no special products or herbs for weight loss. Currently, there is no drug that can provide highly effective and completely safe weight loss by itself, without diet.
The only reliable way is to limit energy intake in the body.(shown in calories), i. e. compliance with regulationslow calorie food. The resulting lack of energy leads to the fact that the energy reserves "stored" in fat tissue will be used for various needs of the body, and weight will definitely decrease.
Energy carriers in food are its three components:proteins, fats and carbohydrates. Fats are the most caloric of them, 1 gram of them contains 9 kcal; in proteins and carbohydrates - 4 kcal per 1 gram.
The most effective way to reduce the calorie content of the diet is to reduce its fat content. It is not only safe, but also useful for a modern person, because our diet is unfortunately saturated with fats. Compared to fats, the caloric content of proteins and carbohydrates can be considered moderate, but they should still be somewhat limited to achieve a good effect on weight loss.
There are a number of products that do not need to be limited when losing weight. On the contrary, it is these products that can compensate for the above restrictions and fill the reduced amount of food. This group of foods is mainly vegetables that are poor in nutrients but rich in water, as well asvegetable fibersindigestible ones. Vegetable fibers bring many benefits to the body: they improve the functioning of the intestine, help absorb vitamins, have a beneficial effect on fat metabolism, etc.
There are three groups of products that should be consumed in different ways to reduce weight.Looking at these groups, you will definitely have a connection with the traffic light.
Maximum limit
High-calorie foods: rich in fats, alcohol, sugar and confectionery
Examples:any oil, fat, sour cream, mayonnaise; cream, fat cottage cheese and cheese; fatty fish, poultry skin, canned meat; fish and vegetables in oil; fatty meat, smoked meat, sausage; sugar, sweet drinks, honey, jam, jam, sweets, cakes, cookies, chocolate, ice cream, nuts, seeds, alcoholic beverages.
Limit in moderation (eat half the usual portion before)
Medium-calorie products: protein, starch, dairy products, fruits and berries.
Examples:regular or low-fat/skimmed milk and sour milk products, cheeses with less than 30% fat, cottage cheese with less than 4% fat, eggs, lean meat, fish, pasta, bread and lean baked goods, cereals; fruits, potatoes, corn, peas and beans mature grains.
Use without restrictions
Low-calorie foods: vegetables (except potatoes, corn, mature peas and beans) and low-calorie drinks.
Examples:radishes, radishes, beets, carrots, mushrooms, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, eggplant, bean pods, young green peas, lettuce, greens, spinach, sorrel, any cabbage; tea, coffee without sugar and cream, mineral water.
Is it possible to maintain a low-calorie diet without counting calories?
This is quite possible if the above product selection principles are followed. Moreover, experts have long recognized that it is not the number of calories that a person should consume (it is quite difficult to determine exactly for each person), but the number of calories that a person actually reduces in his diet is important!
The indicator of correct adherence to the principles of low-calorie nutrition will be the achievement of the result: weight loss! If the weight does not decrease, it means that it is not yet possible to significantly reduce the caloric content of the diet.
How do different carbohydrates affect blood glucose levels?
Carbohydrates are the only food that directly increases blood glucose, but this is not a reason to drastically limit them.
In the diet of any person, including a diabetic, carbohydrates should be sufficient (at least 50% of total calories), because they are a source of energy for the body. Moreover, different carbohydrates have different effects on blood glucose levels.
there issimplecarbohydrates (they are called sugar) are very easily digested because they consist of small molecules and are quickly absorbed in the digestive system (after 10 minutes). They immediately and very strongly increase the level of glucose in the blood. It is from these carbohydrates that sugar and honey are made, most of them are found in fruit juices (they are also found in natural fruits, but due to the presence of fiber, the absorption of carbohydrates is not so fast), beer. Such carbohydrates are also found in liquid dairy products, but because of the fat content, the carbohydrates are not absorbed as quickly.
Another type of carbohydratecomplex(starches), they also raise blood glucose levels, just not as quickly and not as much as simple carbohydrates. Representatives of such products: bread, cereals, pasta, potatoes, corn. The starch molecule is large and the body has to work hard to absorb it. Therefore, the glucose formed as a result of the breakdown of starch is absorbed more slowly (after about 30 minutes), which increases its level in the blood to a lesser extent.
Culinary processing of starchy foods (any grinding, prolonged thermal exposure) contributes to an increase in blood glucose levels. This means that a strong increase in blood glucose when eating starch can be prevented by using certain processing and cooking methods. For example, it is better to boil potatoes in their skins, not in the form of mashed potatoes, so that they remain dense. It is also better not to cook the porridge for too long. It is preferable to cook them from large uncrushed grains (buckwheat, rice).
Enrichment of food with vegetable fibers prevents the increase of blood glucose level. Therefore, it is better to buy grain or bran bread, not refined flour. Fruits and berries should be consumed in their natural form, not in juice form.
There are such carbohydrate products -"free", after which the blood glucose level does not rise or rises slightly. These products include almost all types of vegetables (except potatoes) in normal amounts. For example, cabbage, lettuce, parsley, dill, radish, turnip, pumpkin, eggplant, pumpkin, pepper, etc. Among the products of this group, the highest amount of carbohydrates is found in beets and carrots, but after them, the increase in blood glucose is not very large. Therefore, if you eat them in moderation (as a side dish, no more than 200 g), they can also be ignored.
Should I be counting carbs?
A person with type 2 diabetes, taking oral antidiabetic drugs, or simply following a diet does not need to accurately calculate the amount of carbohydrates in food. Many people with diabetes have heard of things called bread units. There is such a calculation system for those who take insulin. This allows us to correlate the amount of carbohydrates consumed with the doses of short-acting insulin that these diabetics inject before meals.
Special "diabetic" products
Sweeteners can make food taste sweeter without raising blood glucose levels or making you fat. But in this case, we are only talking about calorie-free sugar substitutes. These include aspartame, saccharin, cyclamate, acesulfame potassium, sucralose, stevioside. They generally do not affect blood glucose levels and weight. However, instead of sugar, most "diabetic" foods (cookies, chocolate, waffles) contain sorbitol, xylitol, or fructose, which are almost as high in calories as sugar. Therefore, in case of excess weight, it should be limited as much as possible, like ordinary sweets.
Fractional diet
Fractional mode means eating a lot during the day in small portions (5-6 times, but still no more than 2, 5-3 hours). This is useful because you may feel hungry while following a low-calorie diet. Eating more often will help reduce it. In addition, a small portion of food contains a small amount of carbohydrates, which will facilitate the work of the pancreas.
Alcohol
Due to its high calorie content (7 kcal per 1 g), alcohol can contribute to weight gain. In addition, it directly worsens fat metabolism and blood pressure indicators. So limit your alcohol intake as much as possible.
The negative effect of alcohol on the liver is known. Hypoglycemia can occur if a diabetic patient takes glucose-lowering drugs and insulin. Never drink alcohol on an empty stomach!