The right diabetes diet depends partly on the form of diabetes: Type 1 diabetics can basically eat a similar diet as non-diabetics. Type 2 diabetics, however, should usually reduce their overall energy intake because they are usually overweight. Important in both forms of diabetes is that the energy supply and the usable amount of insulin are optimally matched. Learn here what to look for in the diabetes diet.
Proper nutrition in type 1 diabetes
First, patients with type 1 diabetes need to learn how to correctly estimate the carbohydrate content of a planned meal. Only then can they inject the right amount of insulin necessary for nutrient utilization. If too little insulin is injected before a meal, hyperglycaemia can occur. If the insulin dose is too high, the blood sugar drops too high – a low sugar (hypoglycaemia) threatens. Both over- and under-sugar can be dangerous.
The right dose of insulin depends on the type and amount of carbohydrate intake. For example, whole grains contain more long-chain or complex carbohydrates, for which lower insulin levels are needed than for faster-growing, short-chain carbohydrates. The latter are, for example, in white flour products and sweets.
In order to be able to estimate the proportion of usable carbohydrates in a food more easily, the term became Carbohydrate unit (KHE) introduced. 1 KHE equals 10 grams of usable carbohydrates and raises blood sugar by 30 to 40 mg / dL. Especially in the past, instead of carbohydrate units, the so-called Bread units (BE) used. The following applies: 1 BE corresponds to 12 grams of carbohydrates.
By the way: Each patient is advised to undergo diabetes training and personalized nutritional counseling after diagnosis. There, among other content, everything important about the right diabetes diet is taught.
Tips for the Diabetes Type 2 Diet
In type 2 diabetes mellitus, body cells only respond to the hypoglycemic hormone insulin to a lesser extent. These insulin resistance is favored by overweight. This means: The right diabetes diet for overweight type 2 diabetics has one loss in weight to the goal. Regular physical activity helps to achieve this goal. If it is possible to reduce the excess kilos, insulin resistance may also decrease. So the existing amount of insulin can work better again.
The diabetes mellitus diet in overweight should therefore be calorie-reduced. How many calories are “allowed” per day is experienced by patients from their nutritionist. Regardless of weight, every diabetic should attend diabetes education after diagnosis and receive personalized nutritional advice (such as Type 1 diabetics).
What may or may diabetics eat?
First of all, the food for diabetics should be (as generally for all people) balanced, varied and full-fledged. It should provide sufficient amounts of macronutrients (carbohydrates, fats and proteins) as well as vitamins and minerals. How the ideal percentage composition of the nutrition from the three main nutrients looks is discussed among experts. Generally, the following recommendations for a healthy diet apply:
- 45 to 60 percent carbohydrates
- 30 to 35 percent fat
- 10 to 20 percent proteins (proteins)
- 40 grams of fiber
- maximum 6 grams of cooking salt
- maximum 50 grams of pure sugar (glucose, sucrose)
The nutritionist will provide each patient with appropriate recommendations that may differ from the above. He must namely the diet plan for diabetics, among other things, the age, body weight and any accompanying and consequential diseases of the patient into account (such as obesity, kidney damage, high blood lipid levels, etc.).
Almost more important than the exact percentage of the various macronutrients is their nature and source. For example, whole grains are cheaper than white flour products, and vegetable fats are healthier than animal ones.
Diabetes Diet: Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are sugar chains linked to more or less long chains. They are very important energy sources for the human organism, especially for muscles and brain. One gram of carbs has about four kilocalories.
One differentiates between short and long-chain carbohydrates. Short chain carbohydratesAs you can find in white bread and sweets, for example, the blood sugar can rise very quickly and significantly and, in addition, only quenches cravings for sugar only for a short time. Long-chain (complex) carbohydrates however, they must first be broken down in the intestine before they can enter the bloodstream. As a result, the blood sugar level rises more slowly and less strongly after being consumed. Complex carbohydrates are found in legumes and whole grains, for example.
The type of carbohydrate source thus has a direct impact on insulin requirements. Because high blood sugar levels, such as those caused by white flour products, chocolate, sweet lemonade, etc., require short-term higher insulin quantities to compensate for the fluctuations. This increases the risk that the blood sugar value gets out of control:
In type 1 diabetics, this can happen if the dose or timing of insulin injection does not exactly match the carbohydrate intake. In type 2 diabetics, whose body still produces a remnant of insulin, it takes longer, until the many sugars can be introduced into the cells (prolonged hyperglycemia).
Diabetes patients should therefore cover their carbohydrate needs as much as possible over long-chain carbohydrates, such as those found in whole grains and legumes.
Diabetes diet: fat
Ideal diet prefers those dietary fats that contain many monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fatty acids. This applies primarily to vegetable fats and oils. For this reason, cold pressed plant oils such as rapeseed oil, linseed oil, olive oil or walnut oil are recommended. Fish is also considered a healthy fat source in the diabetes diet (and also for non-diabetics). Because unlike other animal fat sources it contains many healthy fatty acids.
Since diabetes dramatically increases the risk of atherosclerosis (“arteriosclerosis”), the diet plan for diabetics should limit cholesterol intake. Cholesterol is present in all animal products (milk, butter, cream, eggs, meat, etc.). These products should therefore be consumed sparingly. In addition, regular blood checks at the family doctor are useful because an elevated cholesterol level can only be detected by a blood test.
Diabetes diet: proteins
About 10 to 20 percent of daily energy needs should be covered by proteins (proteins). This recommendation applies if a diabetic patient has no signs of kidney damage (diabetic nephropathy). However, if there is a kidney weakness, you should take a maximum of 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day.
