Diet for People with Diabetes

For people with diabetes a healthy diet that includes a few additional rules is recommended.

Avoid sugar and sugary foods, avoid fizzy drinks with added sugar, white flour and foods that include a lot of saturated fat.

What is diabetes?

Generally speaking, there are two types of diabetes – type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Type 1 usually affects younger people (under the age of 30) whereas type 2 usually affects older people. About 90% of people with diabetes are type 2, which is, in some aspects, a lesser form of diabetes.

Other types of diabetes are much rarer and include gestational diabetes, congenital diabetes, which is due to genetic defects of insulin secretion, cystic fibrosis-related diabetes, steroid diabetes induced by high doses of glucocorticoids, and several forms of monogenic diabetes.

Diabetes type 2 is a metabolic disease where pancreas cannot produce enough insulin in order to regulate blood sugar levels (blood glucose levels) effectively, resulting in dangerous fluctuations of blood sugar levels.

Diabetes type 1 is a condition where pancreas cannot produce insulin anymore. This is due to auto-immune system mistakenly destroying beta cells found in pancreas. These beta cells produce insulin. Scientists and medical doctors are still looking for an explanation as to why immune system would attack beta-cells and render a person diabetic.

Patients with type 1 are totally depended on insulin that is injected to blood stream with a needle or an insulin pump. Patients with type 2 diabetes are not insulin depended in early stages of diabetes but may become insulin depended in late stages of diabetes.

For patients with diabetes type 2 it is extremely important to eat proper food and avoid carbohydrates as much as possible. Doing so patients can regulate blood sugar levels quite effectively.

Read more about diabetes here.

How should a diabetic diet look like?

Patients with diabetes are advised not to consume sugar, sugary foods and drinks, white flour and high-fat foods. Each meal should contain vegetables or fruits.

A proper and healthy diet will have a positive impact on:

  • blood sugar levels and reducing its rise after a meal,
  • blood pressure (avoiding salt and salty foods will lower your blood pressure),
  • cholesterol – lower fat levels (cholesterol and triglycerides) in the blood. You can additionally lower your cholesterol levels by following a proper diet,
  • your BMI (BMI – body mass index. Calculate your own BMI using a BMI calculator). Healthy diet will regulate your body weight. Obese and overweight people are at much higher risk of developing diabetes (type 2) compared to those with a healthy body weight.

If your blood sugar levels are increased for a longer period of time and no action is taken to lower blood sugar levels you may suffer permanent damage. This includes:

  • Eye damage: retinopathy – eye defects which may lead to formation of cataracts and blindness.
  • Kidney damage: nephropathy – renal failure over time.
  • Damage to nervous system: polyneuropathy – tingling, pain, loss of sense of touch and leg pain. Also possible outcomes are impotence and digestion problems.
  • Damage to cardiovascular system: accelerated atherosclerosis – angina pectoris, heart and brain stroke, vascular occlusions.
  • Problems with feet: formation of wounds that do not heal and lead to amputation of toes, feet, or whole limb.
  • Immune system disorders: urinary tract infections, fungal infections, lowered immunity.

How to adjust your eating habits after you have been diagnosed?

If you have been diagnosed with diabetes you should adjust your diet as follows.

  • Several times a day eat vegetables and fruit – either fresh, cooked or stewed. If possible always choose home grown fruits and vegetables over imported ones.

fruits and vegetables
Fruits and vegetables should be on your menu each day.

  • Enjoy low-fat foods and avoid the use of animal fat (saturated fat). Switch from using saturated fat to using unsaturated fat. Prepare food mainly by boiling or baking – with minimal use of fat.
  • Choose low-fat meat and low-fat meat products. Before preparing a meat try to remove all visible fat from it. Always enjoy skimmed milk and milk products with lower fat percentage.
  • Overuse of salt in your diet may lead to high blood pressure. The more salt you consume the higher your blood pressure. Never put additional salt on your food and avoid products that contain a lot of salt.
  • Lower the consumption of alcohol to a bare minimum. A glass of (dry) wine with lunch or dinner is acceptable, heavy drinking is not.
  • You can also drink one to two cups of coffee (no added sugar or cream) a day. You can sweeten your coffee with artificial sweeteners and you can add a little skimmed milk.

