[LifeStyle] Diet and diabetes: recommendations for a healthy lifestyle

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People with diabetes must pay special attention to their diet, since the intake of certain foods can cause a rapid rise in blood glucose with serious consequences for them. The Scalpel offers tips for acquiring essential eating habits for the treatment and control of diabetes

Exhibition of vegetables, among them, cabbage, cauliflower and red cabbage. EFE / Marshal

 

The Alphabet of Nutrition focuses on diabetes on the occasion of its World Day, November 14.

Diet in diabetic people is a very important part of their treatment.

"According to numerous clinical studies, a proper diet has the value of a real treatment," says Laura González, Nestlé's Head of Nutrition and Health.

It is also essential to achieve and maintain optimal metabolic balance, reduce cardiovascular risk, and prevent and treat potential complications.

The main scientific societies recommend, in addition to controlling blood sugar, maintaining normal levels of cholesterol, triglycerides in the blood and blood pressure.

"This will help prevent the onset of cardiovascular diseases related to diabetes," explains González.

The glycemic index is a theoretical value that guides the ability of a food to increase blood glucose.

To establish it, the index of each food is compared with that produced by the same amount of glucose, which is given the value of 100.

Foods with an index greater than 70 are considered to have a high glycemic index and would cause a rapid rise in blood glucose.

On the contrary, foods with an index below 55 would cause a lower and gradual increase.

 

Diet and diabetes: some guidelines
For better disease control, people with diabetes should promote low / medium glycemic index foods such as legumes, vegetables, and whole grains.

In addition, you must ensure protein intake and control fat intake.

“It is important to drink around two liters of water, that is, between eight and ten glasses a day. This serves to preserve kidney function, hydrate the skin and reduce the risk of constipation ”, indicates the nutritionist.

A proper diet has the value of an authentic treatment / EFE / Carlos de Sáa

 

González also recommends a diet rich in vegetable fiber with a double objective: to improve glycemic control and reduce cholesterol.

Fiber can also help reduce cardiovascular risk and achieve an appropriate body weight.

"You have to try to promote foods rich in fiber such as vegetables, legumes and nuts," he advises.

Another recommendation has to do with controlling the consumption of table salt. Pay attention to salty foods such as cold cuts, snacks or aged cheeses.

 

What should be avoided?
It is not recommended in the diet of people with diabetes the habitual intake of alcohol, since it hinders the release of glucose by the liver.

To this must be added that it can cause severe hypoglycemia.

In the case of diet products, the nutritionist affirms that "it is a mistake to think that people with diabetes can freely consume products labeled as tolerated by diabetics."

People with diabetes must especially control the total carbohydrates that make up their diet throughout the day.

"These statements are not a guarantee that they can be freely consumed in uncontrolled quantities," he says.

Many of these foods are made with fructose, which being sweeter than common sugar is used in less quantity, but it is still a sugar.

There would be no problem in including them in the diet if their composition is known and the corresponding calculation is made.

The diabetic patient can eat practically everything in the prescribed amounts, but you have to pay attention to certain foods.

Some fruits, like mangoes, have high levels of sugar. The recommended ration for a diabetic is half a mango / Photo: Research & Development, Mexico

 

"Some foods should be avoided or limited due to their high content of rapidly absorbed sugars, cholesterol or saturated fats," recommends the nutrition expert.

Fruits, like vegetables, contain a lot of fiber, although not all contain the same amount of sugars.

“We must be especially careful with the portions. A small apple will be a portion, while for a banana or mango the portion will be medium ”, he warns.

In addition to a proper diet and drug treatment, moderate physical exercise also plays an important role in people with diabetes.