Particularly recommended protein sources are legumes (such as peas, lentils or beans), fish and low-fat meat.
Diabetes and alcohol
The combination of alcohol and diabetes is problematic: the alcohol blocks glucose re-accumulation (gluconeogenesis) in the liver for several hours. However, this new formation is included in the calculation of the required insulin quantities. Diabetes patients should therefore consume alcohol only moderately and always in combination with a carbohydrate-rich meal. This helps to avoid hypoglycemia.
Alcohol is unfavorable in overweight diabetics for another reason: One gram of alcohol has about 7.2 kilocalories per gram, a similar high calorific value as fat. This makes it a real calorie bomb. Being overweight increases the insulin requirements of the body due to the increasing insulin resistance of the cells and has a negative influence on the diabetes.
Alcohol can also lead to nerve damage (polyneuropathy). Already existing diabetic polyneuropathy can be exacerbated by alcohol consumption.
Sweets for diabetics
For diabetics as well as for healthy also applies: sweets should be eaten only occasionally. It is necessarily on the hidden sugar in food and finished products. For example, ketchup, fruit yoghurt and muesli are not classified as sweets, although they often contain a lot of sugar. This must be taken into account in the diabetes diet.
A particular problem with many sweets is the Combination of sugar and fat: The body can not metabolize sugar and fat at the same time. First, therefore, the sugar is converted into energy and burned, while the fat is stored in the tissue and promotes excess weight.
Meanwhile, there are many “sweet” in the trade Special products for diabetics, for example, diabetic chocolate or diabetic ice cream. Experts advise against such mostly expensive diabetes products. Often these products do not contain any cane or industrial sugar, but large amounts of fructose (and fat). The fructose (fructose) increases the formation of uric acid, which is often elevated in diabetics anyway. An excessive uric acid level can provoke a gout attack.
By the way: Instead of expensive and questionably healthier diabetic chocolate, you can fall back on a chocolate with a very high cocoa content (at least 60 percent). The higher the cocoa content, the less fat the chocolate contains.
Diabetes and cinnamon
According to some nutritionists, diabetes could be favorably influenced by the effects of cinnamon. Cinnamon stimulates the metabolism and thus possibly has a positive effect on blood sugar regulation. In addition, it is currently being discussed in the art whether a particular component of cinnamon (proanthocyanid) can improve the insulin action on the cells.
In 2003, scientists from Japan were able to demonstrate in rats an improvement in glucose uptake and increased insulin sensitivity of the muscle cells in cinnamon administration. However, the effect of cinnamon on diabetes is controversial. In a study from 2013, Iranian scientists found no relevant blood sugar-lowering effect by cinnamon in type 2 diabetics.
Conclusion: So far, cinnamon plays no role in the diet for diabetes or in diabetes therapy.
Fruit for diabetics
Diabetes patients are generally advised to consume enough fruits and vegetables daily. Both provide important vitamins and minerals and fiber.
Fruit also contains more or less large quantities, depending on the variety fructose (Fructose). This was long regarded as healthier than normal sugar. Therefore, many foods for diabetics contain fructose instead of conventional sugar. The same applies to many “normal” products (for non-diabetics).
However, diabetics (and healthy people) are advised against adding too much fructose to the body. This may have a negative effect on health: studies have shown that high levels of fructose intake, for example, can promote obesity and increase blood lipid levels.
Therefore, you should not consume too many industrially manufactured foods that contain fructose, such as lemonade sweetened with fructose or just diabetic foods with fructose. Daily consumption of fruit is harmless and even desirable for diabetics (and others): the German Nutrition Society recommends two portions of fruit every day and to consume three portions of vegetables – according to the motto “5 a day”. That’s about 250 grams of fruit and 400 grams of vegetables daily (1 serving = about a handful).
Sweeteners (like stevia) & diabetes
There are several alternative sweeteners that are often recommended for the diabetic diet – instead of refined sugar because they do not raise or lower blood sugar levels. Sweeteners include sugar substitutes and sweeteners.
Sugar substitutes are for example sorbitol, mannitol, isomalt and xylitol. They contain fewer calories than sugar and only allow the blood sugar level to rise slightly. Against deliver sweeteners (like Acesulfame K, Aspartame, Stevia) have no calories and do not increase blood sugar.
For some time, the sweetener is particularly popular Stevia in diabetes patients. The included Steviolglykoside are responsible for its sweetness. Some books and media claim Stevia is healthier than other sugar substitutes. That’s not true, according to the German Diabetes Association. Stevia is no better and no worse than other sugar substitutes.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recommends consuming no more than four milligrams of steviol glycosides per kilogram of body weight per day (ADI value). This amount is considered harmless. What consequences a possible overdose can have is unclear. However, according to EFSA, stevia should not promote tooth decay, be carcinogenic, damage genetic material or affect the fertility or development of an unborn child.
So far, there is no evidence that sweeteners like Stevia can “addict” and trigger starvation attacks – potentially leading to weight gain.
In general, you should not take more than the recommended amount of sweetener or a maximum of 50 grams of sugar per day.
By the way: Diabetes patients who also suffer from the rare metabolic disorder phenylketonuria should not take aspartame. The sweetener contains phenylalanine. This protein component (amino acid) can not be broken down in phenylketonuria, causing symptoms of intoxication. Other sweeteners (including stevia) do not contain phenylalanine. They are therefore a good alternative in the Diabetes Diet in phenylketonuria.