Every year the number of patients with diabetes is increasing, so the issues of healthy diabetic nutrition are relevant for many. How to eat right when you have diabetes? What to exclude, what to limit? Is it possible to eat sweets? Let’s consider the diet table in diabetes and designate harmful and useful diabetic products.
The basic rules of the diet in diabetes
Since the disease is directly associated with metabolic disorders, namely with poor absorption of glucose by the body, the diet table in diabetes should be composed as follows:
- The patient should eat portions of small volume 5-6 times a day.
- The amount of substances needed by the body (carbohydrates, fats, proteins) should be balanced.
Carbohydrates in the diet table in diabetes
It may seem strange, but carbohydrates are necessary in this disease to maintain optimal glucose levels in the body. However, this applies mainly to substances that take a long time to digest (complex carbohydrates) and do not raise blood sugar as markedly as those that are quickly digested (simple carbohydrates). Products containing complex carbohydrates: pasta, potatoes, cereals, fresh cucumbers and tomatoes, eggplant, etc. Therapeutic diet #9, as often called diet table in diabetes mellitus, contains them in its menu.
To carbohydrates that are easily digested, you need to treat with great caution – it is candy, jam, figs grapes and other sweets. They due to the rapid absorption of carbohydrates sharply increase blood glucose, which can be dangerous for diabetics.
Fiber is considered very useful, which helps to reduce the absorption of carbohydrates, which contributes to a less pronounced rise in blood sugar after eating. Some doctors believe that it helps to reduce the patient’s need for insulin. Therefore, foods rich in fiber are necessarily included in the diet table in diabetes. Diabetic products often contain fiber instead of flour. It improves intestinal health, stimulating its peristalsis, and reduces appetite. This is especially true for patients with type 2 diabetes.
Diabetes mellitus and fats
Fatty varieties of fish and meat, high-calorie dairy products, as well as fried dishes, diet table in diabetes excludes – it is proven that their excessive use contributes to the progression of the disease, so it is important not to allow the abuse of such food. In addition to the above products, fats are contained in olives, nuts, eggs and fish, these products can be taken in small quantities. In the menu of a diabetic should be present 2/3 of animal fats and 1/3 – vegetable oils.
Diet table in diabetes: proteins in the menu
Proteins should make up from 15% to 20% of the diabetic’s diet. They are found in eggs, soy, many cereals, cottage cheese, legumes, cheese and dairy products. Proteins are involved in many biologically important processes, so the diet table in diabetes should have the presence of these substances. However, it should be remembered that their excess, as well as the lack is not very useful for the body.
Sweets for diabetics
Such a diagnosis as diabetes does not mean a complete refusal of dessert and sweet dishes. However, it is important to consider that it is better to buy special products with natural sweeteners – fructose, sorbitol. But such products also contain sugar, for example, in flour, oil and other ingredients of the product. Therefore, it is not recommended to allow yourself more than 2-3 candies a day.
Diabetic products – benefit or harm?
According to experts, the usefulness of the content of diabetic products in the diet table with diabetes is very doubtful. First of all, they are often of poor quality, since they have glucose and many fats in their composition. Moreover, fructose sometimes also increases blood sugar, and it is often replaced by saccharin in sweets. Its excessive use causes obesity.
Therefore, the diet table in diabetes should include natural healthy dishes, and diabetic products medics recommend to use as little as possible.