Above guidelines are pretty strict and sometimes it is hard to follow them all. Occasional minor or slight deviation from the principles of a healthy diet (although not recommended) will not do permanent damage. Constantly breaking the rules of a diabetic diet though can seriously harm you and worsen your condition!

With a proper diet you will reduce and maintain appropriate body weight. Increased body weight (being moderately overweight or obese) is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, stroke, increased blood pressure and increased blood sugar levels.

In order to lose weight a reduced energy intake is required. This means you should consume less calories than you can burn per day.

Read an article on how many calories should I eat to lose weight to find out more about proper weight loss.

Conclusion

Moderation is the key. Always eat at your maintenance rate. Find out what your basal metabolic rate is and try to adapt your diet according to your BMR.

You can calculate your BMR using our BMR calculator. If ever in doubt regarding your diet you should consult a dietitian and / or your personal doctor.

8 COMMENTS

  1. This information is so wrong and so damaging!
    Fruit several times a day?! No!
    Bring your carb intake down to under 20g a day.
    Eat high fat. Chicken with the skin on? Perfect!
    Pork chops? Go for it!
    This is how I brought my glucose level down
    from 17.6 (dangerously high) to 4.4 WITH NO MEDICINE.
    What is the world coming to when a diabetic is advised
    to eat the very things that will guarantee disaster?!

    • You have obviously been misled by low-carb \”experts\” who actually know very little about diabetes.
      Wholefood sources of carbohydrates, e.g. vegetables, fruit, wholegrains, etc., actually improve insulin sensitivity. The fibre in these foods actually helps regulate blood glucose.
      Saturated fat and animal protein actually potentiate insulin resistance, which is why LC causes insulin resistance.
      Following a low-carb diet is just giving up on your carbohydrate metabolism. It doesn\’t actually fix it. However, diets low in saturated fat, animal protein and REFINED carbohydrates have been shown to reverse IR and T2D. All without your cholesterol going through the roof and then having to put your faith in low-carb pseudoscience telling you that high cholesterol is fine, when in fact there\’s decades worth of scientific evidence telling us otherwise. Don\’t listen to these fad diet, snake oil salesmen, and list to real doctors that know what they\’re talking about.

  2. My wife has a glucose reading of 175 from 100. I am a health nut, and I know she is not eating the wrong foods to now fall into the “at risk” category. I would like to know if there are supplements that can be taken to help keep the sugar levels under control. What foods should be eaten frequently, and what foods should be avoided?I know, should be in moderation. Should scotch be avoided? I am determined to help her in any way, and would like advice on how to do so. She is just in her early 30\’s
    This is my number incase you want to call me. +3347067474646

  3. my uncle has a level of blood sugar fasting 320 and blood sugar pp 395. he is taking medicine all i want to know is how to control this level please suggest me what should be his daily routine including which food to contain all other information, will b appreciated thankyou

  4. My boyfriend has a glucose reading of 169 from 146. I am a health nut, and I know he is not eating the wrong foods to now fall into the “at risk” category. I would like to know if there are supplements that can be taken to help keep the sugar levels under control. What foods should be eaten frequently, and what foods should be avoided? Alcohol (wine) I know, should be in moderation. Should scotch be avoided? I am determined to help him in any way, and would like advice on how to do so.

    Thank you.

    • green coffee extract taken after a meal and apple cider vinegar taken before a meal will lower blood glucose. The acv taken a night has been proven to lower morning fasted levels also. The fastest way to lower levels is with exercise, just a 10 minute brisk walk can immediately lower levels as much as 40%. The best way to manage blood sugar is not to eat carbohydrates in the first place. Look into paleo eating as a good diet that avoids grains or better still ketogenic diet.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here