Your diet is hugely important if you are dealing with Diabetes. This is because what you eat affects your blood sugar.
Carbohydrates can be problematic for those dealing with diabetes; carbohydrates will turn into sugars, so because of this you must keep a close eye on your carb intake. Sugars are particularly important to watch, as it will raise blood sugar then drop it through the floor. Your doctor can give you a list of how much you can consume on a daily basis, which will help you steer away from stuff that will cause complications.
This doesn’t mean that you should totally avoid carbohydrates, you need them as a part of a balanced diet as they are an essential source of energy and they also provide vitamins and nutrients.
There are two main kinds of Carbohydrates; starchy or complex carbohydrates and sugary carbohydrates.
Starchy or complex carbohydrates include such foods as potatoes, breads, cereals and pasta. Starch carbohydrates should be the basis of your main meals, and you should opt for high fibre or whole grain options.
Sugary Carbohydrates including many sugars. These provide a very concentrated source of energy and can contribute to weight gain. These types of carbohydrates will increase your blood sugar level, and should be regulated in your diet and only eaten in moderation.
You should also limit the intake of foods that are high in fats.
The excess fats in your diet is going to contribute to your weight gain as well as being bad for our hearts. However, totally eliminating fats from our bodies will be bad because fat is essential for some body functions like producing bile which aids digestion and for the production of hormones like insulin which is needed for absorbing vitamins and nutrients in our bodies.
All types of fats will have the same calorie value however some are better for our bodies and for our hearts than others. We must aim to replace the trans fats and saturated fats with unsaturated fats which will keep our hearts healthy.
There are a few things we can do to help avoid the bad fats being in our diet; moderate and regulate your favourite fatty snacks to have them just occasionally, Grill your food instead of frying them, and avoid highly processed foods.
Protein In our bodies are used for the maintenance, growth and repairing of cells. It is very important to have protein in our diets, because it will help us produce antibodies which will fight against infections, it will help us build muscle if we are working out in the gym.
You should have protein in at least two meals per day. You will get protein from fish, meat, poultry and dairy products.